Working Group 1
Questionnaire: selection criteria
of protected forest areas (PFA) in Europe
This questionnaire aims at gathering detailed information about selection criteria of PFA in Europe in order to fulfil a priority task of the WG1 of the Profor COST action. Please fill in this questionnaire and send it to Etienne Branquart ().
Conservation and natural value of forest ecosystems
The creation of protected forest areas may fulfil two main motivations related to biodiversity: to maximise either conservation value or natural value (i.e. naturalness). The first one aims to protect key sites for the conservation of rare or threatened species and habitats. The second one aims to restore natural structures and processes typical of pristine woodlands. Naturalness quest meet therefore also scientific objectives (learning by watching nature, close to nature forestry, etc.).
A lot of rare and threatened species are to be found in woodlands characterised by a high naturalness such as old growth forests. For instance, saproxylic species are typically linked to over-mature trees or to large woody debris, two key structural elements often eliminated from managed forests. It means that naturalness objectives usually fulfil conservation ones. However, the opposite is not always true. Conservation management does not always lead to the restoration of natural landscapes: dry grasslands, heathlands and coppice woodlands are typically distinguished by a high conservation value (they shelter numerous red-listed species) but a low naturalness.
Questionnaire
0. General information
Country: / BELGIUM (Flanders)Person responsible: / Kris Vandekerkhove
Institute: / IBW
- Number of PFA types
1A. Total number of PFA types in the country /
N = 2
1B. Number of PFA types primarily dedicated to forest biodiversity(conservation and scientific purposes) / N = 2
* corresponding to 1.1 to 1.3 categories of the MCPFE classification
2. Motivations
The main motivations to designate PFA matching 1B criteria could be: (1) mainly a conservation target (should be based on species or habitat action plans and can involve active management for conservation purposes), (2) mainly a naturalness target (restoration of dynamic natural processes), (3) both of them, depending on individual areas within a single PFA type.
Please fill in the following table for the PFA types primarily dedicated to the conservation of forest biodiversity (cf 1B). In the last column (prime motivation), indicate (1)-(3), according to the description here above.
Table 1 – Main local types of PFAs primarily dedicated to the conservation of forest biodiversity
PFA code / PFA local name / MCPFE category / Prime motivation (1, 2 or 3)A
/ Nature reserve / 1.2 or 1.3 / 1B / Forest reserve / 1.2 or 1.3 / 2 (3)
C
D
E
F
Comments:
3. Use of scientific selection criteria
3A. Are scientific standardised criteria currently used for the selection of PFA in your country ? Yes (*)
3B. Do they prevail on pragmatic criteria (e.g. site history, owner and availability) ?...... No (*)
3C. Since when are scientific criteria used for site designation ? ...... 1973 (**)
Comments:
(*)
The ‘selection’ of new nature reserves in forests is based on evaluations by ‘high councils for nature conservation and forests’, who evaluate proposals from NC administration and private ngo’s. The proposals are primarely based on possibilities for acquirement and current natural value (primarely based on presence of rare species and vegetations). There are no strict and standardised criteria for nature reserves.
For forest reserves however, new proposals are first screened by the Institute for Forestry and Game management, using a clear set of selection criteria. Only those that match the criteria are further proposed to advisory bodies and the high councils
(**)
the law on nature conservation (1973) already contained some general criteria (rareness, vulnerability, …). Detailed and strict scientific criteria are only existent for forest reserves since 1998 and are not legally binding.
.
4. Types of selections criteria
For each of the PFA types considered in Table 1, fill in the following table. Please use the following grading: (1) primary importance, (2) incidental importance and (3) not taken into consideration.
Criteria definition
1A/ Habitat representativity: does PFA selection process aims to contain a representative selection of all forest types present in the country?1B/ Threatened habitats: does PFA selection process focus on rare and threatened habitats (e.g. prioritary Natura 2000 habitats)?
1C/ Phytocoenotic integrity: does PFA selection process focus on forest sites with a representative and undisturbed vegetation (potential natural vegetation)?
1D/ Presence of signal species: are indicator species of natural conditions (forest continuity and integrity) used for PFA selection in your country?
1E/ Presence of red listed species: does PFA selection process focus on specific rare and threatened species (e.g. Natura 2000 species)?
2A/ Vertical and age structure: is a complex vertical and age structure a prerequisite for PFA selection? Do all the forest developmental phases have to be represented into individual reserves?
2B/ Natural regeneration: is the presence of large amounts of young trees and saplings another prerequisite?
2C/ Old growth stages: does the selection process focus on old-growth areas characterised by the presence of over-mature trees and minimal amount of dead wood?
2D/ Soil and hyrdology integrity: does PFA selection process focus on sites with undisturbed soils and hydrology, including water quality and drainage?
3A/ Forest cover continuity over time: does PFA selection process focus on ancient forests with a long cover continuity over time?
3B/ Old-growth continuity over time: ditto, with a continuity in over-mature trees and dead wood within the forest.
3C/ Minimal area for PFA designation: is a minimal structural area a prerequisite for PFA selection?
3D/ PFA environment and buffer area: is PFA environment taken into account before site selection ? Has it to be included in a larger forest areas ? Has it to be remote from roads and pollution sources ? Etc.
3E/ Habitat diversity within PFA: does PFA selection process focus on habitat complexes made of various habitat types?
3F/ Landform and topography: are PFA concentrated in particular landforms (mountains, flood plains, etc.)?
Table 2 – Main selection criteria for PFA dedicated to biodiversity conservation
A / B / C / D / E / F1/ Composition
1A. Habitat representativity / 2 / 1
1B. Threatened habitats / 1 / 2
1C. Phytocoenotic integrity / 1 / 1
1D. Presence of signal species / 2 / 2
1E. Presence of red listed species / 1 / 2
2/ Structure/functioning
2A. Vertical and age structure / 2 / 2
2B. Natural regeneration / 3 / 3
2C. Old-growth stages / 2 / 2
2D. Soil and hydrology integrity / 2 / 2
3/ Landscape ecological context
3A. Forest cover continuity over time / 2 / 1
3B. Old-growth continuity over time / 3 / 3
3C. Minimal area for PFA designation / 2 / 1
3D. PFA environment and buffer area / 2 / 2
3E. Habitat diversity within individual PFA / 2 / 2
3E. Landform and topography / 3 / 3
Are there other primary scientific criteria used for site designation that have been omitted in the Table 2 ?
-Shape of the object (compact shape or not)
-Recreation pressure
-Vulnerability and ‘replacability’ (links with forest continuity, ancient trees,…)
-Rareness
-State Ownership and easily recognizable borders are not really criteria but ‘preferences’.
5. Quantitative assessment
For those criteria of primary importance for PFA selection ((1) in Table 2), explain hereafter how they are assessed and which benchmarks, references and international or national standards are used. For example, if minimal area is considered as a priority for the designation of some PFA type, give some indicative value of the threshold value. Precise what kind of signal or red-listed species are used, how forest continuity is assessed, etc.
Criteria 1 = representativity
All major forest vegetation types must be represented in the network of forest reserves. (typology based on national literature) – widely distributed types, present in different phytogeographical or climatic zones must be represented in each of these.
Criteria 2 = minimal structural area
Sizes based on international and national literature (Vandekerkhove, 1998), primarely based on dutch concept of MSA – sizes depend on forest type :
Size Range : Alluvial forests (10 ha) to Acid oak woodlands (50 ha).
Criteria 3 = vegetation composition; species presence
Proposals for new nature reserves are primarely evaluated on the presence of well developed vegetations of rare and valuable vegetation types, and/or presence of rare species.
Criteria 4 = forest continuity
Forest continuity is an important (indirect) criterion for most forest types : well developed exemples of most forest types require forest continuity (presence of indicative species in herbal layer etc.) However, for some swamp-forest types, this criterion is far less important.
Data on forest continuity are based on presence of indicator species and historical maps : a digital map of ancient forests (forest since 1775) is produced and used for this purpose
The reference list of rare habitats in Flanders of the Nature Report (Van Landuyt et al.1999) is used to define threatened forest types (e.g. Asperulo-Fagetum and Stellario-Carpinetum)
Red lists are published for numerous taxa, e.g. breeding birds, butterflies, carabid beeltes, fungi, mammals, spiders, terrestrial mollusks and vascular plants (see: