Membership of Dutch private nature conservation organisations, 1989-2023

Memberships in 2023

In 2023 the combined membership of the four biggest nature conservation organisations was 1,744,716 members/donors. Natuurmonumenten was the biggest organisation, with 851,441 members/donors, a slight increase (2.6%) over 2022. The memberships of the other organisations declined over the same period. WWF suffered the biggest drop in numbers: from 529,000 to 441,000 donors. The provincial landscape foundations and Birdlife Netherlands saw a slight drop in numbers; in 2023 they had 301,838 and 150,437 members/donors, respectively.

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 provincial landscape foundations focus on the acquisition and management of nature conservation areas in the Netherlands, while WWF focuses on global nature conservation. Birdlife Netherlands works to conserve wild birds and their habitats.

Membership trends

The memberships of the larger nature conservation organisations (Natuurmonumenten, WWF) grew considerably during the 1990s, but declined during the first decade of this century. However, from 2011 the membership of Natuurmonumenten has been stable and since 2018 it has increased again. Since 2007 WWF has seen its membership fall, with the exception of the years 2020 and 2022. The 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 2023 are for the four biggest nature conservation organisations.