7. Norway

Norway is home to some of Europe’s most diverse wetland ecosystems, covering about 15% of the mainland.

Klima- og miljødepartementet (2021)

Wetlands provide essential ecosystem services such as flood mitigation, climate regulation, and rich biodiversity. However, human activities, including drainage for agriculture and forestry, have significantly degraded these areas in Norway.

Miljødirektoratet (2020)

Norway has committed to enhanced climate and environmental targets:

2025 Target: Restore at least 15% of degraded ecosystems by 2025.

Miljødirektoratet (2020)

2030 Climate Targets: Norway’s climate plan is targeted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% compared to 1990 levels by 2030. The nation aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, offsetting any remaining emissions through mechanisms like the EU Emission Trading Scheme and partnerships in international emission reduction initiatives, starting on January 1, 2030.

International Energy Agency (2022)

2050 Climate Targets: By 2050, Norway is committed to transitioning into a low-emission society under its Climate Change Act, with a targeted reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 90–95% from 1990 levels.

Chau (2024)

Restoration of wetlands plays a key role in achieving the goal of reducing GHG emissions.

Miljødirektoratet (2020)

In Norway, as in many other countries, waterlogged areas were historically viewed as wasteland. Consequently, around 7,000 km² of mires have been drained for agriculture and forestry. Further, various other wetland types have historically been dammed to create reservoirs for hydropower generation. While large-scale damming is now uncommon, it may still be considered for expanding existing facilities.

Klima- og miljødepartementet (2021)

Table 10 outlines the Norwegian rewetting policies which are further described in the subsequent sections.

Table 10: Key policies governing rewetting in Norway.

In 2016, the Norwegian Environment Agency, in collaboration with the Directorate of Agriculture, launched the first five-year wetland restoration plan. In 2016, wetland restoration was also formally included in the state budget for the first time, with an annual allocation of approximately €1.7 million.

EJP Soil (n.d.)

The restoration plan was updated in 2021, with a new plan running from 2021 to 2025. The new plan outlines a strategic approach focused on three primary goals:

In addition to its climate benefits, the plan highlights how restored wetlands can contribute to flood buffering, drought mitigation, fire resistance, and biodiversity enhancement. These efforts create green networks that strengthen ecosystem resilience against climate change. The updated plan also expands criteria for selecting restoration sites to incorporate these aspects.

Miljødirektoratet (2020)

The Norwegian Environment Agency serves as the national project leader of the plan, managing and allocating funds for wetland restoration. Regionally, the County Governors and the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate oversee the implementation of restoration projects. Contractors are engaged through a framework agreement to carry out the work.

EJP Soil (n.d.)

Strengthening national capacity for rewetting is a priority for 2021–2025. Building expertise will allow more stakeholders to lead restoration projects independently, reducing reliance on environmental authorities. As an example, in the first planning phase, a regional framework agreement was established for contractors, which was later expanded nationally to include projects from different parts of the country. Contractors received training in restoration methods and a study trip to England, which made them more self-sufficient and aligned with desired restoration outcomes, reducing the need for supervision. The plan also aims to enhance cost efficiency by focusing on high-priority sites with the greatest ecological and climate benefits.

Miljødirektoratet (2020)

From 2016–2020, most projects under the plan focused on protected areas where restoration is easier to implement due to the provisions of Norway's Biodiversity Act.

Miljødirektoratet (2020)

EJP Soil (n.d.)

In this period, more than 140 mires were restored under the plan, with most projects located in protected areas. In 2019, a 10-year agreement was signed with Statskog SF, a state-owned enterprise managing 20% of Norway’s land, to facilitate restoration on its land.

Miljødirektoratet (2020)

Statskog (n.d.)

Estimates suggest that remaining mires in protected areas and Statskog land could be restored within five years. However, the plan emphasizes the need to include municipal properties and incentivize private landowners to ensure broader site access.

Miljødirektoratet (2020)

For the future, the propositions in the plan include exploring additional tools for restoring mires and wetlands on private land, including refining subsidy rates, contract templates, and registration procedures. These efforts aim to streamline restoration processes and expand the variety of sites available for restoration, ultimately meeting Norway’s climate and biodiversity commitments.

Miljødirektoratet (2020)

The Nature Strategy for Wetlands

Klima- og miljødepartementet (2021)

highlights that nature in Norway has long been a vital resource for value creation and economic development. The strategy aims to support sustainable value creation while safeguarding the ecological value of wetlands. The government's goal for wetland ecosystems is to:

The strategy builds on existing responsibilities between departments and does not change sector responsibilities. It provides guidance for future management without retroactive effect. The strategy recognizes that wetlands provide important ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, flood mitigation, and recreational opportunities and that there is a direct link between the ecological condition of wetlands and the quantity and quality of benefits which can be derived from them. Restoration of wetlands is one of the focus points of the strategy.

Norway's National Strategy for Water Bodies

Direktoratsgruppen for vannforvaltning (2021)

objective is to:

The strategy identifies wetland restoration as vital for climate change adaptation, helping to manage increased precipitation and flood risks while enhancing habitats for various species. It focuses on restoring wetlands to improve their natural water retention capabilities. Overall, the strategy aims to enhance aquatic ecosystems and build resilience against climate change impacts.

The Norwegian government allocate funding for nature restoration in the government budget each year. A specific funding scheme supporting nature restoration, such as rewetting, has also been in place since 2024 (Table 11).

Table 11: Norwegian rewetting funding schemes.

The grant for Nature Restoration was established in 2024, with a total grant sum of €0.9 million for the first year of operation.

Miljødirektoratet (n.d.-d)

Grants are awarded from The Norwegian Environment Agency, and applications take place in the Electronic Application Centre, with a registration deadline in January each year. The grants are awarded to municipalities, non-governmental organisations, or private landowners. For private landowners, it is a prerequisite to write an agreement with the government through The Environment Agency, stating that the restored area will be upheld for at least 40 years. In 2024, only a few private landowners were awarded the grant, instead, many municipalities received funding.

Miljødirektoratet (n.d.-c)

Grants can be directed towards any type of nature restoration, including rewetting. Funding can be applied to cover planning, implementation and follow-up of restoration. However, it cannot cover maintenance or monitoring.

Klima- og miljødepartementet (n.d.)

The recipient is supposed to make use of the funding throughout the year where the grant was awarded. If this is not possible, the remaining funds will be returned to the Environment Agency.

Klima- og miljødepartementet (n.d.)

Monitoring of the plan’s implementation is divided into intensive monitoring on very few mires and extensive monitoring of all implemented projects. Extensive monitoring of all restored areas is conducted by the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate, under the Norwegian Environment Agency, and is included in the administrative costs. The intensive monitoring is tendered to and carried out by external contractors who make in-depth evaluations of climate gas emissions, ecological conditions and water levels. The methods for monitoring will be further described below.

Miljødirektoratet (2020)

Extensive monitoring has been carried out since 2017 by the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate at all sites where wetlands have been restored under the Plan for Wetland Restoration.

Miljødirektoratet (2020)

The program only monitors vegetation, which is considered a proxy for water level and thereby functioning of natural hydrology and climate emissions. When monitoring sites, Norwegian Nature Inspectorate works by making transects across mires which they follow to register vegetation groups at 60 sites. Currently, there are limited resources, both in time and expertise, to identify vegetation at a more detailed level. Vegetation groups are recorded prior to restoration and then again after three years and subsequently monitored every five years. The data is stored in NatStat, Norway's database for protected area monitoring. In some cases, drones are employed to capture vegetation and landscape changes on a broader scale.

Under the Plan for Wetland Restoration, intensive monitoring of climate emissions is tendered by the Norwegian Environment Agency and has since 2019 been carried out by a Danish private company.

Miljødirektoratet (n.d.-b)

Miljødirektoratet (2020)

The monitoring project covers one restored mire and one reference site and runs for five years. Both sites are in Trysil Municipality.

Miljødirektoratet (n.d.-a)

In the monitoring, CO₂ and CH₄ (methane) are continuously logged by Eddy covariance towers which is measurement equipment that can measure atmospheric CO₂ and CH₄. N₂O (nitrous oxide) is monitored in closed chambers. A status report from the monitoring was published in 2023, showing the results after two years of rewetting.

DMR Miljø og Geoteknikk AS (2024)

This monitoring is very costly, totalling about NOK 9.5 million for a five-year period.

Norway plans to evaluate greenhouse gas emission reductions from wetland restoration using IPCC calculation methods.

Miljødirektoratet (2020)

These compare emissions before and after restoration. Accurate emission reporting requires data on restored area sizes, which Norway currently lacks a method to estimate. The Norwegian Environment Agency aim to develop this method and collaborate with other countries to improve their reporting on greenhouse gas reductions from wetland restoration.

Intensive monitoring of the ecological condition of rewetted bogs under the Plan for Wetland Restoration is also tendered by Norwegian Environment Agency. So far, Norsk Instittut for Naturforskning (NINA) has been rewarded all tenders and carried out all monitoring. Monitoring has been carried out on three wetlands since 2015/16, and on two more since 2021, making a total of five monitoring sites out of 180 restored mires. The methodology for monitoring was also designed and published by NINA in 2015.

Hagen et al. (2015)

NINA, personal communication, November 15, 2024

Biodiversity monitoring is carried out at three scales: macro scale through drone photography, meso scale through vegetation analysis along transects, and micro scale through species analysis along transects. The vegetation analysis is carried out along transects where vegetation groups are identified at every 0.5 meters. The number of transects varies depending on the wetland, but it is somewhere around 3–5 transects.

Hagen et al. (2015)

Species analysis is carried out at “species frequency lines”, 2.5 m long lines every tenth meter along the transect. Along these lines, plant species are identified and registered to species level via the point intercept method.

Hagen et al. (2015)

The monitoring method has been examined in a recent research article, suggesting improvements to the method.

Kyrkjeeide et al. (2024)

Monitoring reports are published by NINA every five years, detailing the results of the monitoring efforts.

Kyrkjeeide et al. (2018)

Kyrkjeeide et al. (2023)

Kyrkjeeide. (2012)

The reports account for the vegetation, indication of the water level of the mires, and general ecological condition.

The monitoring of ecological conditions costs approximately €43,000 each time it is carried out, and it was conducted twice during the period from 2016 to 2020. This results in a total cost of approximately €85,900 over the five-year period.

Under the first five years of the Plan for Wetland Restoration each restoration project averaged a cost of approximately €86.000. Wetland restoration projects vary significantly in size, with bog restoration generally being less costly than other wetland types. A review of projects from 2016 to 2020 reveals a broad range in both project scale and associated costs. However, due to a lack of data on the specific area restored in each project, it is challenging to assess cost trends over time accurately. Between 2016 and 2020, there were no clear trends in cost levels, aside from an increase in contractors competing for contracts and investing in better equipment and experienced staff. Site-specific challenges, like the extent of tree felling, often drive costs, making it difficult to compare costs across rewetting projects.

Miljødirektoratet (2020)

Table 12 provides an overview of the total costs for restored areas from 2016 to 2020, including a breakdown of each cost component and its progression.

Miljødirektoratet (2020)

Table 12: Total costs and cost categories for rewetting projects (2016–2020).

In addition to the direct restoration costs, there are expenses for post-restoration monitoring, as mentioned previously under the monitoring sections.

In the Wetland restoration Plan for 2021–2025 there is a socio-economic analysis of the wetland restoration measures in Norway from 2016 to 2020. The analysis includes costs and benefits (made up as ecosystem services) of the restoration of approximately 80 mires.

The socio-economic analysis concludes that available information does not allow for a definitive conclusion on the economic benefits of wetland restoration in Norway from 2016 to 2020. However, evidence suggests that restoration enhances ecosystem services, with benefits expected to last well into the future. Thus, it is likely that restoration will be economically justified in the long term when comparing these ongoing benefits to the initial costs.

The Ministry of Climate and Environment, in collaboration with relevant ministries, will monitor the status and implementation of the Nature Strategy for Wetlands. The strategy will be evaluated after six years and revised after twelve years, at which point the need to adjust the target level will be assessed.

The future of rewetting wetlands in Norway will depend on annual funding. The County Governor is expected to prioritise the most cost-effective areas based on availability. The Norwegian Environment Agency can promote cost-effective restoration by ensuring sensible fund allocation across counties, organizing work efficiently, and identifying suitable restoration areas.

Yearly national restoration seminars organised by the Norwegian Environment Agency present the overall status of restoration of wetlands in Norway.

Vannportalen (n.d.)

Norway’s commitment to wetland restoration reflects its broader climate and environmental goals, highlighting the importance of wetlands as key ecosystems for reducing climate emissions, safeguarding biodiversity, and flood mitigation. Policies like the Wetland Restoration Plan and the Nature Strategy for Wetlands demonstrate an increasing recognition of these habitats’ value, supported by strategic funding and voluntary initiatives. Increased budget earmarked for nature restoration in the national budget also show priorities from the current government.

The Norwegian Ministry of Environment have been successful in implemented rewetting projects in protected areas. Rewetting efforts in state-owned forests and on private land lie ahead. There is extensive monitoring of the hydrology of all rewetting projects, and monitoring and cost evaluations provide insights into restoration efficiency and long-term benefits. However, gaps in data – such as the precise area restored – limit comprehensive assessments.