Protection of Marka Green Belt

1. General information

Location and description of the intervention

City or FUA

Oslo

Region

Europe

Native title of the NBS intervention

Markaloven

Short description of the intervention

Oslo is completely surrounded by old forests full of wildlife and native species, providing important ecological services. This “Green Belt Boundary”, known as Marka, has been approved to be protected by the City Government in order to “ensure that the forests are protected against urban development. The management of the city’s forests follows a multi-user plan based on ecological principles and places the emphasis on a long-term and target-oriented development of a varied recreational forest that allows for nature conservation and outdoor activities”. 1,700km2 are protected by the Marka Act, of where 310km2 are located within Oslo municipality. (Ref. 1,9)

Address

Norway

Location

The NBS is situated in an area, with clear delineation of boundaries and a specific shape (polygon). The NBS project can also have more than one area location (more than one polygon, situated close by).

Area boundary

POINT (10.508935 59.756468)

POINT (10.276491 59.758058)

POINT (10.254419 60.032109)

POINT (10.581384 60.283209)

POINT (10.965958 60.244689)

POINT (11.030058 60.006581)

POINT (10.908468 60.003083)

POINT (11.200894 59.796372)

POINT (10.952436 59.671216)

POINT (10.707241 59.969477)

NBS area image

Source of NBS area image

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marka,_Oslo

Total area

310000000.00m²

NBS area

310000000.00m²

Type of area before implementation of the NBS

Other

Please specify “other type of area” before implementation of the NBS

Forested area (Ref. 1)

Website of the intervention

https://www.oslo.kommune.no/english/politics-and-administration/green-oslo/best…

Timeline of intervention

Start date of the intervention (planning process)

pre-1990

Start date of intervention (implementation process)

2009

End date of the intervention

2009

Present stage of the intervention

Completed

2. Objectives of the intervention

Goals of the intervention

The purpose of the Marka Act is to promote and facilitate outdoor activities, nature experiences and sports. The law protects the borders of Marka and preserves a rich and varied landscape as well as a natural and cultural environment with cultural heritage. At the same time, consideration is given to sustainable use for other purposes. (Ref. 2) Finally, the Act aims to ensure comprehensive management of Marka. (Ref. 3)

Quantitative targets

Unknown

Monitoring indicators defined

Amount of protected land (Ref. 4).

Sustainability challenge(s) addressed

Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)

Habitat and biodiversity conservation

Green space creation and/or management

Cultural heritage and cultural diversity

Preservation of natural heritage

Protection of historic and cultural landscape/infrastructure

Health and well-being (SDG 3)

Creation of opportunities for recreation

Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What types of conservation goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?

Ecosystem-focused

Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?

Protect and enhance urban habitats

Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems

Reduce negative impacts and avoid the alteration/damage of ecosystem

Implementation activities

- Protected vast amounts of land, mainly forested areas, from urban development so that important habitat and wildlife is preserved and people are free to enjoy the nature of Marka, exercise sports, and use the area for recreational purposes
- Protected cultural heritage such as traces of early settlements in Marka and use of the region.
(Ref. 5)

Type of NBS project

Protection of natural ecosystems

3. NBS domains, ES and scale

NBS domain and interventions

Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented

Parks and urban forests

Large urban parks or forests

Green corridors and green belts

Vegetation Type

Trees

Please specify how many trees were planted

Unknown

Amenities offered by the NBS

Sports areas and equipment

Cultural (museum, concert areas)

Services

Expected ecosystem services delivered

Habitat and supporting services

Habitats for species

Cultural services

Aesthetic appreciation

Recreation

Scale

Spatial scale

Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level

Beneficiaries

Primary Beneficiaries

National-level government

Local government/Municipality

Non-government organisation/Civil Society

Citizens or community groups

4. Governance and financing

Governance

Governance arrangements

Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Non-government actors

Non-governmental organisation (NGO) / Civil society / Churches

Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative

Local Government:
-Municipalities: Responsible for supervising compliance with the provisions of the Marka Act and process applications under the Act at a first instance, including applications for building and construction measures within Marka.

Regional Government:
-The County Governor (Fylkesmannen) of Oslo and Akershus: Regional disciplinary body for matters under the Marka Act, including for all municipalities and county councils within Marka. This body shall prepare matters regarding special protection within Marka, as well as prepare trails, paths and facilitate traffic. The latter can be made by public authorities and organizations with the purpose of public outdoor pursuit, if allowed by the city governor.

National Government:
-The Nature Supervision Authority (SNO): Controls and supervises the area in accordance with the Act on National Nature Supervision.
-The Environmental Protection Ministry - Supreme Administrative Authority

Citizens/ NGOs:
-The Marka Board: Representatives from NGOs and the society to fulfil the goals of the Marka Act; largely involved in assessment and evaluation of decisions regarding Marka (Ref. 6)

Key actors - initiating organization

National government

Regional government

Local government/municipality

Non-government organisation/civil society

Land owners

Public space owned by the city

Other

Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)

National government

Regional government

Local government/municipality

Non-government organisation/civil society

Citizens or community group

Land owners

Public space owned by the city

Other

Please specify other land owner

Public space owned by other municipalities (Ref. 4,6)

Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used

Citizen oversight (e.g. boards, advisory)

Please specify other landowner

Public space owned by other municipalities (Ref. 4,6)

Policy drivers

NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy

NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan

Yes

Please specify the national regulations/strategy/plan

The Marka Act is part of Norwegian law. The Marka Act itself is not being referred to as being implemented in response to another national regulation. (Ref. 5)

NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan

Yes

Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"

The protection of Marka (Oslo part) was already statued in the Municipal master plan of Oslo in 1990 (Ref. 10). The Outdoor Council of Oslo and Surrounds (Oslo og Omland Friluftsråd) had also been pushing for special protection of Marka for decades (Ref. 7)

Mandatory or voluntary intervention

Mandatory (based on policy)

Intervention is mandatory

Spatial planning law

Environmental regulation

Enablers

Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project

Unknown

Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project

Yes

Please specify the general plan with GI/NBS section

Municipal master plan of Oslo in 1990 (Ref. 10).

If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.

General municipal plan

Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project

Unknown

Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project

Yes

Please specify

The OpenNESS Project. (Ref. 8) The Marka Act is related to this research in that helps ensuring quiet areas closer to Oslo citizens. (Ref. 9)

Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project

Unknown

Co-finance for NBS

Unknown

Co-financing governance arrangements

Unknown

Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?

Unknown

Financing

Total cost

Unknown

What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?

Unknown

What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?

Unknown

What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?

Unknown

Please specify cost savings

Unknown

Please specify total cost (EUR)

Unknown

Source(s) of funding

Public national budget

Public regional budget

Public local authority budget

Type of fund(s) used

Earmarked public budget

Non-financial contribution

Yes

Type of non-financial contribution

Provision of labour

Who provided the non-financial contribution?

Citizens (e.g. volunteering)

Business models

Green heritage model

Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?

Public actor (e.g. municipality)

5. Innovation

Type of innovation

Social

Policy innovation

Governance innovation

Novelty level of the innovation

Unknown

Please specify novelty level of the innovation

Unknown

Replicability/Transferability

The innovation is not referred to as being transferred to new initiative(s)

Please specify Replicability/Transferability

Unknown

6. Evaluation and learning

Impacts, benefits

Environmental impacts

Green space and habitat

Increase in protected green space areas

Increased number of protection areas

Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems

Description of environmental benefits

Protected Green Space/ Habitats:
Protected vast amounts of land, mainly forested areas, from urban development so that important habitat and wildlife is preserved (Ref. 5)

Economic impacts

Unknown

Description of economic benefits

Unknown

Type of reported impacts

Achieved impacts

Indicators

Area of protected land [km2] (Ref. 1,4)

Environmental, social and economic impacts

Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)

Cultural heritage and cultural diversity

Environmental quality

Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)

Health and well-being (SDG 3)

Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)

Analysis of specific impact categories

Job creation: The NBS created ...

Voluntary work opportunities

Environmental justice: The implementation of the NBS project resulted in ...

Improved access to green and/or blue spaces

Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?

No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project

COVID-19 pandemic

Unknown in relation to this particular NBS, but a recent study found that outdoor recreational activity increased by 291% during lockdown in Oslo (Ref. 11)

Methods of impact monitoring

Process of recording NBS impacts

No evidence in public records

Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS

Unknown

Evidence for use of assessment

Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process

Yes

Presence of indicators used in reporting

Yes

Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports

Yes

Link to monitoring/evaluation reports

https://www.fylkesmannen.no/Oslo-og-Akershus/Miljo-og-klima/Marka/Markaradet/

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

Impact assessment mechanism

Name of any specific impact assessment tools

Unknown

Use of GIS in mapping impacts

Citizen involvement

Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation

Yes

Mode(s) of citizen involvement in evaluation/assessment

Other

Please specify other modes of citizen involvement in evaluation/assessment

Board of Marka (Markarådet) consists of citizens from different organizations and political parties from the public and acts as an ombudsman for other involved parties in relation to the Marka Act (Ref. 6). The Outdoor Council of Oslo and Surrounds (Oslo og Omland Friluftsråd) has also been largely involved in the Marka Act (Ref. 7).

Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation

Yes

Please specify

The Board of Marka is a citizen-run initiative that is largely involved in assessment and evaluation of decisions regarding Marka (Ref. 6)

Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment

Unknown

7. Sources

References

Web links relevant to the intervention

Ref. 2 Law of nature areas in Oslo and other municipalities (The Marka Act)

Ref. 4 The Marka Act

Ref. 6 Implementation of the Marka Act

Ref. 7 General info about OOF

Ref. 9 The Protection of Marka

Documents relevant to the intervention

Attachment	Size
Ref. 10 Oslo Municipality's part of Marka (848.91 KB)	848.91 KB
Ref. 11 Urban nature in a time of crisis - recreational use of green space increases during the COVID-19 outbreak in Oslo (1.33 MB)	1.33 MB

List of references

1. The City of Oslo (2003). Strategy for Sustainable Development. Environment and Sustainability Status 2002. Urban Ecology Programme 2002–2014. Oslo [Not available in 2020].
2. Lovdata (n.d.). Law of nature areas in Oslo and other municipalities (The Marka Act)/Lov om naturområder i Oslo og nærliggende kommuner (markaloven). Available at: https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/2009-06-05-35 [Accessed: 30 October 2020].
3. Statens Naturoppsyn (2013). Act on nature areas in Oslo and nearby municipalities./Lov om naturområder i Oslo og nærliggende kommuner. [Not available in 2020].
4. Fylkesmannen i Oslo og Akershus (2017). The Marka Act/Markaloven. Available at: https://www.fylkesmannen.no/Oslo-og-Akershus/Miljo-og-klima/Marka/Markaloven/ [Accessed: 30 October 2020].
5. Bugge, J & Reusch, C. (2010). Handbook for the Marka Act./Håndbok for Markaloven. Oslo og Omland Friluftsråd. Oslo. [Document provided].
6. The State of Norway (2009). Implementation of the Marka Act/Iverksettning av Markaloven. Available at: https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/t-309-iverksetting-av-markaloven/id577064/ [Accessed: 30 October 2020].
7. Oslo og Omland Friluftsråd (2002). General info about OOF. Available at: http://www.osloogomlandfriluftsrad.no/om-oof/hvem-er-oof [Accessed: 30 October 2020].
8. The City of Oslo (2017). Quiet Urban Areas. [Not available in 2020].
9. The City of Oslo (2017). The Protection of Marka. Available at: https://www.oslo.kommune.no/english/politics-and-administration/green-oslo/best-practices/marka/ [Accessed: 30 October 2020].
10. ByPlan Oslo (1990). Municipal Master Plan. Oslo Municipality's part of Marka. Kommunedelplan. Oslo kommunes del av Oslomarka. March 1990. [Document provided].
11. Venter, Z. et al. (2020). Urban nature in a time of crisis: recreational use of green space increases during the COVID-19 outbreak in Oslo, Norway. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research. DOI: 10.31235/osf.io/kbdum [Document provided].

Attachments

Attachment	Size
Ref. 5 Handbook for the Marka Act (2.28 MB)	2.28 MB

Comments and notes

Comments

Section 4/ Actors: Difficult to distinguish which bodies of government were local/ regional/ national.

Additional insights

section 4 enablers: Green and blue-green infrastructure is central in several policies in, strategies and plans in Oslo, but they are not always specifically GI/BI/NBS plans
Oslo is a very progressive city when it comes to climate change adaptation and sustainability. However, no specific city network focused on climate change was found, but their work on climate change adaption is rather embedded in visions and strategies of most businesses/agencies/networks and projects

Pictures of the NBS

/sites/default/files/nbs/images/oslomarka.png

/sites/default/files/nbs/images/marka.jpg

Public Images

Source: Ref. 9

Source: https://naturvernforbundet.no/noa/markaloven-og-markagrensa/category3327.html

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marka,_Oslo