Peatland Restoration in Finland - 25 years of practise makes an

Transcription

1 Peatland Restoration in Finland - 25 years of practise makes an expert (?) Restoration of mire habitats in Boreal Biogeographical Region September 2013, Soomaa, Estonia Päivi Virnes Metsähallitus, Natural Heritage Services

2 FINLAND = FENLAND? Originally peatlands 1/3 of the land area Heavy degradation by drainage for forestry since 1950s An average >50 % of peatland area drained in Southern Finland > 75 % Ca ha of previously drained peatlands in protected areas Area, ha Original peatland area Present undrained peatland area 2

3 EXTENT AND FUNDING OF RESTORATION IN FINLAND ca. 25 years of experience In recent years on average 1250 ha restored/year About ha restored so far in PAs Outside PAs only a couple of thousand hectares Funding mainly from EU LIFE projects and the national METSO programme Average cost ~ / ha timber income from tree removal partly counterbalances Currently about ha of mires in Finnish PAs are still in need of restoration 3

4 CURRENT PEATLAND RESTORATION ACTIVITY LIFE+ Nature Coordinating beneficiary: Metsähallitus Natural Heritage Services Associated beneficiaries: ELY Centre for Central Finland ja University of Jyväskylä Project period 5 years ( ) Total budget 6,726 M EC contribution 50 % Nation-wide project Will restore app ha mires on 54 sites 7110*, 7310*, 91D0*, 7230, 7120, 7160 METSO The forest biodiversity programme for Southern Finland Restoration of ca ha of forest and wooded peatland habitats in State-owned protected areas Target biotopes in peatlands: Wooded mires and the wooded margins of open mires Swampy woodlands and wooded flood meadows 4

5 BEST PRACTICE OF PEATLAND RESTORATION IN FINLAND Target setting Planning Restoration measures Monitoring 5

6 TARGET SETTING Two-level target 1. Reversing the trend of degradation requirements: elevated water level, increased openness 2. Recovery of community structure and function of pristine habitats Spontaneous re-establishment of target species from nearby source populations Pristine site Modified from Bradshaw

7 PLANNING For each protected area individually Based on extensive background work Field Inventories of habitats and species Information in GIS systems of Metsähallitus Aerial photographs from time before drainage vs. present

8 RESTORATION MEASURES TREE REMOVAL Removal of excess trees often necessary Evaporation and habitat openness Need evaluated from old aerial photos Usually done by harvesters Income from timber Photo Pekka Vesterinen

9 RESTORATION MEASURES - HYDROLOGY Ditches completely filled in by an excavator most efficient method, used whenever possible 9

10 RESTORATION MEASURES - HYDROLOGY Different types of dams are used to supplement filling in of ditches Prevent erosion and discharge of organic material (peat) Drainage has often caused decomposition of peat along ditches -> surface barriers needed to direct water away from the ditch line Photo Sari Kaartinen In some cases only dams are built Photo Reijo Hokkanen 10

11 DIFFERENT TYPES OF DAMS 11

12 Tupu Vuorinen

13 MONITORING National guidelines by a workgroup of scientists and restoration experts (Hyvärinen & Aapala 2009) Aim: to study if the targets of restoration (ecosystem function and community structure) are reached Nation-wide network for monitoring of the ecological effects of restoration Data collected by Metsähallitus analyses by research organisations Used for other ecological studies also Bridging the gap between science and practice 13

14 BEST PRACTICE OF PEATLAND RESTORATION IN FINLAND Target setting Planning Restoration measures Monitoring General monitoring Qualitative, visual Monitoring of function Run-off monitoring Hydrological monitoring of mire water level and quality Monitoring of community structure Vegetation Butterflies 14

15 FUTURE: INTEGRATION OF SPATIAL CONSERVATION PRIORITIZATION IN RESTORATION PLANNING? Spatial conservation prioritization tools, e.g. Zonation Define the value of landscape fragments by combing ecological data of several GIS data sources Possibility to examine the effect of habitat connectivity and costefficiency of restoration measures Collaboration with leading scientists Prof. Atte Moilanen (Uni. Helsinki) 15

16 DEVELOPMENT OF SPATIAL CONSERVATION PRIORITISATION TOOLS Where are nationally most valuable peatlands? ecologically most important and costefficient restoration sites? Results may be used for e.g. Defining regional restoration targets (ministries) Selecting best restoration sites (restoration planners) Cons. value High Low Lehtomäki et al

17 CONCLUDING REMARKS In Finnish conservation areas, peatland restoration aims at reaching close to the structure and function of pristine ecosystems In Finland, the gap between science and practice is narrow - national monitoring guidelines and future tools of restoration are planned in co-operation with top-class scientists and restoration experts A peatland restoration guidebook (in Finnish) has been published recently and can be downloaded at Will be translated in English during spring 2014 be sure to get one! 17

18 , 18

19 THANK YOU! 19