Increase Biodiversity

SABICAS - Haldenvassdraget

SABICAS (SAfeguard BIodiversity and improve Climate Adaptation in catchment areas under pressure: tools and Solutions) aims to provide tools and knowledge needed to quantify the benefits and co-benefits of nature-based solutions. The goal is to facilitate dialogue and decision making among stakeholders and managers. SABICAS will engage with all key catchment stakeholders through several activities, including workshops and living labs.

SABICAS - Gausa catchment case study

SABICAS (SAfeguard BIodiversity and improve Climate Adaptation in catchment areas under pressure: tools and Solutions) aims to provide tools and knowledge needed to quantify the benefits and co-benefits of nature-based solutions. The goal is to facilitate dialogue and decision making among stakeholders and managers. SABICAS will engage with all key catchment stakeholders through several activities, including workshops and living labs.

Crop Wild Relatives

A Crop Wild Relative (CWR) is a wild species that is closely related to a cultivated crop. It can for example include wild relatives of food crops such as of cereals, vegetables and fruits, or relatives of fodder and forage crops. NordGen has been working with CWRs in two different projects. A possible continuation of the works is currently being investigated. At this project site you can read more about CWRs, why they’re important and how NordGen is addressing the issue.

CWRs are one of the tools that can be used to address future challenges on food security, adaptation to climate...

Erosion Protection with Nature-based Solutions in Norway

The Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy will prevent erosion by strengthening slopes and edges with nature-based solutions (NbS). The aim is to improve local environmental conditions and increase water quality and biodiversity in streams and rivers.

In many creeks and streams, both large and small, erosion is a major problem. The problem arises as a result of various types of interventions in nature and is typically solved with stone and concrete - so-called grey solutions. But the grey solutions often have negative consequences on the local environmental conditions, water quality...

Multifunctional Wetlands in Åland

The Nordic Council of Ministers programme, Nature-based Solutions in the Nordic Region, is financing a project in Åland to improve four multifunctional wetlands for better water quality, sustainable food production, climate adaptation and increased biodiversity.
 
For several years, the drinking water from the Åland lakes and streams was assessed as insufficient and water samples showed a declining quality. This led the water supply company Ålands Vatten in 2015 to initiate research and an urgent new management plan to ensure a sustainable water supply. One study showed that...

More Nature - Less Waste

One of the eight pilot projects that have received funding from Nordic Council of Ministers programme on nature-based solutions is the Danish project “More Nature - Less Waste” lead by Renosyd. They have set out to build 21 fences in Denmark in collaboration with local schools in two municipalities.

A brush fence is a fence where you knock poles into the ground in two rows and in between fill up with branches from the garden. It creates living conditions for insects and small animals, and it reduces the amount of garden waste that would otherwise have to be transported and processed...

Stream and Watershed Restoration in Finland

The state of biodiversity has been decreased worldwide, and the Finnish Wildlife Service organization Metsähallitus will contribute to solving the challenge. With support from the Nordic Council of Ministers, they will restore the entire watershed area around the Mätäsoja Stream in Finland.

“The establishment of protected areas alone is not enough, and in order to halt the loss of biodiversity, we need to be more ambitious in restoring nature,” says Antti Karppinen, leader of the Mätäsoja Stream and Watershed restoration project in Finland. It is Metsähallitus...

Multifunctional Land Distribution in Denmark

Holmehave

The pilot project's goals are, among other things, to develop a strategic comprehensive plan for Holmehave in Assens municipality in Denmark and use multifunctional land distribution for the establishment of afforestation, nature and wetlands. The Nordic Council of Ministers Nature-based Solutions programme has allocated DKK 890,000 for the project.

Assens municipality, VandCenter Syd and Hedeselskabet in Denmark have begun to create a comprehensive plan for the Holmehaven area in Assens municipality. In the project, the aim is to take out approx. 300 hectares for...

Biodiversity in Urban and Coastal Areas in Iceland

Hjörtur Þorbjörnsson in the field with caraway growing in the foreground

The Nature-based solutions in the Nordic region programme has allocated 650,000 DKK to a pilot project in Iceland that aims to increase biodiversity in Reykjavík.
 
Grasagarður Reykjavíkur is the name of the outdoor collection of living plants located in the capital of Iceland. The park conserves some 3000 plant species in eight plant collections. The collections give an idea of the enormous diversity of vegetation in the northern temperate zone.

Among the staff are Hjörtur Þorbjörnsson and...