Samenvatting

In the Netherlands, the previous water management strategies enhanced the strong boundary between land and water that made the natural embankment disappear. This report focuses on the eco-friendly banks (NVOs) that were expected to enhance the connectivity of water and land in the management area of Waterschap Aa en Maas. The aim of this study was to determine the present situation of the most important biological elements at realized and scheduled NVOs. This study also gives people who work in the water sector an general idea about the effectiveness of NVOs. Data of the macroinvertebrates and macrophytes were used for this study and were provided by the standard WFD monitoring strategy. The ecological quality ratios and important sub-metric scores were calculated using the standard protocol and metrics that is described in the Netherlands by the knowledge centre STOWA.