Over the past 10 years, goose populations have grown significantly. Especially the geese that stay here year-round, the so-called resident geese, have increased enormously in number. For a better natural balance, the number of resident geese should be significantly reduced. Therefore, the province of South Holland has granted permission to reduce the number of resident geese.

In 2024, South Holland counted over 161,714 resident geese. These mainly include the greylag goose, barnacle goose, Egyptian goose, and Canadian goose. The large number of geese causes significant damage to nature, including Natura 2000 areas where they eat everything bare. This includes reeds, leading to the disappearance of rare breeding birds that live in the reeds. The geese also cause substantial damage to agricultural crops such as grassland, potatoes, wheat, and barley, and pose an increasing risk to (air) traffic and (swimming) water quality.

Millions in Damage

The large number of geese causes so much damage to agricultural crops that compensations run into millions. The damage caused by the greylag goose in South Holland alone has increased tenfold. The compensation paid to farmers was €400,000 and has now risen to €4.5 million per year.

Management Measures

The province has decided to do everything possible to limit the damage caused by geese and to ensure a healthy balance between goose populations and the damage they cause. This is also necessary to prevent the costs, which are largely borne by the province, and the damage to nature from getting even further out of hand. Efforts are also being made to implement less invasive measures such as scaring geese and puncturing eggs. Unfortunately, this is not enough. Therefore, geese are also shot and molting geese are captured.

Collaboration

Management is coordinated by the Fauna Management Foundation South Holland. The execution is carried out by game management units and other land management organizations that take responsibility and help achieve a better balance of the number of geese within the province of South Holland.