NUTRINFLOW
Title: Practical actions for holistic drainage management for reduced nutrient inflow to Baltic Sea
Summary: NUTRINFLOW responds to the common pan-Baltic challenge to implement more effective and acceptable measures to reduce nutrient inflows to the surface waters and the Baltic Sea from agriculture. Measures in the broader landscape are needed to restore the lost retention capacity and to complement on-farm agri-environment measures. Agricultural drainage infrastructure faces the need of renovation in the project partner countries which provides additional impetus to cooperate to enhance knowledge and exchange experiences from concrete activities. Drainage systems are also potential settings for further applications in bioeconomy for energy and protein crop production.
The project activities will focus on pilot areas in Finland, Latvia and Sweden under pressure by agricultural nutrient losses. The project rests on a holistic catchment perspective. In line with existing management plans and drainage conditions, targeted demonstration investments are implemented in the drainage network in cooperation with municipalities and farmers as the main target groups. Through the investments, the project will reduce nutrient losses from agriculture in three priority regions. Furthermore, the project will establish local innovation groups to stimulated voluntary organisation, innovation and implementation of measures in water flow regulation and support broader dialog across the participating municipalities.
As a result, the project aims to have lead to reductions in nutrient inputs to the Baltic Sea and to have increased attractiveness and feasibility of holistic water management approach for agricultural catchments across the Central Baltic Region. In summary, the project connects local authorities and farmers in a unique way and will demonstrate a cross-sector approach in sustainable agriculture and management of ecosystem resources. The project is the first full-scale project under the EUSBSR PA AGRI Flagship project Flow Baltic through which it will gain region-wide visibility.
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