Membership of Dutch private nature conservation organisations, 1989-2022

Memberships in 2022

In 2022 the combined membership of the four biggest nature conservation organisations was 1,821,476. Natuurmonumenten was the biggest organisation with 829,575 members/donors. Natuurmonumenten enjoyed the support of 10% of Dutch households. In 2022 the number of WWF donors increased to 529,000, a rise of 9% compared with 2019-2020. The membership of Birdlife Netherlands declined slightly to 158,801 in 2022. Membership of the provincial landscape foundations also declined slightly, to 304,100.

Private nature conservation organisations play a major part in managing nature reserves and protected areas in the Netherlands and in generating public support for nature and landscape conservation. Natuurmonumenten and the 11 provincial landscape foundations focus on the acquisition and management of nature conservation areas in the Netherlands, while WWF focuses on global nature conservation.

Membership trends

Following rapid growth in the membership of the larger nature conservation organisations (Natuurmonumenten, WWF) during the 1990s, numbers declined in the first decade of this century. From 2011, however, support for Natuurmonumenten has been stable and since 2018 has increased again, with a slight dip in 2020. WWF has seen its membership fall since 2007, with the exception of 2020 and 2022. Memberships of the provincial landscape foundations and Birdlife Netherlands have been fairly stable since 2006.

Limited data available for 2022

The only membership data available for 2022 are for the four biggest nature conservation organisations.