Rewilding and restoring Danish landscapes
- Use cases
Denmark is undergoing a major shift towards nature restoration. This is driven in part by the Tripartite Agreement (Treparts-aftalen), which sets ambitious goals for protecting and restoring natural environments.
The political commitment acknowledges the critical role of wetlands in biodiversity conservation, flood mitigation, and carbon sequestration. The goal is to restore 140,000 hectares of low-lying, environmentally sensitive farmland into natural areas such as meadows and wetlands.
With the Tripartite Agreement (Treparts-aftalen), Denmark is aiming to reduce nitrate and GHG emissions and create habitats to improve biodiversity.
As part of this movement, environmental engineers and consultants across Denmark are working to plan and implement these restoration efforts. We talked to two young consultants, Alex Arberg from Niras and Simon Rahbæk from Envidan, to learn how they work to create wetlands in Denmark.
Screening and understanding the landscape
In the early stages of any wetland and restoration project, a fundamental step is to gather and analyse existing data to understand the terrain and hydrology in the area.
“We always need to start these projects by evaluating what restrictions and key considerations we need to be aware of. There are always some drainage-related conditions that are important to map and understand,” say Alex.
For Alex, who is currently working on a wetland restoration project in Ribe Øst, the challenge lies in assessing an area of 879 hectares, which today is largely agricultural but was historically more natural and wet.
"It’s important to know the location of drains, since the information helps us understand the natural hydrology in the area, and thereby which areas are more suitable for wetland restoration."
Alex Arberg, Niras
Ribe øst - The project area. The areas include two tributaries of Ribe Østerå(Gels Å and FladsÅ), large farmland areas, and some larger ditches in the northern part.
Alex compiles all relevant data, including terrain profiles, hydrological features, and historical maps. Historical maps are particularly useful for identifying drained fields that may still be affecting water flow today.
Alex explains: "If a field was drained with open ditches back in the 17th century, our initial assumption is that the fields are drained also today, but with subsurface drains. It’s important to know the location of drains, since the information helps us understand the natural hydrology in the area, and thereby which areas are more suitable for wetland restoration."
Simon takes a similar approach in his work, where he helps municipalities find efficient and easy ways to create wetlands. He starts by analysing the terrain using contour lines in the landscape, which indicate potential natural low points, as well as screening through several other data layers found in the library of Scalgo Live.
"The initial screening is very important. It helps us identify where the issues in the project area might be and what kind of measures we might be able to implement", Simon concludes.
“It is essential to get as much drainage water as possible to the surface, and Scalgo Live is very helpful when evaluating levels and future waterways."
Simon Rahbæk, Envidan
Planning restoration measures
When the focus shifts to designing and testing potential restoration measures, terrain editing plays a key role, allowing Alex and Simon to create interventions and assess their feasibility.
In Simon’s work on a wetland project in Knudsig, the main interventions involve dismantling pumps, blocking ditches and redirecting nutrient-rich drainage water to the surface where it flows slowly, allowing nitrogen to be retained by the vegetation.
The wetland project in Knudsig includes several smaller measures that need to be implemented. Water is pumped out from the area today, and, for example, 24 pumps are being dismantled to create a permanent wetland. Water from drained fields is led to the surface to retain nitrogen.
“It is essential to get as much drainage water as possible to the surface, and Scalgo Live is very helpful when evaluating levels and future waterways. In addition, some earthwork is needed, and Scalgo Live has great features for this too,” explains Simon.
For Alex, one of the interventions in Ribe Øst he is working on, is to restore a stream that currently runs in a pipe, bringing it back to an open, natural watercourse. To evaluate the feasibility of this, he uses terrain editing and the soil balance analysis.
Alex is working on opening a piped stream to create a more natural environment. He evaluates how the stream can be placed in the terrain and estimates the soil that needs to be moved.
Smarter restoration
Simon and Alex agree that Scalgo Live has become an essential tool in their workflow. From the initial screening phase to detailed planning, the platform enables a data-driven approach to wetland restoration. By integrating historical data, detailed elevation models, terrain editing and more, planners get an intuitive way to evaluate nature restoration initiatives.
As Denmark moves forward with its ambitious nature restoration goals, the work that Alex and Simon do is vital. And whether it’s restoring natural streams, blocking ditches, or designing wetlands, we can be sure that the projects are in good hands with these passionate engineers!
