The Purpose of Nature Restoration and Management in Østmarka
Management and restoration involve measures to preserve and enhance natural qualities in accordance with conservation objectives. Although nature in Østmarka is primarily meant to develop freely, restoration is important in areas where human impact has weakened the ecosystems.
Measures may be relevant to:
- Restore previously drained mires and swamp forests
- Improve conditions after forestry operations
- Preserve culturally influenced landscapes such as meadows and grazing areas
Restoration aims to strengthen natural values, promote biodiversity, and contribute to research. In Østmarka, this primarily involves accelerating natural processes to restore ecological balance.
Forest Restoration
Clear-cut areas and plantation sites can develop naturally over time, but restoration measures can accelerate the process and increase species diversity. Relevant actions include:
- Thinning in dense spruce plantations to create variation in tree structure, microclimate, and species communities.
- Management of deciduous trees by removing spruce that outcompetes valuable broadleaf trees such as ash, hazel, and willow.
- Aspen management to preserve aspen populations and dead wood, including ring-barking spruce and birch to promote aspen growth.
- Increasing the amount of dead wood and old trees by leaving thinned timber, creating high stumps, or ring-barking trees.
- Conservation burning can be considered over time, but requires a national strategy and experience from other areas.
The goal is to recreate natural forest with ecological processes and higher biodiversity.
You can read more about the potential for forest restoration in Østmarka here.
Peatland Restoration
Peatlands in Norway have long been affected by ditching and drainage for forestry and agricultural purposes. In Østmarka, peatlands have also been drained to improve conditions for forestry. The result is that most of the peatland area has dried out and become overgrown with forest. The management authority carries out restoration measures within the protected area, for example by constructing embankments to retain water, restoring the original groundwater level. Peatland restoration helps recreate valuable wetlands, prevent floods, and sequester carbon. Thus, peatland restoration is both an important measure for preserving biodiversity and a crucial climate action.
Restoration of peatlands and other wetlands, such as swamp forests, generally involves measures to counteract the effects of previous peat extraction, ditching, or other interventions that have caused drainage. Restoration efforts have mainly focused on peatlands, but there are also many cases where swamp forests, such as rich black alder swamp forest or grey alder/willow swamp forest, have been drained and, in some cases, converted to blueberry spruce forest through planting. This also applies to swamp forests in Østmarka.
Although species richness in intact or restored peatlands may not necessarily be higher than in drained peatlands, the number of specialized, habitat-specific species can increase. Rich fens should receive particular focus, as this peatland type is threatened and contains regionally rare and red-listed species.
Management of Cultural Landscapes, Other Cultural Environments, and Heritage
Maintaining species-rich areas in cultural landscapes, which have been shaped through long-term traditional management, is very important for preserving biodiversity. Today, management is carried out in selected areas through activities such as mowing, grazing, and clearing vegetation to prevent overgrowth. There are also several other remnants of cultural landscapes that are currently overgrowing and not actively managed. Restoration of some of these can help preserve remaining elements and increase natural values.
Other relevant management measures may include clearing and caring for vegetation and other actions to prevent overgrowth and deterioration, which, based on a cultural heritage assessment, are necessary to preserve the heritage site. All restoration, maintenance, and management of cultural heritage must be carried out in a way that safeguards both natural and cultural heritage values to the greatest extent possible. This provision does not change the responsibility of cultural heritage authorities for the preservation of heritage sites.
Responsibility for cultural heritage is assigned to the Directorate for Cultural Heritage (Riksantikvaren) and the regional cultural heritage authority at the county level.
Lime Treatment of Waters in Østmarka
To maintain biodiversity and fish populations in acid-affected watercourses, some lakes and ponds in Østmarka are limed. Liming with limestone powder is carried out using helicopters.
Read the news article about liming in Østmarka from NRK here.
Preservation of Sand Pits – an Important Habitat for Burrowing Insects
Along the coast and in the riparian zones of rivers and streams, there are naturally occurring open sandy areas that serve as important habitats for burrowing insects. These areas have declined due to development and other human-induced land changes, and many species that depend on sandy habitats are now found in man-made sandy areas such as road cuts and sand pits. In the old sand pit at Sandbakken, management is now planning measures to keep the areas open so they can once again serve as habitats for insects.