canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/pdok.nl

# PDOK APIs

PDOK (Publieke Dienstverlening Op de Kaart) is the Dutch national platform for publishing government geospatial open data. This vendor groups three PDOK environmental and hydrological datasets: EU Habitats Directive habitat type distribution across Natura 2000 areas, mussel and oyster bank habitats on Wadden Sea tidal flats, and nationwide surface water body geometry for the Water Framework Directive. All three are free public open data served as spatial features, with OpenAPI specifications generated and maintained by Jentic so agents can query them through structured tooling.

## For AI agents

An agent can query Dutch government geospatial datasets across PDOK, retrieving habitat distribution polygons for Natura 2000 areas, mussel and oyster bank survey features from the Wadden Sea, and surface water body line and polygon geometry for Water Framework Directive reporting. All queries are read-only spatial feature retrieval over public open data.

## Scope

Use for: Querying official Dutch government geospatial open data for habitat distribution, marine shellfish habitats, and surface water body geometry in support of EU Habitats Directive and Water Framework Directive environmental analysis

Not supported:
- authentication or accounts
- real-time data feeds
- cadastral boundaries
- topographic base maps
- groundwater data
- write operations

## APIs

| API | Category | Endpoints | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Habitatrichtlijn verspreiding van habitattypen WFS | maps-geolocation | 208 | Query geographic distribution data for EU Habitats Directive habitat types across Dutch Natura 2000 areas. |
| Oppervlaktewaterlichamen | maps-geolocation | 4 | Query Dutch surface water body geometry as lines and polygons for Water Framework Directive compliance. |
| Mossel- en oester habitats | maps-geolocation | 3 | Query mussel and oyster bank habitat survey data from Dutch Wadden Sea tidal flats. |

## Which API to use

| Need | API | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Terrestrial habitat type distribution for Natura 2000 sites | habitatrichtlijn-verspreiding-van-habitattypen-wfs | Provides distribution and extent features for over 100 EU Habitats Directive habitat classifications across Dutch protected areas. |
| Marine shellfish habitat data | main | Provides annual mussel and oyster bank survey features on Wadden Sea tidal flats, the only dataset here covering marine intertidal habitats. |
| Surface water body geometry for water management | oppervlaktewaterlichamen | Provides the official RWS water body lines and polygons that form the spatial basis for Water Framework Directive reporting. |

## Cross-API use cases

### Combined terrestrial and marine habitat assessment

Retrieve terrestrial habitat type distributions from the Habitats Directive WFS and marine mussel and oyster bank features from the Wadden Sea survey to build a single ecological picture spanning land and intertidal zones for a conservation report.

Example prompt: Query the Habitatrichtlijn WFS for a habitat type distribution and the mussel and oyster habitat service for Wadden Sea features, then combine both feature sets for a conservation status assessment.

### Watershed and habitat impact screening

Pull surface water body polygons from the Oppervlaktewaterlichamen service and habitat distribution features from the Habitats Directive WFS to screen a proposed development area for overlap with both protected water bodies and protected habitat types.

Example prompt: Retrieve water body polygons and habitat distribution features, then compute spatial overlap of each with a proposed development boundary to flag regulatory conflicts.

### Coastal water and shellfish habitat analysis

Combine surface water body geometry from the Oppervlaktewaterlichamen service with mussel and oyster habitat features to analyze how classified water bodies relate to shellfish bank locations in coastal and tidal areas.

Example prompt: Query surface water body lines and polygons alongside mussel and oyster habitat features, then correlate their geometries for a coastal water quality and habitat study.

## Why Jentic

- **Setup:** Wiring these PDOK services by hand means learning each dataset's Dutch-named feature endpoints and matching habitat types, water body geometries, and shellfish surveys to their own paths, even though the services are open and need no key. Once Jentic One is installed, you or your agent can find and add any of these PDOK APIs from the Jentic directory to your workspace and call them with no credential to manage.
- **Permission scoping:** All operations across these PDOK services are read-only spatial queries, and each carries the feature id in the URL path, so your own rules in Jentic One can pin an agent to a specific dataset or feature collection and allow only the operations you choose to run.
- **Credential handling:** These PDOK services are public open data and need no authentication, so there is no credential to store; for any API that does need one, your own Jentic One instance holds credentials encrypted rather than exposing them to the agent.
- **Discovery method:** Agents search the Jentic directory by intent, such as 'Dutch habitat distribution' or 'surface water body polygons', and Jentic returns the matching Dutch-named PDOK operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.

## Related vendors

- **OpenStreetMap** — Provides base map layers, roads, and land use data to give geographic context to PDOK habitat and water body features.
- **GeoNames** — Offers place names and administrative boundaries useful for locating and labeling Dutch spatial features.
- **European Data Portal** — Aggregates EU open datasets, including environmental data that complements the Dutch directive reporting served by PDOK.

## FAQ

### What kind of data do the PDOK APIs provide?

They provide Dutch national geospatial open data as spatial features. Across the three APIs you can query terrestrial habitat type distributions for Natura 2000 areas, mussel and oyster bank habitats on Wadden Sea tidal flats, and surface water body line and polygon geometry for water management.

### Do any of the PDOK APIs require authentication or an account?

No. All three are public Dutch government open data services with no API keys, tokens, or accounts. Every endpoint is freely accessible, so an agent can query them without any credential setup.

### Why does Jentic publish OpenAPI specs for these PDOK services?

PDOK does not publish OpenAPI specifications for these services. Jentic generates and maintains them so agents and developers can call the datasets through structured tooling, and each spec is validated against the live service and kept up to date.

### What regulatory frameworks do these datasets support?

The habitat distribution WFS supports EU Habitats Directive Article 17 reporting for Natura 2000 areas, the surface water body dataset is the spatial foundation for the EU Water Framework Directive in the Netherlands, and the shellfish habitat survey supports Dutch fisheries and marine conservation reporting.

### Can I combine data from more than one PDOK API in a single workflow?

Yes. Because the APIs share the same open-access model and cover complementary environmental themes, an agent can overlay habitat distributions, water body geometry, and shellfish habitat features together for combined ecological and regulatory analysis.

### What spatial data format do the responses use?

The services return spatial feature data compatible with GeoJSON, including geometry as points, lines, or polygons plus attribute fields describing classification and reporting metadata, ready for import into GIS software or spatial databases.

### Is the data suitable for official reporting rather than just visualization?

Yes. These are official datasets from Dutch government sources such as Rijkswaterstaat and IMARES, so their boundaries and classifications carry regulatory weight and are used directly in EU directive reporting and permit assessment, not only for display.