Nature restoration, wetlands and watercourse management
How the human rights are protected at work
Nature restoration and care of wetlands and watercourses is one of the professional objectives in the education: you must be able to perform tasks in nature restoration and nature and biotope care, and you must be able to assess care needs and restore and maintain selected wetlands and watercourses based on knowledge of care methods and the specific area's flora and fauna.
§Why restore nature?
During large parts of the 1900s, watercourses in Denmark were straightened, deepened and regulated to drain fields faster. This made watercourses uniform and poor in habitats. Nature restoration is about reversing that development — about giving water and landscape a more natural dynamic, for the benefit of both biodiversity and water environment.
§Methods in the watercourse itself
- 01Re-sling — the watercourse is led back to a winding, more natural course
- 02Daylighting — a piped or covered watercourse is opened and led through open terrain again
- 03Establishment of spawning areas—sections of suitable gravel where fish can lay eggs
- 04Bed raising — the watercourse bottom is raised to restore natural dynamics and flow conditions
- 05Removal of barriers — so fish and other aquatic animals can migrate freely
§Wet areas as climate and nature tools
Establishment of wetlands is a recognized method for climate adaptation and can simultaneously increase a watercourse system's self-purification effect. Wetlands function as natural buffers that retain water and nutrients, while also creating habitats for plants and animals that depend on wet soil.
§Hand scything and gentle maintenance
Many watercourses are maintained today gently with hand tools where vegetation in the watercourse is cut instead of digging in the banks as was previously common. The method preserves more of the watercourse's natural structure while still respecting drainage needs.
§Your role as a nature technician
In practice, it is often you who assesses the care need in the field: is there reason to intervene now, which method suits the place, and when in the year should the work preferably be carried out to harm animal and plant life as little as possible? That assessment requires both biological insight and practical experience.
“A stream that is allowed to wind often finds the best way by itself.”