Biodiversity and ungulate management in managed forests Authors: Stefan SCHNEIDER *, Hans VON DER GOLTZ *, Alexander HELD ** Ungulate effects on silviculture and forest biodiversity are a controversial and emotional topic across Europe. To get to a more objective and fact based debate related to the equilibrium of forest regeneration, forest biodiversity and ungulate population densities, the BioWild Project was set up as a multidisciplinary joint research cooperation between the Universities of Dresden, Gottingen, Munich and the ProSilva Germany association (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Naturgemäße Waldwirtschaft e.v.) as lead partner. The project is supported by numerous partners such as forest practitioners, nature and environmental protection agencies, hunters, forest owners, researchers and woodprocessing industries. The EFI Central European Regional Office EFICENT is serving in the Project Advisory Board. Generating an objective Database Because there is no reliable scientific data available for ground vegetation under a given ungulate population the BioWild Project wants to assess within a six year period the equilibrium state in between natural forest regeneration and the browsing influence of ungulates, taking into account the specific characteristics within different representative regions in Germany. The regularly taken records within approximately 250 control fences (game exclosure fences), each 12 x 12 meters in size (and the corresponding non fenced witness areas) will allow researchers to come to objective conclusions about the overall state of the ground vegetation as well as about the balance between forest vegetation and ungulate populations, allowing the project partners to develop general forest and game management concepts for addressing and solving these issues. Guiding principles for policy and decision support will be formulated. Figure 1: The first BioWild ex closure fence was built in spring 2016 in the State forest of Schmallenberg, North Rhine Westphalia in a stand dominated by European beech (altitude: about 700 m above the sea level) with local admixtures of spruce and silver fir. Photographer: Stefan Schneider 1
Finding ways to secure the future of mixed, stable and resilient forests and the resulting ecosystem services, new strategies for creating and maintaining a balance between natural forest vegetation and ungulates will be tested across five pilot regions in Germany. To create variance within the data set, the five BioWild Project regions covering about 25,000 ha of forest lands are within the federal states of Baden Wuerttemberg, North Rhine Westphalia, Saarland, Saxony Anhalt and Thuringia. Those five pilot regions include state forest as well as communal and private forest lands; while hunting is done either by forest owners themselves or by external hunters leasing the hunting rights on the forest areas. On this broad basis a gradient of hunting habits, topography, elevation and soil fertility of forest sites etc. might be detected and hopefully representative results for most German forest sites will be obtained linking individual biodiversity parameters to browsing intensity and wildlife management models. Raising awareness through an information and communication process All project partners agree on the fact that forest proprietors as owner of the shooting right and the hunters as hunting tenant should work closely together to achieve a defined and formulated silvicultural objective. This particularly means that they both need to talk to each other to find jointly agreed solutions. To promote communication among all actors hunting activities in the project sites are accompanied by an intensive information and communication process. To regularly inform all participants of the BioWild Project as well as a broader public in a comprehensive and transparent way and to promote a raising social awareness a project homepage was set up. The link www.biowildprojekt.de enables everyone to access easily comprehensive information about the project, its objectives as well as the actual state of the project. In addition, all internet users may have access to closer information about the project members and its related staff, as well as information about the pilot project sites via a geo information viewer. Visitors may also find information about events as well as recent publications or newspaper articles related to the project. 2
Figure 2: Recent information about the BioWild Project are now available under www.biowildprojekt.de. The homepage is also optimized for mobile use. Photographer: Stefan Schneider Adaptation of hunting strategies and regulations for the sake of forest regeneration Regulations, each based on the local hunting legislation of the five respective federal states of Germany had been modified in favor of the project objectives, promoting a synchronization of hunting periods for all game species. This measure will improve the legal situation for all hunters and forest owners within the pilot regions who want to reduce excessive ungulate populations in forest ecosystems. If those new hunting possibilities are implemented or not and how hunting is exercised (individual hunting, driven hunt, etc.) remains within the unique responsibility of each hunter only restricted by animal welfare and wildlife biology expertise. Within the breeding season and in late winter the new rules prohibit all hunting activities. The overall objectives of the BioWild Project The results of the project will contribute to a rising awareness within the nationwide (and hopefully trans boundary) public opinion, particularly within the group of forest owners since diverse and species rich forest ecosystems crucially contribute to maintain biodiversity, to help connecting biotopes, to protect our climate and to provide environmental services. Robust and diverse ecosystems also generate steadily stable revenues for forest owners at a much lower risk compared to monocultures. 3
Figure 3: Tubex wildlife protection esthetics on a storm damaged forest area in the administrative district of Siegen Wittgenstein in North Rhine Westphalia. An (expensive) imposition for forest owners and visitors. Photographer: Hans von der Goltz Based on project observations the project members will demonstrate to the public, and to the participating forest owners in particular, which immediate and long term effects (ecological and economic) their decisions have on silvicultural issues or hunting. For this purpose, the project results will be processed as easily understandable demonstration sites in the pilot regions. They will serve as excursion and field day destinations for forest managers, hunters, experts as well as the general public. Further, the demonstration sites are also of importance in the wider European context. A number of countries are currently revising their hunting policies for mitigating the ungulate effects in forest ecosystems. The BioWild Project and its demonstration sites serve as point of reference. EFI, via its Regional Office EFICENT, is supporting countries and forest owners in reviewing existing wildlife management regulations as well as supporting the development of new wildlife policies. The BioWild demonstration sites are a very important tool for these EFI activities and will be used for the EFI Exchange of Experts (EoE Forest) activities. Project funded via the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation The project period is from 15th September 2015 to 31st August 2021. The six year project budget is about 2.47 million, of which 1.89 million are financed by the German National Biodiversity Program with funds of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) with resources of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB). The remaining 0.58 million are financed by the four network partners, partially with contributions of forest owners, forest administrations and non governmental organizations. 4
* For further information please contact the project manager Stefan SCHNEIDER ANW Deutschland e.v. Projektbüro BioWild Wormbacher Straße 1 57392 Schmallenberg Germany Tel: +49 (0) 29 72 / 98 49 379 E mail: waldwild@anw deutschland.de Homepage: www.biowildprojekt.de ** European Forest Institute Regional Office EFICENT Wonnhaldestr. 4 79100 Freiburg Germany 5