RESTORE: Restoration of ecosystem functioning and biodiversity in semi-natural habitats under high pressure

Forfattere: Rob Burton og Sunniva Midthaug Solnør

With semi-natural habitat in Europe and Norway under pressure as a result of land use change and degradation there is currently an urgent need to understand what factors are likely to encourage stakeholders (both farmers and non-farmers) to participate in restoration schemes. Factors threatening semi-natural grasslands include agricultural intensification, land use change, abandonment of farmland, and afforestation. In combination, these have led to over 90% of Europe’s semi-natural grasslands being lost over the last century (Waldén & Lindborg, 2018). The main strategy for the continued management of semi-natural habitats has been the introduction of agri-environmental schemes whereby farmers are paid to perform actions that support the continuation of the habitat. However, despite these schemes being applied across Norway and Europe since the late 1980s the decline in habitat has been continuous – in some cases to the point where restoration of these habitats might provide the only solution.