Nature-based catchment management and restoration
Damage to our rivers and wetlands continues apace, with human pressure leading to modified, fragmented and polluted ecosystems. Globally, around 90% of wetland areas have been destroyed and in Europe over a million barriers (e.g. dams) are estimated to fragment our rivers, with very few free-flowing rivers remaining.
The scale of biodiversity loss is staggering, with freshwater ecosystems being especially hard hit. For populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fishes (where data exists) an 84% average decline has been recorded.
Damaged ecosystems also impair the health and function of human societies. Problems with water, food and energy supply, drought and flood impacts, greenhouse gas emissions, erosion and landslides are exacerbated by current practices. Recreational opportunities are lost too, with damage to fish populations and our surroundings becoming less attractive.
NIVA and cbec eco-engineering have formed a partnership to spread pioneering nature and process-based techniques in Norway and beyond. cbec bring their expertise and many years experience in process-based river restoration. NIVA brings a multidisciplinary understanding of the Norwegian water environment with decades of monitoring and research. With cbec’s technical expertise and NIVA’s biological knowledge we can implement nature-based restoration projects across catchments and build understanding about what really works.
Contact
For more information contact Johnny Håll and Joanna Kemp in NIVA’s section for Nature-based solutions and aquatic ecology.
Johnny Håll
johnny.hall@niva.no
+47 922 38 552
Johnny Håll has broad experience of freshwater ecological issues. He has lead and participated in many national and international projects. Among these are a number of freshwater restoration projects in Norway, in collaboration with cbec.
Johnny has extensive experience of freshwater fieldwork and is one of NIVA's benthic invertebrate taxonomists. He is also one of NIVA's fish experts, where he has extensive experience of environmental toxin studies and population estimation in both lakes and rivers. He has also participated in field studies investigating energy flows between terrestrial and aquatic food webs, fish trophic structure studies and the decomposition processes of dead organic matter.
Joanna Kemp
joanna.kemp@niva.no
+47 401 06 585
Dr. Joanna Kemp has been working on and in rivers, lochs and lakes for over 25 years, in England, Italy, Scotland and Norway. Her research has focused on the habitats of macroinvertebrates and the influence of river morphology and hydraulics on these habitats.
She has written a highly cited paper about the habitat-scale ecohydraulics of rivers and has authored a book chapter about Hydromorphology. As well as design and implementation of a river restoration project in England, she has been project leader for two freshwater restoration projects (for Stavanger, Klepp and Time Kommuner) in Norway in collaboration with cbec. She has an excellent knowledge of freshwater ecology and taxonomy, with the ability to collect and identify freshwater invertebrates, benthic algae and diatoms. She has extensive fieldwork experience, with many months spent travelling all over Norway for benthic algae surveys and invertebrate sampling. As well as research, she conducts environmental monitoring, pollution investigations and reporting. Her experience also includes freshwater invasive species, ornithology, aquatic plant survey, water policy and science communication and teaching (both lecturing and giving training in benthic invertebrate identification).
For information on cbec, visit cbecoeng.co.uk.