In this article we examine the development of one of the largest provincial Dutch nature organisations, Het Geldersch Landschap, compared to other Dutch nature and landscape organisations. We address two issues, the vision on nature and the style of governance. For the first question we explored whether the focus was more on ’Arcadian’ (focusing on human-nature harmony, and the aesthetic value of old landscapes and buildings), on ‘Wilderness’ (focusing on wild and pristine landscapes) or more on ‘Functional’ (focusing on sustainable and rational use of natural resources) types of nature management. It turned out that Het Geldersch Landschap followed a stable course, adopting a mixed Arcadian-Functional approach, inspired by the oldest and largest Dutch nature organisation, Natuurmonumenten, and by insights of ecologists such as Victor Westhoff. Westhoff was the main conservationist-ecologist between 1940 and 1970 in the Netherlands and introduced the notion of semi-natural landscapes. Compared to Natuurmonumenten, the focus of Het Geldersch Landschap was more on estates, including castles, and less on wilderness. It worked closely together with another organization in the province of Gelderland, Vrienden der Geldersche Kasteelen. Both organisations focused on what they called ‘ensembles’, combination of buildings, mostly castles, parks, forests and agricultural grounds, all within the estates. In contrast to other nature and landscape organisations, it did not pay much attention to biodiversity and ecological aspects of the rural areas outside their own reserves. It is noteworthy that Het Geldersch Landchap was not really interested in wilderness, while comparable organisations in others provinces changed their nature management aims and programs after the discussions on nature and wilderness in the 1970's and 1980's, in order to get more pristine-like natural areas. We suggest that this special position of Het Geldersch Landschap results from the characteristic aristocratic culture in the province of ...