Forest habitats: general forestry management outside protected areas and the role of passive management

9010 Western Taiga is the dominant, most wide-spread forest habitat type in the boreal region. The Background document highlighted the most important management problems, solutions and constraintsfor this habitat type. Below is a summary of these (please see the Background document for more details). The Proposed actions/improvements have been added.

Problems

  • The area of the habitat has been decreasing and thestructural features of the habitat are negatively affectedby forestry management and development of roadinfrastructure in some countries.
  • The percentage of the habitat in Natura 2000 is 50-75 of its total area in the boreal region, however exact proportionsare unknown in Lithuania and Sweden. The Background document and the boreal preparatory meeting identified that the management of the habitat outside existing protected areas is necessary to achieve FCS, especially in Finland and Sweden, as “the total amount of the habitat is decreasing and the connectivity of the sites is getting poorer. It is also foreseeable that small and isolated fragments outside protected areas will be destroyed by forestry.” Currently, most management measures are carried out within protected areas.
  • The main pressures outside protected areas are forestry and its associated activities, such as clear cutting; thinning; removal of undergrowth; removal of dead wood; forest road building; fertilizing. Minor pressures are drainage; exploitation for other purposes; recreation. Pressures other than forestry arecommunication networks and shortage of natural disturbances, speciallyforest fires.

Other problems, such as the lack of conservation objectives (all countries), lack of management plans (except for Sweden: all) exist.

Solutions

  • The main requirement in the long run is the protection of the habitat type from forestry and exploitation. The standard management measure of western taiga is passive management that supports the natural forest dynamics.This is recommendable and sufficient when the forests are in good condition. Some active conservation measures for diversification of age structure, creating deadwood and for restoring the natural water regime might be suggested to restore and/or increase the habitat-specific biodiversity when forests are not in good condition anymore. However the large portion of the habitat area should be managed passively.
  • Protected areas should have a more even distribution in the region than is now the case. The habitat area under protection and/or the connectivity between protected sites needs to be increased.
  • Natural disturbances (e.g. forest fires) should be allowed and/or simulated.(this is discussed in another point)

Constraints

The main constraint is the lack of funding for restoration, monitoring and compensations for the loss of income; the last one causes conflicts with the landowners. There are also administrative/legislative constraints (Natura 2000 sites often overlap existing nature reserves and nature reserve regulations can be in conflict with the needs of management of Natura habitats); lack of knowledge, both of the capacity of the management bodies and of the restoration ecology; lack of common view between authorities on the need of different management and restoration efforts; lack of area. There is a conflict between conservation and the industrial forestry, about the remaining unprotected old forests that still haven’t been clearcut.

Proposed actions/improvements

Possible solutions include:

  • Defining a conservation objective for the boreal region for 9010
  • Including: what % of the existing habitat should be put under passive management to reach FCS in the region and per country
  • Working out a special support scheme for passive management for private forest owners in the boreal region through CAP or national payments(especially SE and F)
  • Wider inclusion of passive management in protected and non-protected forest habitats in forestry management plans
  • Increasing the size and connectivity of protected areas though
  • establishment of initiatives similar to METSO in the other boreal countries
  • designation of “forest connectivity areas”, especially where protected areas are small or underrepresented
  • Putting remaining old growth forests and wilderness areas under some form of strict protection and include protection of them in forestry management plans (Target 3B Action 12 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy)