Potential impacts of a future Nordic bioeconomy on surface water quality
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ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF A GREEN BIO-ECONOMY
Potential impacts of a future Nordic bioeconomy on surface water quality Hannu Marttila , Ahti Lepisto¨, Anne Tolvanen, Marianne Bechmann, Katarina Kyllmar, Artti Juutinen, Hannah Wenng, Eva Skarbøvik, Martyn Futter, Pirkko Kortelainen, Katri Rankinen, Seppo Hellsten, Bjørn Kløve, Brian Kronvang, Øyvind Kaste, Anne Lyche Solheim, Joy Bhattacharjee, Jelena Rakovic, Heleen de Wit
Received: 20 January 2020 / Revised: 7 May 2020 / Accepted: 8 June 2020
Abstract Nordic water bodies face multiple stressors due to human activities, generating diffuse loading and climate change. The ‘green shift’ towards a bio-based economy poses new demands and increased pressure on the environment. Bioeconomy-related pressures consist primarily of more intensive land management to maximise production of biomass. These activities can add considerable nutrient and sediment loads to receiving waters, posing a threat to ecosystem services and good ecological status of surface waters. The potential threats of climate change and the ‘green shift’ highlight the need for improved understanding of catchment-scale water and element fluxes. Here, we assess possible bioeconomyinduced pressures on Nordic catchments and associated impacts on water quality. We suggest measures to protect water quality under the ‘green shift’ and propose ‘road maps’ towards sustainable catchment management. We also identify knowledge gaps and highlight the importance of long-term monitoring data and good models to evaluate changes in water quality, improve understanding of bioeconomy-related impacts, support mitigation measures and maintain ecosystem services. Keywords Bioeconomy Land use Surface water Water quality
INCREASED DEMAND FOR BIOMASS IS A CHALLENGE TO SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF NORDIC SURFACE WATERS Clean surface and coastal waters are hallmarks of the Nordic countries. These waters are valuable natural resources and essential for Nordic societies, economies and human wellbeing as they provide multiple ecosystem
services. Nordic catchments have varying climates and geohydrology which influence agricultural and forest productivity. These catchments currently face multiple stressors, e.g. increasing demand for resources, increased production levels, global warming and changes in the hydrological cycle. The EU bioeconomy strategy states that more wood and crop-based biomass is needed to move towards a low-carbon and resource-efficient society in which fossil resources are replaced by renewables to mitigate climate change (European Commission 2012). This societal transformation towards a more circular bio-based economy, known as the ‘green shift’ from use of fossil fuels towards renewable resources, is expected to increase the demand for biomass production in the Nordic countries and elsewhere in Europe. The current understanding of the consequences, especially for water systems, is limited (Golembiewski et al. 2015). Land use practices will most likely change, the volume of biomass extracted will increase an
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