ONTARIO GRAIN FARMER INDUSTRY NEWS 12 Matt McIntosh In Danish waters Denmark’s ambitious approach to water quality and biodiversity improvement Denmark has restored 40,000 hectares of wetlands over the last few decades. Now, with ambitions to naturalize drastically more farmland over a much-reduced timescale, some Danes question whether their national government realizes the scale of investment required to achieve its nature restoration targets. One person in particular—Brian Kronvang, professor of ecological science at Aarhus University—cites a lack of extension services, rather than a dearth of money or political will, as a critical limiting factor. He believes that the involvement of local farm representatives in the process of assessing property for restoration, as well as grassroots efforts to improve water quality on the farm, are important characteristics of Denmark’s approach and partly responsible for the successes to date. DENMARK’S TRIPARTITE AGREEMENT Denmark’s environmental restoration efforts stem from a broader push within the European Union to rehabilitate and restore the bloc’s land and seascapes. Under its Nature Restoration Law, officially in force since August 2024, European Union member states must take steps to conserve at least 20 per cent of land and sea areas by 2030, and “all ecosystems in need of restoration” by 2050. Each member state is responsible for designing and implementing its own programming to reach these targets. Denmark has opted to reach Europe’s environmental goals through the Green Tripartite Agreement. This legislation was created by a committee comprised of farmers, government and civil service representatives, and environmental nongovernmental organizations. The country’s NATURE RESTORATION LAW EXPLAINED The European Union assesses that 80 per cent of the continent’s habitats are in poor condition, with alarming rates of ongoing decline. Concerted efforts to restore wetlands, rivers, forests, grasslands, marine ecosystems, and the species they host are ongoing. The objectives are to increase biodiversity, improve the continent’s carbon footprint, build resiliency against natural disasters, and mitigate environmental risks to food security. The Restoration Law also includes specific targets pertaining to agricultural ecosystems, including increasing grassland butterflies and farmland birds, improving organic carbon stocks in cropland soils, increasing the share of agricultural land with high-diversity landscape features, and the restoration of peatlands currently drained for agricultural use. goal of restoring an additional 140,000 hectares of woodland and wetland is one element of the agreement. Frederick Thalbitzer, a Danish agriculture journalist and chair of the European Network of Agriculture Journalists, says Denmark’s Green Tripartite Agreement has widespread support among the majority of Danish legislators. Endorsements from both agricultural sector representatives and environmental groups also make it more difficult for future governments and political parties to reject it, providing long-term stability. Such consensus, says Thalbitzer, is not to be taken lightly given how wide-reaching and ambitious Denmark’s strategy is. Regarding landscape restoration specifically, more than 10 per cent of the country’s agricultural land will eventually be converted to naturalized areas such as forests, some of which will remain in private hands, while other parcels will be acquired by the state. “It is really enormous. Farmers would have to give up their land, but they would be compensated,” says Thalbitzer. “A majority [of farmers] would say, ‘okay, this is what we have to do. It’s the best deal we could get, and we will get the compensation for our land’.” PLANNING (AND TIME) NEEDED On the ground, regional governments have a hand in identifying what lands should be
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTQzODE4