National Mire Restoration Programme — Norway

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. 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.

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 - a distance comparable to Oslo to Stjørdal. 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.

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 - reducing emissions, aiding climate adaptation and improving biodiversity - are therefore better evidenced by restoration extent (ditches sealed, sites treated) than by measured ecological or carbon outcomes.

Read the full analysis: https://anleggsmaskinen.no/2025/10/rekorddeltakelse-pa-kurs-i-myrrestaurering/