Forests & mires - Protection of forests and mires in Sweden LIFE97 NAT/S/004201

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1 Forests & mires - Protection of forests and mires in Sweden LIFE97 NAT/S/ Project description Environmental issues Beneficiaries Administrative data Read more Contact details: Project Manager: Lena SVARD Tel: Fax: lena.svard@environ.se Project description: Background Sweden has several priority habitat types for which it holds a significant proportion of the remaining EU coverage. These include in particular western taiga, bog woodland, aapa mires and raised bogs. Yet these habitats have also been fast disappearing in Sweden over the last decades. Both western taiga and bogs have been significantly affected by commercial forestry activities. It is estimated that less than 3% of the total forest area can still be considered virgin western taiga. Characterised by their complex composition of both young and old trees of deciduous and coniferous species, these virgin forests are extremely rich in biological terms, providing habitats for many threatened species of animals and plants. The dead wood, in particular, plays a central role in maintaining this high conservation value, so its scarcity is one of the most serious threats to biodiversity. All this richness disappears when an area is commercially harvested. The associated mires also suffer when the trees are chopped down, as roads have to be built into the area to remove the timber and this severely disrupts the hydrology of the mires, leading eventually to their degradation and loss. It is for this reason that the Swedish Environment Protection Agency launched a nationwide programme for the conservation of the remaining western taiga and mires of high conservation value. This LIFE project would assist in this process by co-financing the purchase of 6 sites containing priority habitats and covering altogether nearly 1500 ha. Once agreements had been reached with the landowners, a management plan would be drawn up for each individual site to ensure its long-term conservation.

2 Objectives The main objective was to acquire and legally protect six natural forest and mire sites, initially 1,486 ha in total, revised during the project to 2,115 ha. These sites are dominated by western taiga but also contain wetland habitats such as bog woodland, active raised bogs, transition mires and quaking bogs. They are located in central and northern Sweden. Results Between 1995 and 1999, a series of 12 LIFE-Nature projects with the primary objective to protect natural forest and mire habitats were launched in Sweden, with land purchase and legal protection as the main project actions. This particular project aimed at the acquisition of six sites dominated by western taiga and various mire habitats, 1,486 ha initially, later revised to 2,115 ha, located in central and northern Sweden. The final result can be summarised as follows: One of the six sites had to be cancelled due to complicated negotiations, and this resulted in a 5 % underdelivery in terms of hectares; in total 2,014 of the revised target of 2,115 ha was achieved. After the project, the sites have been left to passive management. With the project, the protection of five sites important for the long-term conservation of natural forest and mire habitats (including priority habitats) was assured. With reference to the drastic loss of these kinds of habitat over the last years, in combination with the remaining threat from commercial forestry, every contribution of protected sites was to be regarded as important at the time the project was selected. For one of the sites, Södra Åsmossen (Vargavidderna), the protection also benefited the re-establishment of a viable wolf population in southern Sweden. Environmental issues addressed: Themes Habitats - Forests Habitats - Bogs and Mires Keywords land purchase protected area environmental impact of forestry forest ecosystem conflict of interests Target EU Legislation

3 Nature protection and Biodiversity Directive 92/43 - Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora- Habitats Directiv... Decision 93/626 - Conclusion of the Convention on Biological Diversity ( ) COM(98)42 -"Communication on a European Community Biodiversity Strategy" ( ) COM(2001)162 -"Biodiversity Action Plan for the conservation of natural resources (vol. I & II)"... Target Habitat types Active raised bogs Transition mires and quaking bogs Aapa mires Western Taïga 91D0 - Bog woodland Natural dystrophic lakes and ponds Alpine rivers and the herbaceous vegetation along their banks Natura 2000 sites SCI SE Råmyran SCI SE Kroppefjäll SCI SE Berge SCI SE Sörliden SCI SE Tolikheden-Karkberget Beneficiaries: Coordinator Type of organisation Description Swedish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) National authority The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) is the central public authority for nature conservation and environment in Sweden. SEPA's mission is to build up knowledge about the Swedish environment and threats to it. SEPA's work focuses on providing the Swedish Parliament and Government with the information needed to make environmental policy decisions, and encouraging sector regulatory bodies, regional and local authorities, business, and the general public to take action and develop patterns of behaviour

4 Partners that will lead to a more environmentally sound society. One of the methods of securing biological diversity in Sweden is to purchase land and water areas of outstanding environmental or recreational interest, as nature reserves or national parks. SEPA is the agency that decides, after consulting the County Administrative Boards, which sites Sweden will invest in for nature conservation purposes. SEPA becomes the landowner in cases where land is purchased for nature conservation. Norrbotten County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen i Norrbottens län) Västerbotten County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen i Västerbottens län) Jämtland County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen i Jämtlands län) Örebro County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen i Örebro län) Skaraborg County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen i Skaraborgs län) Älvsborg County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen i Älvsborgs län) Administrative data: Project reference LIFE97 NAT/S/ Duration 01-FEB-1997 to 31-JAN Total budget 2,327, EU contribution 1,163, Östra Mellansverige(Sverige) Project location Västsverige(Sverige) Mellersta Norrland(Sverige) Övre Norrland(Sverige) Read more: Brochure Title: Vargavidderna (information brochure in Swedish about the project site Södra Åsmossen) Editor: Länsstyrelsen i Örebro län

5 Project description Environmental issues Beneficiaries Administrative data Read more