‘Uijtmalen ende tot goet landt maecken’
Few landscapes have changed as profoundly as the Dutch peat meadow regions. Over the centuries, people reclaimed uncultivated land, extracted peat, drained lakes and created polders. The drainage of peat caused land subsidence. Because the land surface is now subsiding at a relatively rapid rate, public authorities have decided to raise the water level in order to rewet the peat and thereby limit environmental damage and damage to building foundations. This measure, however, marks a break with the centuries-long effort to drain the land and keep it dry. From the second half of the nineteenth century onwards, farmers, government authorities and scientists worked increasingly closely together in this endeavour. They transformed traditional farming into modern agriculture. This development has been extensively studied, but relatively little is known about its earlier history.
This study takes the Frisian peat meadow region as a case study. Between 1600 and 1875, the Estates of Friesland created an institutional foundation for the development of an agricultural landscape in which modern agriculture could flourish. Within their landscape governance, four core institutions emerged: the formalisation of the public interest, public debate, the creation of a systematic institutional framework (policy and regulations), and the establishment of government as the directing authority. Throughout this process, the short- and long-term consequences for the landscape had to be weighed and competing interests balanced. A crucial question was the extent to which public authority could restrict landowners’ autonomy. As similar dilemmas are once again emerging, historical insights can contribute to discussions about the future of the cultural landscape.