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Good practice Imported

National Mire Restoration Programme — Norway

Norway · Trondheim · See the Norway profile · See the Trondheim profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 64% 40/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Norway's Environment Agency has rewetted more than 200 drained peatlands since 2015, sealing 550,000 metres of drainage ditches; state grant funding for nature restoration quadrupled to NOK 43.6M in 2026, though only a handful of sites carry long-term ecological monitoring.

more than 200 sites
Drained peatland areas restored (2015 to October 2025)
approximately 550,000 metres
Drainage ditches sealed (2015 to October 2025)
43.6 NOK million (~EUR 4 million), across 61 projects
National grant scheme funding (2026)
5 of approximately 180 sites
Sites with established long-term ecological monitoring (at time of Nordic Council review)
National Mire Restoration Programme — Norway

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Miljødirektoratet (Norwegian Environment Agency)
Period
2015-present
Keywords
peatland rewetting, mire restoration, drainage-ditch blocking, climate mitigation, biodiversity

Context

Since 2015, Norway's Environment Agency (Miljødirektoratet) has run a standing national programme to rewet drained peatlands, blocking and filling artificial drainage ditches dug for historic agriculture and forestry, in order to restore water tables and re-establish peat-forming vegetation.

Objectives

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions, aid climate adaptation and improve biodiversity by restoring drained peatlands across Norway.

Activities

Work is delivered on state and municipal land by the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate and County Governors, and via a competitive grant scheme open to municipalities, counties, NGOs and private landowners, under a first five-year national action plan (2016-2020) renewed for 2021-2025.

Results

As of October 2025, more than 200 drained peatland areas had been restored since the programme began, with roughly 550,000 metres of drainage ditches sealed. Funding has grown sharply: the national grant scheme totalled NOK 10 million in the 2024 state budget, rose to NOK 21.5 million in 2025, and reached a record NOK 43.6 million (about EUR 4 million) across 61 projects in 2026, selected from 154 applications requesting NOK 111.7 million, of which NOK 11.2 million was earmarked specifically for peatland restoration.

Conclusions

Official Nordic Council reporting notes an important limitation: of roughly 180 mires restored by the time of that review, only five sites had established long-term ecological monitoring, meaning most restoration outcomes lack follow-up measurement of vegetation recovery or greenhouse-gas impact. The programme's stated goals are therefore better evidenced by restoration extent than by measured ecological or carbon outcomes.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — Annual national grant scheme funding stated directly: NOK 10 million (2024), NOK 21.5 million (2025), NOK 43.6 million/~EUR 4 million across 61 projects (2026); cost_band set to medium based on these stated annual figures.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Programme running continuously since 2015 under successive five-year national action plans; timeline_band set to long.
Staffing & skills
Miljødirektoratet (Norwegian Environment Agency) — programme owner, Norwegian Nature Inspectorate and County Governors — delivery on state/municipal land, municipalities, counties, NGOs and private landowners — grant recipients

Conditions for success

  • national statutory action plan renewed across multiple five-year cycles (2016-2020, 2021-2025)
  • competitive grant scheme open to multiple actor types
  • steadily increasing state funding

Common failure modes

  • only 5 of roughly 180 restored mires have established long-term ecological monitoring, so most restoration outcomes lack follow-up measurement of vegetation recovery or greenhouse-gas impact

Where it fits

Governance type
national government agency-led with grant-funded partners
Scale
national (200+ sites)
Income level
high-income (Norway)

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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