Flanders Agency for Nature and Forests

Policy support for the nitrogen deposition reduction plan of Flanders

A major bottleneck for the quality of a lot of protected nature is formed by the deposition of acidifying and eutrophying substances via the air. These substances come mainly from agriculture (ammonia), traffic and industry. In Flanders, this problem is addressed by the Programmatic Approach to Nitrogen (PAS).

As part of a long running framework contract, VITO supports the Flemish agency for nature and forests in the development of this Programmatic Approach Nitrogen for Flanders. This includes the development and application of methods for the high-resolution modelling of atmospheric nitrogen deposition to protected nature areas (Natura 2000 network) in Flanders in order to support the implementation and management of the EU Habitats Directive in the region of Flanders.

The key activities being supported include:

• High-resolution modelling of nitrogen deposition to the Flemish Natura 2000 sites
• Source allocation of nitrogen deposition on regional and local scale
• Development of IT tools to calculate nitrogen deposition from agricultural sources
• Development of IT tools to report and analyse nitrogen deposition in Flanders
• Scenario analyses in order to define strategies to meet future targets with respect to nitrogen deposition
• Validation of model runs
• Sensitivity studies