NERI Technical Report no. 537. NOVANA. National Monitoring and Assessment Programme for the Aquatic and Terrestrial Environment. Programme Description - Part 2. Svendsen, L.M., van der Bijl, L. & Norup, B. 2005. 138 pp.

Summary

The Nationwide Monitoring and Assessment Programme for the Aquatic and Terrestrial Environments (NOVANA) entered into force on 1 January 2004.

The overall objective of NOVANA is to monitor the status of the aquatic and terrestrial environments and the pressures upon them, i.e. to:

• Describe sources of pollution and other pressures and their impact on the status of the aquatic and terrestrial environments and identify trends
• Generally document the effect of national action plans and measures directed at the aquatic and terrestrial environments – including whether the objectives are achieved and whether the trends are in the desired direction
• Meet Denmark’s obligations in relation to EU legislation, international conventions and national legislation
• Contribute to enhancing the scientific basis for future international measures, national action plans, regional management and other measures to improve the aquatic and terrestrial environments, including contributing to develop various tools.

With this programme Denmark can fulfil its international monitoring and reporting obligations concerning nature and the aquatic environment – at least at a minimum level.

The NOVANA programme replaces the Danish Aquatic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (NOVA-2003), which had been running since 1998. This programme derived from the 1987 Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment, which included the establishment of a monitoring programme for the aquatic environment to supplement environmental supervision by the regional authorities. The intention with NOVANA is to incorporate nature monitoring and especially monitoring of species and terrestrial natural habitats into the national monitoring, not least in the light of Denmark’s obligations under the Habitats Directive. In contrast to NOVA-2003, NOVANA therefore includes monitoring of species and terrestrial natural habitats. Moreover, greater priority has been accorded to aquatic species and habitats.

The actors involved in the programme are the National Environmental Research Institute, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, the Danish EPA, the Danish Forest and Nature Agency, the regional authorities (the Counties, Regional Municipality of Bornholm, Copenhagen Municipality and Frederiksberg Municipality). Overall responsibility for the programme and for its coordination lies with the National Environmental Research Institute. NOVANA activities carried out by the regional authorities are funded via government block grants. In addition, the regional authorities have incorporated part of their environmental supervision activities into the aquatic environment monitoring.

The NOVANA Programme Description is in three parts. This part of the Programme Description, Part 2, describes the individual subprogrammes. In the order they are presented here, these are the subprogrammes for:

• Background monitoring of air quality and atmospheric deposition
• Point sources
• Agricultural catchments
• Groundwater
• Watercourses
• Lakes
• Marine waters
• Species and terrestrial natural habitats
• Nationwide Air Quality Monitoring Programme (LMP IV).

Each of the subprogrammes is described following the general format:

1. Introduction. Who is responsible for what, and what the subprogramme encompasses.
2. Background and status. Previous programmes, scientific experience and follow-up on scientific knowledge, and what needs to be determined. The most important parts of the inventory of monitoring requirements are described.
3. Objectives. Overall objectives of the subprogramme.
4. Strategy. The general method. Premises applied in designing the method. How the intensive and extensive parts are handled. How the international evaluation, the statistical optimization project and the inventory of monitoring requirements have been taken into account. How the programme is linked to the other subprogrammes. Summary of the common elements.
5. Programme content . An outline of the work, but not the details. The structure of the various elements, parameters, frequencies, intervals and stations.
6. Main changes relative to NOVA-2003. How the subprogramme differs from the corresponding subprogramme under the preceding monitoring programme NOVA-2003.
7. Theme-specific assumptions (not general assumptions, as these are dealt with in Part 1). Input from and output to other subprogrammes.
8. Consequences of the programme in relation to the inventory of monitoring requirements. Review of any problems regarding fulfilment of monitoring obligations.
9. Annexes. Summary of heavy metals and hazardous substances encompassed by the subprogramme.

The present Programme Description sometimes refers to detailed information in the Programme Description for the preceding monitoring programme, NOVA-2003. The latter is available at:

http://www.dmu.dk/Overvågning/NOVA-2003+arkiv/.

Full report in pdf format (1.654 kB).