Sand Backs: Geological Relief Protection Areas in Groningen

Sand backs are protected geological features as defined in the Environmental Ordinance of the Province of Groningen. The dataset is published by the Dutch Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties on the EU Open Data portal. It aims to protect clear height differences in the landscape that are part of the region's geographical history.

Use Cases

• Map protected geological relief areas based on the rules in the Environmental Ordinance.
• Analyze the visibility of historical landscape features for conservation planning.
• Support regulatory compliance for land-use projects near protected sand backs.

Strengths

• Data is tied to a specific legal framework, the Environmental Ordinance of Groningen.
• Published by a national government ministry, suggesting an official source.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties

Collection Method

Likely digitized from legal and environmental planning documents.

Geography

Province of Groningen, Netherlands