Roads, agriculture and micro power stations have been legally established in protected waterways throughout Norway. Now, on behalf of the national water resources and energy authority, NINA experts will map the magnitude of these developments and how much intact nature we have left in our protected waterways.
Forra in Trøndelag is one of the watercourses with protected status. Photo credit: Tonje Aronsen, NINA.
- There are few waterways in Norway not developed for hydro power production. Those that remain therefore represent important values for society, says project manager Børre Dervo at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, NINA.
It is now more than 50 years since 390 watercourses were first protected to prevent the development of hydropower. The purpose then was to protect natural and cultural values in and along the rivers.
- We will as part of this mapping exercise, create a tool that maps the values found in these waterways, as well as measure the extent of roads, power lines, walking paths and other encroachments, says Dervo.
Will check whether the protected rivers are "representative"
When the rivers were protected in the 1980s and 90s, many of the largest waterways in Norway had already been developed for hydropower.
- The purpose of the protection was primarily to safeguard a representative selection of the habitats and biodiversity in and along the watercourses, says Dervo.
An important criterion for protection was untouched nature, and in many of the protected waterways, mapping of biodiversity, geological values, pristine nature, outdoor life and cultural environment was undertaken.
- We don't really know the extent of the encroachments in the protected waterways and status of the values that were mapped at the time of protection, says Dervo.
The researchers will therefore use a combination of data from previous reports, geological maps, field surveys and modeling to create an overall assessment of the protected watercourses, and the extent and magnitude of human encroachment. The overview will be linked to digital map solutions and easily accessible to the environment authority and other relevant stakeholders. The experts will also evaluate the national policy and guidelines for protected waterways.
The study is commissioned by The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), and undertaken by NINA in collaboration with the Geo-Ecology Research Group (GEco) at the Natural History Museum of the University of Oslo (UiO) and will contribute to further developing the Nature in Norway (NiN) mapping system.
Contact: Børre Dervo