WG1 Forest and Water : Complex solutions for sustainable life!

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1 WG1 Forest and Water : Complex solutions for sustainable life! WG1 coordinator Eero Kubin Site event: EFC Working Party on the Management of Mountain Watersheds European Forest Week Finland, Rovaniemi 12 December 2013

2 Content 1. Welcome to Finland country of forests and waters - About forests, lakes, rivers and peatlands - Forest and water research in Finland - River Basin management plans 2. Background and recent activity of WG1 3. Draft Strategy of WG1 - Critical themes - Products - Services - Leading countries and potential partners - Work Plan - Funding 4. Conclusions and discussion

3 Content 1. Finland country of forests and waters 2. Background and recent activity of WG1 3. Introduction to the draft strategy paper 4. Conclusions 5. Discussion

4 Most extensive forest cover in Europe Some 23 million hectares (76%) is under forests in Finland, representing about 11% of the forest area in Europe (210 million ha).

5 Original peatland area was 10 million hectares half of this is drainaged for wood production and agricultural use

6 10 9 Peatland area 10 6 ha Protected Forestry 4 3 Natural 2 1 Peat excavation Artifical lakes Agriculture Source: Suoluonnon monimuotoisuuden turvaaminen. Kaisu Aapala, Raimo Heikkilä ja Tapio Lindholm. Suomen suot. Harri Vasander (toim.)

7 Manual ditching Examples of old peatland drainage

8 River basin management plans in Finland Regional river basin management plans have been drawn up in all EU countries (Water Directive) to achieve a quality status both surface waters and groundwater by The Finnish Government adopted the plans in December The river basin management plans were prepared in regional environment centres. The plans now cover a large part of Finland s waters. Currently, the ecological quality status of most of Finland s inland waters is either good or high.

9 Number of lakes in Finland and surface water quality lakes larger than 500 m lakes over one hectare. Length of coastline is km (lakes, rivers and marine, Kuusisto 2002)

10 In the Finnish Forest Research Institute the research and development programme Forests and Water (H2O) was launched 2013 Programme coordinator professor Leena Finér a large scale interdisciplinary project covering the key components of the terrestrial water cycle, from the physiological processes of forest trees to the water cycle at the catchment level of the Baltic Sea 10

11 In the programme there are four target areas 1. Effects of forest management on hydrology and water quality 2. Hydrology of boreal forests and changing climate factors 3. Practical tools for calculation and reporting of element leaching and hydrology of forest areas 4. Transfer of knowledge and expertise to customers 11

12 Latitude is the principal influence on Finland's climate Photos Eero Kubin Photos from the high latitudes in Finland

13 Content 1. Finland country of forests and waters 2. Background and recent activity of WG1 3. Introduction to the draft strategy paper 4. Conclusions 5. Discussion

14 Establishment of the Working Groups The establishment of pilot Working Groups is a part of the implementation of the new structure and modus operandi of the WPMMW. Establishment was approved by WPMMW members: Steering committee in Rome, July 2012 and the 29 th Session of the Working Party in Montgenerve, September The draft paper of a WG1 strategy Forests and water was elaborated during The 29 th Working Party Session and subjected for further discussion.

15 Recent activity after 29 th Session in Montgenerve, France since 3-5 September 2013 Coordination meeting as a part of IV International Forest and Water conference October 2013, Smardzewice, Poland (Poland, Finland, Germany, Slovak Republic and FAO) WG Information in a Coordination meeting to prepare an application for Horizon 2020 Integrated environmental management of forest water resources (FORWAT). November , Praque (Czech Republic, Finland, UK, Austria, Italy, JRC ISPRA) WG Information in EU4BIO - An international workshop Knowledge transfer increasing capacity in sustainable forest bioenergy production - Meeting the needs of EU2020. November 18-20, 2013, Helsinki (Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania) Coordination meeting Eero Kubin and Josef Krecek, Czech Technical University. November 2013

16 Content 1. Finland country of forests and waters 2. Background and recent activity of WG1 3. Introduction to the draft strategy paper 4. Conclusions 5. Discussion

17 Draft Strategy Paper of WG1 Forest and Water Complex solutions for sustainable life 17

18 I Critical themes Working Group 1 Forest and Water will mainly focus on the interrelationship between forests and water on catchment level. Critical themes to be addressed as follows: Role of forests in a landscape ecology for soil and water conservation Impact of forest management operations on water quantity and water quality for ecosystem services Forest water relationship in different climate regions and climatic contexts Forests and extreme events (floods and droughts) Possible conflicts in future forest management 18

19 II Products and services For products and services WG1 partners develop a network of multidisciplinary experts from forestry, hydrology, applied ecology and socio-economy (forest research, national forest services and forest management) Use of Social Media will be utilized 19

20 Main products to EFC and its member countries and partners Baseline publications, e.g. identification of problems and priorities of EFC member countries related to forest and water in different climatic regions in Europe; Education and training material, e.g. on forest management in upland watersheds and watershed rehabilitation;; Effective research teams, e.g. for identification of new problems and produce material for practical guidelines. Information material on the products and services provided by the WPMMW WG1 to the EFC and member states www-pages in collaboration with FAO to deliver products and other information

21 Main services to EFC and its member countries and partners Policy advice and arrangement of expert consultations to the EFC and member countries related to forest and water in upland watersheds (target groups: governments, municipalities, national forest services, NGOs) Development of forest management strategies and recommendations together with the EFC and member countries (target groups: governments, municipalities, national forest services, NGOs) Workshops and trainings provided and organized with the EFC and member countries (e.g. summer schools), e.g. on forest management in upland watersheds to facilitate knowledge exchange on expert and practitioner level (target groups: e.g. forest services, civil servants, Universities) 21

22 III Leading countries WPMMW members confirmed Turkey, Poland and Finland to coordinate WG1 activities. IV Potential partner countries The WG will be open to all EFC member countries and partners, who can propose own activities for the WG or participate in planned activities. 22

23 V Potential partner organization list by the members of WP MMW The WG will be open to all EFC member countries and partners, who can propose own activities for the WG or participate in planned activities. Potential collaboration partners on the topic forest and water are: Forest Europe (Warsaw resolution) UNFF EU Commission Universities Research Institutes EFI MED EFI MOUNTFOR IUFRO UNECE Water Convention

24 VI Work plan A General activities Activity Responsible institution/person A.1 Approval of WG1 concept and work plan WPMMW; EFC (Metsä2013) A.2 Dissemination and network strategy Steering Committee; WG Lead countries; WPMMW Secretariat; A.3 Reporting to the Steering Committee WG Lead countries A.4 Reporting at the Biannual Session of the WPMMW WG Lead countries B Publications / training material B.1 Information material for WPMMW and WG1 products and services Steering Committee, WG lead countries, WPMMW Secretariat; B.2 Assessment and publication of priorities and problems of EFC countries related to forest and water in the different climatic regions in Europe (Basis for a Green Paper for the EU - Commission?) Poland; Finland; (Slovakia?) B.3 WWW-pages WG1 leading countries, FAO B.4 Training material for forest management in upland watersheds (to be used and disseminated in trainings and workshops) C Trainings / workshops / seminars C.1 Field visits of good practices in forest management concerning water Turkey C.2 Organization of trainings, workshops and seminars; dissemination of training material C.2.1 C.2.2 Support to International expert workshop on Forest and Water organized by FAO, ICRAF, IUFRO in Nairobi, Kenya Support on workshop: River basin management plans and forestry practises especially in Boreal areas Metla, NorTech (Oulu University), SYKE (Finland), IVL (Sweden) 24

25 VII. Potential resources and funding WG activities should be supported under the general commitment of EFC and EFC-WPMMW member countries. WPMMW representatives and WG1 partners should therefore liaise with the EFC representative of the respective country for support of WPMMW activities. Lead countries and active partners offering the organisation of activities and products.. Travel and accommodation costs must be covered by delegates themselves. Lead partners offering the covering of publication costs. Innovative funding mechanisms and joint funding proposals for activities to third parties should be considered.

26 Contacts France: ONF-DTN RTM, Mr. Oliver Marco Turkey: Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, Mr. Mahmut Temiz Finland: Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla), Mr. Eero Kubin Poland: Forest Research Institute, Mr. Edward Pierzgalsky FAO, WPMMW Secretariat: Mr. Thomas Hofer Mr. Achim Kress

27 Conclusions Developement of WG1 is open for public conversation Preliminary workplan is presented; verification and implementation in the next Steering Committee meeting of WP MMW Integration to WG2 important Countries and partners can join to proposed activities Specific features of Boreal, Continental, Alpine and Mediterranian environments will be taken into account

28 Thank you