Tiengemeten

Tiengemeten is an island in the Haringvliet River in the Dutch province of Zuid-Holland. It used to be a sandbar, but now it houses extensive arable land within the dykes and the wilderness beyond. The film starts in the winter of 1996-1997, when the inhabitants were at the beginning of a period of big changes. Tiengemeten had been designated a nature development area, which meant that six farms on the island had to disappear in order for the elements to regain control of the landscape. In the years that followed, the filmmaker recorded this process. How all the farmers, except one, moved to farms elsewhere. How footpaths were laid down and Scottish Highland cattle introduced for grazing. And how the owner of the island, the Dutch National Trust, visited the island with all kinds of experts, including ecologists, hydrologists, landscape architects and soil scientists, and held meetings there.