Building momentum: early successes for cross-border Baltic restoration project
The first six months of the three-year BaltCOP project are coming to a close, indicating the end of the first of six project periods. While Period 1 has had a heavy focus on getting the project up and running, ensuring effective coordination between project partners and establishing detailed project plans, some exciting progress has been made in each of the countries.
BaltCOP ‒ the Baltic catchment officer project 2024-2027, funded by the EU’s Interreg Central Baltic Programme ‒ aims to drive restoration work across 3 catchment* areas in Estonia, Latvia and Sweden in order to reduce nutrient runoff to the Baltic Sea. The project focuses on testing and promoting the catchment approach, whereby so-called ‘catchment officers’ are employed to work in specific watersheds to coordinate restoration efforts across the catchment area. These catchment officers act as a bridge between stakeholders, from landowners, to municipalities, to environmental agencies, and are key to ensuring plans translate into effective on-the-ground solutions.
*A catchment is an area of land where water drains into a river, lake or sea.
BaltCOP is a collaboration between WWF Sweden, the Estonian Fund for Nature, the Pasaules Dabas Fond (associated with WWF), Nyköping’s Rivers Water Conservation Association and the Latvian University of Life Sciences and Technologies.
Six sites have been selected for restoration work within the BaltCOP project: 2 in Sweden, 3 in Estonia and 1 in Latvia.
Sweden: one wetland done, onto the next!
In Sweden, Nyköping’s Rivers Water Conservation Association (NVVF) has been making strides in showcasing the power of local coordination and the catchment officer approach for boosting restoration efforts. This autumn, under the project leadership of local catchment officer Gordon Lindau, NVVF established BaltCOP’s first wetland in Sättersta-Vreta, Nyköping municipality. The wetland is designed to reduce and capture nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, enhance biodiversity and regulate water levels to prevent floods and droughts. Excitingly, this initiative even inspired the local farmer that owns the land to create another wetland, independent of the project: direct proof of the strength of the concept of local catchment officers.
NVVF has also been actively engaging with stakeholders, including landowners and municipal officials, to ensure the success and sustainability of future projects. In particular, NVVF’s catchment officer has been working closely with Katrineholm municipality on the next BaltCOP wetland in Krämbol, conducting field visits and holding discussions with local representatives. To further strengthen the collaboration between project partners, project managers from WWF Sweden were invited to visit the next wetland site, reinforcing the strong connections within the team.
Latvia: the importance of doing your research
In Latvia, project partners Pasaules Dabas Fond (PDF) and the Latvian University of Life Sciences and Technologies have been conducting innovative research to help drive forward the construction of wetlands in Latvia. The analysis of existing digital tools for wetland construction has led to the creation of a new, user-friendly tool that will help catchment officers and landowners determine the best sites for wetland creation, ensuring more effective wetlands for nutrient retention. This tool will be used to help advance pilot actions and scale up restoration and construction efforts in the BaltCOP project.
Additionally, research into the underutilization of state aid for constructing wetlands uncovered significant barriers. In particular, they found that no landowners in the country have actually accessed the aid in recent years. These insights will be used to create impactful policy recommendations to improve the accessibility and effectiveness of state aid mechanisms at a national level.
As Period 1 came to a close, PDF held a successful and well-received first stakeholder meeting in collaboration with the Ministry of Climate and Energy. The event brought together landowners, government representatives and NGOs to introduce the BaltCOP project and discuss the importance of improving water quality and reducing nutrient runoff, as well as what role each stakeholder plays in achieving this. This event was an important step towards building awareness, fostering collaboration and driving meaningful environmental change in Latvia.
Estonia: getting the restoration (party) started
In Estonia, preparations for the river restoration plans are in full swing. To find the best spots and the most effective methods for restoration requires a lot of smart planning. The Estonian Fund for Nature (ELF), together with three external experts from the University of Tartu, visited the selected project rivers during the autumn. The visit enabled ELF to identify the sections where restoration can best benefit the Baltic Sea, while simultaneously taking into account the specialities of each of the project sites. This included developing a plan for restoration action and monitoring, ensuring the activities maximize nutrient reduction and improve biodiversity.
During Period 1, the first pilot activity in Estonia was also implemented in the Asupi stream in western Estonia. A team of nature conservation volunteers, landowner and state representatives got their hands dirty to build a small artificial dam using local soil and grass. The dam is designed to keep water ion the marsh for a few weeks longer in the springtime, preventing nutrient runoff into the Baltic Sea and benefitting biodiversity in the process.
Alongside these activities, ELF has been actively engaging with stakeholders from the state-level down to the grassroots level, with a particular focus on landowners and users of the project sites. This included getting their perspective on the proposed restoration plans, sharing information about the reasons for restoration with them, and promoting the catchment officer approach. Close collaboration and communication with key stakeholders are essential for fostering ownership, supporting long-term adoption of practices and facilitating the smooth execution of upcoming restoration activities.
Into the next phase
The first six months of the BaltCOP project have laid a strong foundation for its future success. With significant progress made in Sweden, Latvia, and Estonia, the project is well on its way to achieving its goals of reducing nutrient runoff and promoting the catchment officer approach around the region.
As the project moves into its next phase, the partners eagerly look forward to furthering their restoration efforts and to continue building on the work started in this period.
This project is made possible by funding from the EU Interreg Central Baltic Programme.
