Case studies tagged with Wetlands

Genk’s multi-annual strategic plan for 2014-19 is a response to the closure of the Ford car manufacturing company. The main objective of the plan has been to use Genk’s natural and human capital for sustainable value creation. Nature-based solutions are an integral part of the plan, used to create blue-green connections (top-down approach) and promote social inclusion (bottom-up approach).

This case illustrates how ecosystem service assessments can help to catalyse changes in conservation and development policy and management practice − but are rarely the sole factor. In the Upper Tuul example, the intention was to “make the case” for a higher policy and budgetary priority to be accorded to the UpperTuul ecosystem.

Viridian were asked to model an entire lowland catchment of approximately 750 km2 for a basket of ecosystem services, so the client could better understand where to focus effort on the ground, assist with planning, inform stakeholder engagement and influence policy formation.

Freshwater ecosystems in the Swiss plateau are threatened by multiple stressors that deteriorate water quality and hydromorphology. This is the result of channelization, dams, wastewater, and agriculture, among other causes. To restore these ecosystems and stop the biodiversity decline, multiple management measures will be implemented over the next decades. We propose methods for prioritising the location and timing of restoration measures to maximise their effectiveness, considering many sectors and multiple societal objectives.

Dongpo Wetland Park aims to allow for the provision of connected multifunctional green spaces and to ensure the sustainable development of the city while retaining the original wetland environment.

It further aims to provide a new green and open leisure space for urban residents. The original wetland has been preserved with the aim to maintain regional biodiversity and to improve the water quality of the area.

The 2010 city-region plan ‘Structural Vision: Amsterdam 2040’, managed by the Department of Physical Planning, set the investment and project ambitions for the period 2010-2040. The strategy seeks to fulfil the vision of a creative and varied city, with an integrated public transport network, high quality urban planning, and investment in recreational green spaces, water and renewable energies. Water-related hazards, such as floods and storm surges, are managed at all levels - city, regional and national. The ‘Agenda Groen 2015-2018’ (Green Agenda 2015-2018) includes specific ‘...

In the scope of the REGREEN project, the Aarhus Municipality aims to promote urban liveability, by systematically enhancing and restoring ecosystem services and biodiversity as the basis for Nature-based solutions (NbS):

In this regard, Aarhus aims to improve water quality, water flow management and carbon sequestration. 

Further objectives include heat mitigation as well as reforestation and renaturing activities of agricultural land to create urban forests, increase biodiversity sites and allow for open...

The landscape park aims to fulfil a variety of functions:

The provision of recreation and educational facilities for local residents and visitors, and the encouragement of tourism to the area. Socio-cultural and economic benefits focus on education, culture, sports and history while keeping a sense of place through preserving historic elements of the area.

Another focus lies on water protection (Freshwater storage, management and distribution)

The Landscape Park further aims to regulate micro and regional climate,...

The case study site provides connected multi-functional green space that maximises ecosystem services for the sites and the local communities. Objectives include:

• The provision of regionally important landscape scale natural habitats, encompassing mixed woodlands, hedgerows, grasslands and wetlands, encompassing the reclamation of UF-NbS (Urban Forests as Nature-Based Solutions) of previously mined industrial land.
• The provision of unlimited public access via footpaths, cycle ways and bridle ways;
• The health and well-
...

The restoration of peatlands is part of the LIFE Elia-RTE project 1. The main objective of this project is converting forest corridors of the high-voltage power lines into ecological corridors by restoring stable natural habitats that will require minimal intervention in the future. These actions undertaken onsite are real opportunities for nature, local stakeholders, and RTE.

The project’s objective is to restore peatlands located under overhead power lines to encourage the return of specific plant and animal communities of these ecosystems and restore their functional components....

The D4RUNOFF project’s goal is to create a novel framework for preventing and managing diffuse pollution from urban water runoff. This will be achieved by designing hybrid nature-based solutions (NbS) and a data-driven AI-platform to support policy and decision making.

The case studies have been identified for the implementation and validation of this approach in varying environments. The replicability of these results will then be assessed at five replication sites. The Las Llamas Park in Santander has been chosen as one of three case study sites as part of the D4RUNOFF project.

Examining management scenarios related to the maintenance of a marina at the Dutch Wadden Sea Island Schiermonnikoog. Identifying how ecosystem services (ES) in a Natura 2000 area would be affected by different ways of depositing the dredging sludge. Gathering stakeholder feedback to advance the ES approach.

To work with landowners to improve habitat management for wildlife and to promote soil management to help mitigate flooding, improve water quality and increase habitat for wetland birds. 

In response to the social challenges and environmental impacts caused by urban growth, Bogota adopted the incorporation of green and blue infrastructures in several urban planning instruments. The most important action was the implementation of the local concept of Main Ecological Structure (EEP for its Spanish abbreviation) in 2000. The EEP's purpose is the protection and management of ecological networksthat reconcile urban development with the conservation of the structures and functions of ecosystems, as well as their ability to provide ecosystem services.

Analysing future land use trajectories and their effects on networks of biodiversity and ecosystem services for the Grenoble urban area. It will offer a better knowledge of mechanisms underpinning ecosystem services as well as analysing trade-offs and synergies between biodiversity, critical ecosystem services and territorial management. Further it will facilitate appropriation of tools and concepts by stakeholders and support the integration of the complexity of ecological functioning into debates on territorial planning and management.

Restoring river-floodplains to protect biodiversity: The Danube’s river biodiversity is threatened by changes to hydrology and geomorphology (so-called hydro-morphological alterations), such as disconnection of floodplains. Multiple human activities, including the construction of hydropower plants, expansion of agriculture, and large-scale river regulation measures to increase navigation and flood protection are resulting in an ongoing loss of habitat and biodiversity. Our aim: In this Case Study, we apply the AQUACROSS Assessment Framework to identify how management of...

Rotterdam aims to be 100 % climate-proof by 2025. This is the goal expressed in the city’s climate change adaptation programme. This means that by 2025 measures will already have been taken to ensure that each specific area is minimally disrupted by climate change both then and throughout the following decades. Furthermore, all urban planning in Rotterdam will take into account long-term foreseeable climate change while allowing for contingencies.

The ‘waterproof city’ is robust and resilient with a mix of paving and vegetation. The focus is on adaptive measures whereby rainwater is...

The Park 500 Natural Treatment System (NTS) was constructed as a voluntary effort to provide a low-energy, low-maintenance alternative to reducing nitrogen and phosphorus in the process’s wastewater, which is high in nitrate-nitrogen, organic nitrogen and total phosphorus.

The project was initiated to reduce the environmental footprint of the tobacco production facility and help Philip Morris USA meet its environmental sustainability goals. The NTS reduces mass loading to the James River and creates a performance buffer for the existing plant discharge to ensure long-term...

Persina Nature Park has high conservation value but is also of importance to local economies through its fish resources, climate regulation and biomass production. However, the societal, economic and environmental value of this wetland is not well recognized by local and national stakeholders and decision-makers. This exemplar aims to explore the link between Danube ecosystems and a range of environmental benefits for local and Danube-region communities, given the application of an appropriate set of instruments to safeguard or improve them.