Staatsbosbeheer Plans to Close All 7 Visitor Centres

Staatsbosbeheer, the Dutch state organisation that manages large parts of the country’s forests, nature reserves and public green areas, plans to stop running all 7 of its visitor centres from 1 January 2027.

The centres receive around 1.3 million visitors a year. They are used as starting points for walks, nature trips, school visits, excursions and information about protected landscapes.

The plan affects visitor centres in De Pelen, Almeerderhout, Oostvaardersplassen, Schoorlse Duinen, Sallandse Heuvelrug, Drents-Friese Wold and near the Boomkroonpad on the Hondsrug.

Why the centres may close

Staatsbosbeheer says the current visitor centre model is no longer financially sustainable.

Government funding for the centres stopped in 2014. Since then, Staatsbosbeheer says it has kept them open because of their public value, but it has not been able to make them financially self-supporting.

The organisation says losses are expected to rise further because of higher staff costs, building costs and the cost of making the buildings more sustainable.

Staatsbosbeheer says it now wants to focus its available budget on its core task: managing nature areas.

What visitors may lose

The visitor centres are more than buildings with maps.

They help people understand where to walk, what rules apply, which animals and plants live in an area, and why nature management is needed. For families, schools and occasional visitors, they make nature easier to enter and understand.

If the centres close, the nature areas themselves will not close. People will still be able to visit the forests, dunes, wetlands and parks.

But the organised entry point may disappear in its current form. Shops run by Staatsbosbeheer will also close if the plan goes ahead.

Public information will continue differently

Staatsbosbeheer says public information and contact with visitors will not disappear completely.

The organisation wants to provide information in other ways, closer to the nature areas and more integrated into the daily work of forest rangers. Digital information will also play a bigger role.

It also wants to keep working with schools, municipalities, IVN Natuureducatie and local nature organisations.

That means the question is not whether people can still visit nature. They can. The question is whether visitors will still have the same easy access to explanation, activities and personal guidance.

Decision is not final yet

The closure plan is not final.

The proposal has been submitted to the works council, which is expected to give advice by 1 October 2026. The centre at Almeerderhout may close earlier, on 26 July 2026, because visitor numbers there have already fallen sharply.

There will be no forced redundancies, according to Staatsbosbeheer. The visitor centres currently involve 23 employees and around 350 volunteers.

The coming months will show whether the plan goes ahead as proposed, changes shape or faces local opposition.

For now, the message is clear: one of the most visible public faces of Dutch nature management may largely disappear from 2027.

Source: Staatsbosbeheer official explanation about the planned closure of its visitor centres.