Ecology and economy are always central to Triple E. Started in 2006 as a consultancy organization with the core business of mapping the economic benefits of nature and landscape, we are still in the prime of our existence in 2021 and we continue to grow. However, some things have not changed. For example, Triple E’s Knowledge Center for Nature and Economy produced a report for the Goois Nature Reserve in May, in which we set up a completely new financing structure for the organization.

It is a completely new and unique approach that we have adopted, in which payment based on (provided) ecosystem services is central. In concrete terms: financing based on the added value of Gooi’s nature in real estate, water storage, water purification and contributions to tourism and recreation. This is necessary, because the Goois Nature Reserve is now financed by the participating municipalities and the province and is mainly seen as a (difficult) cost item in the annual budget discussions. We demonstrate that the Goois Nature Reserve generates important economic benefits and propose that the organization also reap the benefits.

The story is not recorded in a nice booklet, the budget was not sufficient for that and the material was too technical. A nice booklet will be delivered as a result of the study that we have carried out for the Animal Protection. This booklet is about eviction as a fully-fledged instrument for sustainable and animal-friendly nature management in rural areas and an innovative financing structure that could be used for eviction.

Growth and blooming are also central to other parts of Triple E. Within Natural Soil Improvement, for example. There we are currently working hard to keep the trees we grow and the nature in the mycoretum in check.Pruning as Triple’s core business, who would have thought that we would grow there.

But we also grow in a more metaphorical sense. For example, we will be working together with the Delfland Water Board in the search for useful applications for salinized river sediment. And we have been commissioned by TEAL to research the effects of using mycelium as a raw material for coffins and urns.

After the success of the symposium ‘From Heath to Hazel’, we are now going to organize a second online symposium on September 14: ‘From Nutrient Poor to Rich in Fiber’. This symposium is part of the Fiber2Fiber project and is about the degradation of asbestos and PFAS with the help of mycorrhiza, and about the use of WWTP sludge as a substrate for miscanthus in closed conditions. This project also examines how the fibers of the miscanthus can be used for the production of paper. Invitation is on a personal basis.

And since the hops and grapes also grow fast in the mycoretum, we decided with our partner Vet and Lazy to organize two (!) harvest festivals this year (for the hops and the grapes). The payment consists of a few beers as a reward, with the result that we are already completely full.

Well, June is also the month in which we always reap the fruits of the previous year’s hard work, in the form of the annual report. Our accountant FI Control has been busy again, but the results are impressive. Even in times of corona, everything was growing and blooming at Triple E. Pruning is not necessary in this case.