In April 2024, the FREIIA project team met on the Danish island of Bornholm in the southwestern Baltic Sea. For our project partners on Bornholm, the primary focus lies on achieving a circular economy and indeed, Bornholm district council has ambitious aims to reduce landfill and incineration to zero by 2030 and innovative measures in place to facilitate the reuse and recycling of an impressively wide range of materials.
Coastal landscape at Sandvig, Bornholm (Photo: C. Walsh)
At the same time, a shift in approach to nature conservation and appreciation of the fragility of the island’s natural environment is evident. The principal focus of nature conservation in Denmark has been on the preservation of certain landscape qualities. This static approach, enshrined in the 1992 Nature Conservation Act, allows for the continuation of existing uses (particularly farming) and is less suited to achieving biodiversity or ecosystem restoration objectives. Indeed, in some cases, active conservation measures are necessary to ensure that a landscape remains as it was at the time of its designation.
Continue reading “Nature Conservation and Sustainable Transformation on the Island of Bornholm: A Window of Opportunity?”