SECURES, RESTORES ANDFORTIFIES
Nature is the basis for wellbeing, health and value creation in the Faroe Islands. However, through time our use of natural resources has taken its toll. Lendisbati (Landaid) provides a helping hand where it is needed. With broad collaborations and on a strong scientific basis, Lendisbati aims to restore nature, increasing biodiversity and island resilience against climate change. The project will improve animal and plant life, and will support a healthier environment. This is important in ensuring the well-being of people.
If nature thrives, we all thrive.
The photo shows an area at the top of Kunoy, where the sheep cannot reach. The vegetation has mostly remained untouched for several thousand years.
LENDISBATI SECURES, RESTORES AND FORTIFIES
Faroese nature is fragile. Remnants of peat cutting can be seen as wounds in the terrain, and erosion is a common sight. The rough climate also applies continuous pressure on the land. Although humans have always been closely attached to nature, we have not always shown understanding and consideration towards the sustainability of our natural resources. Animal life and plant life are at risk because human activities do not always take nature into consideration. Climate change, as well, is an increasing risk - the pressure on nature may never have been greater than it is now. The purpose of Lendisbati is to improve these conditions.
The Lendisbati (Landaid) initiative is managed by the Faroe Islands National Museum (Tjóðsavnið), and it specifically aims to prevent erosion, improve biodiversity, and restore wetlands for carbon storage.
COLLABORATING ACROSS THE ISLANDS
Lendisbati is restoring areas throughout the country together with freeholders, farmers and other landowners, who voluntarily provide land for the project. All projects are carried out in close cooperation with owners who know their land best and can offer useful advice and, in many cases, take part in the work.
The areas are located throughout the islands and are different in size and landscape, giving us the opportunity to develop specific knowledge about the different terrain, for example grassland, wetland and moorland.
LENDISBATI’S VISION
Improved protection of the outfields restores biological diversity as the areas where plant and animal life thrive are enlarged. At the same time the ground grows stronger as the roots hold the soil preventing erosion. If we preserve and restore wetland, we also enable the carbon capture process to restart. If land is restored, the soil will be strengthened. In this manner Faroese nature can be part of climate change mitigation, preserving the wellbeing of animals, plants and people.
Weather predictions for the North Atlantic region include a warmer weather with heavier precipitation and wind. If we compare these conditions with the already harsh conditions on the mountaintops, it is possible to imagine very different future landscapes in the Faroe Islands, with more barren land and a large decline in biodiversity.
Image: Svenn Eysturtún Olsen
RESTORING WETLAND TO BOOST CARBON STORAGE
Wetlands provide the greatest terrestrial carbon storage in the Faroe Islands. The large quantity of peat which has been burnt through time has greatly impacted this. Although no peat is harvested today, these heaths are in such bad shape that there is still emission of greenhouse gases. The situation is similar in drained moors.
Lendisbati will recreate original ecosystems with their distinctive biodiversity. This will be done by blocking ditches to refill ponds with water in order to increase the overall water table. We hope the emission of greenhouse gases from peatland and wetland will cease and the natural carbon sequestration will begin anew, removing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it away in the peaty soil. “Peat kept the Faroese alive”, as our saying goes. Now it is time to give back to nature what nature has given us..
RESTORING BARREN LAND TO BENEFIT THE SOIL
Soil erosion is a growing risk in the Faroe Islands. To address this, desertified land and mountain areas will be regrown. We will replant the areas so the roots of the plants will hold the soil and fortify the ground protecting it from erosion. We will plant original native plants to restore biodiversity, and Faroese nature will become more resilient to growing pressures. The larger the areas regrown, the more resilient the land overall.
The image on the left shows an area in the Faroe Islands 300m a.s.l. To compare, the image on the right shows an area in Norway around the same elevation. It is highly likely that state of the Faroese area ought to be somewhere in between both landscape states.
RESTORING OUTFIELDS TO BENEFIT NATIVE BIODIVERSITY
If Faroese nature is to become more resilient, it is very important that biodiversity is as varied as the environmental conditions allow. A diverse nature has a stronger resilience towards environmental change. Accordingly, Lendisbati will be working on improving biodiversity in the outfields where needed, for instance where grass has taken over and there are few flowering plants. Native species will be used for restoration.
BACKING NATURAL SOLUTIONS
Lendisbati wants to make use of healthy ecosystems as a natural tool to relieve the effects of climate change. Nature herself has provided solutions to help us restore balance. Over thousands of years nature has adapted to the changing environmental conditions, adapting accordingly. This project seeks to re-establish the connection between human activity and the ability for nature to support it, sustainably.
