The case in summary: • A bog in Spydeberg in Østfold, which has survived for thousands of years, has been restored after being damaged in the post-war period.• Bogs have important functions such as carbon storage, water purification and as a habitat for various species.• Restoration of bogs is a long-term process and it can take thousands of years to restore the entire peat stock to what it was before the bog was destroyed.• Monitoring of the bogs takes place every five years to look for signs of improvement, such as higher water levels and more peat moss.• It is a desire by scientists for more monitoring to ensure the restoration works, but this is a resource issue and requires more money.• Only one of the bogs is being monitored for greenhouse gas retention, and this is intensive monitoring costing millions of kroner. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. On an autumn day in late September, a bog in Spydeberg in Østfold will be examined. And it has really survived a lot. It was here when the Roman Empire existed, through the ravages of the Vikings, the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. Myra has survived two world wars. – The peat in a bog grows up to one millimeter every year. When we dig a meter down, we go back a thousand years in time, says Eirik Walle, advisor in the Climate and Environmental Protection Department at the State Administrator in Østfold, Oslo, Akershus and Buskerud. Eirik Walle at the State Administrator is out examining a bog that has been restored a few years ago. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news But after around 4,000 years we needed more timber. In the post-war period, the marsh was not allowed to be left alone and it suffered extensive damage. But the bog in Spydeberg was far from alone. – These are old systems, which are affected by relatively new sins. More recent damage is also difficult to repair. In 2015, major work began to restore bogs. Several countries have been doing this for longer than Norway. Ants have several important functions. Because not only is carbon stored in the peat, the bogs clean and filter water. In addition, it is home to several plants and animals, especially insects and birds. But does repairing them work? Need more data – Now I’m not going to be a scientist who says there’s never enough data, but when people ask how long it takes to restore a bog it would be nice to be able to answer that, although this will vary a lot between bogs . Senior researcher at NINA in Trondheim, Magni Olsen Kyrkjeeide has been involved in several projects where bogs are restored. Senior researcher at NINA in Trondheim, Magni Olsen Kyrkjeeide. Photo: Private The restoration usually takes place under the auspices of the State Trustees. – They are getting better at restoring bogs. It seems that the measures are getting better and better, but without enough data we cannot assess whether the goals are being achieved, says Kyrkjeeide. She believes it is important to get a better overview of how various measures work. – It is perhaps extra important to know whether measures can be taken to make things go faster. You want natural resources back as soon as possible. And follow up so that extra measures can be put in place if needed. – It will probably take thousands of years. It may take many years for the marsh to return. According to Kyrkjeeide, you can quickly see if the water level has risen where measures have been taken. – The water level returns quite quickly. Then it will take longer to get back the vegetation we want. But returning the marshes to the way they were is unlikely to happen in our lifetime. The damage the marshes sustained over a few decades cannot be repaired in such a short time. – There is a desire for the bogs to regain their function as carbon traps and carbon stores. Even if the condition of the bogs improves after the restoration, it will probably take thousands of years to restore the entire peat stock to the way it was before the bog was destroyed. Monitoring every five years Back in the bog in Spydeberg, Eirik Walle has put out sticks and pulled out a long measuring tape. Every half meter he looks for peat moss. But the tape measure only extends over a small part of the total length of the ditches through the country marshes. – There are an awful lot of kilometers of ditch, so the marshes are not doing so well. They are really just waiting for us to do something with them. A long measuring tape is laid out over the bog in Spydeberg. Every half metre, Eirik Walle looks for peat moss. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news In total, they have restored around 80 bogs in their counties. The first nine years ago. The moors are examined using simple methods every five years. One looks for higher water levels and peat moss. If there has been more peat moss and less heather and spruce, it is a good sign. – Is the monitoring done today enough? – To be able to say whether it will be wetter or not, that is good enough. Not averse to more monitoring The aim is to increase the water level in the marsh. This can be checked with simple monitoring, says Vibeke Husby. She is specialist director in the protected area section at the Norwegian Environment Agency. The around 180 moors are all easily monitored, but more resources have been invested in some. – We believe that we have sufficient monitoring and knowledge of the effect of bog restoration in Norway today to continue the work, she says. The peat moss grows around one millimeter a year, so it takes a long time to repair the bogs. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news It is only one of the bogs that is monitored for greenhouse gases, according to Husby. This bog is in Innlandet county. Here, there is careful monitoring that costs millions of kroner. But Husby is not averse to more monitoring if, for example, new methods are to be tested. – Then we have to consider putting more monitoring and research into it. It is not that we are averse to monitoring more, by no means. But it must be administratively relevant for us, and be able to say something more than we already know. Has become more water Whether the marsh in Spydeberg will ever return to the way it was, we may not know until we send people to Mars as a matter of habit. In any case, we have to count on a good number of general elections before we have a clearer answer. – Now we have created the conditions for the marsh to recover. But whether it takes 20, 50 or a hundred years is not easy to say, says Walle. But one thing is certain. Four years after the restoration, he can see that there has been more water. – In a perfect world, we would have greenhouse gas towers on all the moors, insect traps and extensive mapping of the plant community. But it’s not that practical, because there will be a lot of bogs. Published 10/10/2024, at 05.41
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Researchers want more funding to monitor restored bogs in Norway – news Østfold – Local news, TV and radio
