Glossary

Biodiversity – entirety of genes, species and ecosystems of a region.

Conservation – the care and protection of natural resources so that they are available for future generations. This includes maintaining diversity of species, genes, and ecosystems, as well as functions of the environment, such as nutrient cycling.

Drainage – wetland and forest drainage for agricultural and silvicultural purposes, for example, which use surface ditches, subsurface permeable pipes, or both, to lower the groundwater depth. Excess water from the plant root zone and underlying soil can enter the pipes through perforations and flow away from the field to a ditch or another outlet.

Ecosystem – a community or group of living organisms that live in and interact with each other in a specific environment.

EEA – European Environment Agency

Grey literature - materials and research produced by organizations outside of the traditional commercial or academic publishing and distribution channels. Common grey literature publication types include reports, working papers, government documents, white papers and evaluations.

IPBES – The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

IUCN – The International Union for Conservation of Nature

Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) – The United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme from 2022 defines NbS as “actions to protect, conserve, restore, sustainably use and manage natural or modified terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems which address social, economic and environmental challenges effectively and adaptively, while simultaneously providing human well-being, ecosystem services, resilience and biodiversity benefits”. This builds on the IUCN definition which is “actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural and modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously benefiting people and nature”.  

NCM – Nordic Council of Ministers

Nordic countries – the Nordic countries include the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland; and the autonomous region of Åland.

Peatland – terrestrial wetland ecosystems, also named “mires”, where waterlogged soil conditions prevent the full decomposition of plant material. The thickness of the peat layer is defined to be at least 0.3 m, but this strict definition does not apply in all European countries.

Restoration – management measures that aim to restore the original form and function of different ecosystem habitats to favourable conservation status.

Rewetting – measures to raise water levels back to the soil surface, to recover anaerobic soil conditions and/or to recover the natural hydrological dynamics/hydraulic connectivity. These processes are important for the growth of natural wetland vegetation, while simultaneously halting carbon emissions from oxidation. Due to subsidence, rewetting of peat soils by closing pumping stations and/or drain systems might also cause inundation.

Sustainable use – methods and rates of resource use that do not lead to the long-term degradation of the environment, thereby maintaining its potential to meet the needs and aspirations of present and future generations.

UNEA – The United Nations Environment Assembly

UNEP – The United Nations Environment Programme

Vegetation – A collection of plants that can be found in a particular area or habitat. In this report, we use this word to mean native vegetation, because NbS using non-native plants conflict with biodiversity enhancement that is an essential part of NbS.