Green enterprise

Protecting and enriching nature

Together with ProRail, we carefully maintain or replace plants and trees on the 65 hectares of green areas at and around the stations. In 2022 we planted new prairie species, perennials and mixed flower seeds and installed birdboxes and insect hotels at several of our stations. In this way we are contributing to promoting biodiversity.
We did a study on ecological values and ways to protect and enrich nature on NS premises in 2021. In 2022, we used the resulting recommendations in the realisation of ecological sites at three NS stations (Amersfoort, Wezep and Veenendaal-de Klomp) where we took a range of measures to promote biodiversity. These sites have been under an ecological management regime since mid-2022. In 2023 we will assess several additional sites (qualifying as ‘other land’) for their potential as biodiversity improvement locations.

Utilising nature

Climate change is confronting us with more extreme weather conditions, such as flooding and extreme heat. Additional green spaces may provide a solution to some of those problems. For example, we can plant trees to avoid heat stress and benefit from natural drainage features (‘wadis’) and green roofs to catch and absorb rainwater. Measures to date include the planting of five veteran trees at five stations, and realisation of a wadi at Veenendaal-De Klomp station.