Arctic Wetlands Ecosystems - Resilience through restoration and stewardship

Informations

Funding country

Norway

Acronym

-

URL

-

Start date

1/1/2020

End date

12/31/2023

Budget

124,230 EUR

Fundings

Abstract

This Belmont Forum project addresses the challenge of building resilience in a rapidly changing Arctic. The project sheds light on human activities that affect Arctic wetland systems and local knowledge about and stewardship of wetlands. Restoring and safeguarding Arctic wetlands strengthen the functions and values of these ecosystems. Locally, wetlands act as a buffer by storing and filtering heavy precipitation and meltwater. Wetlands constitute important nesting areas for birds, spawning areas for many fish species and important habitats for other fauna and flora. These habitats also have a cultural and economic value in the form of reindeer husbandry, hunting, fishing, tourism, and recreation. Wetlands are important because they store large amounts of carbon. Even though wetlands only make up about 3% of the earth's land area, these ecosystems store an estimated 20% of the worlds terrestrial carbon - and thus, being the largest regional store of carbon on the planet. Through participatory methods, the project will test and identify solutions to strengthen local participation in the restoration and management of Arctic wetland systems. This will contribute to a more relevant and legitimate management regime of these habitats, securing their ecosystem services, and building resilience in local and indigenous communities that live off or are otherwise dependent on these services. The project feeds important input into an existing project (Resilience and Management of Arctic Wetlands - RMAW), a project that provides channels for sharing results and new knowledge for Arctic discussions and decision-making processes. This knowledge includes perspectives and experiences from various actors, including local users of wetland systems.