PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
In the Mediterranean region, yew (Taxus baccata) usually grows with other tree species in mixed forests. Wooded formations made up solely of Mediterranean yew are listed in Annex I of the Habitats Directive as priority for conservation, and are very rare. They are often reduced to small enclaves in remote mountain areas. Climatic and anthropogenic factors seem to have led to the isolation of this yew population for a long period of time, which may have significantly contributed to increasing the distinctiveness of the population, due to a restricted gene flow and genetic drift. The Iberian Peninsula is the southernmost limit of yew distribution in Europe, and is currently subject to extreme environmental conditions, typical of a marginal distribution area.
According to Article 17 of the EU Habitats Directive, both Spain and the EU are not doing enough in relation to the conservation problems of this priority habitat type. In both the Mediterranean and Atlantic region, the indicators “area of occupancy”, “structure and functions” and “future prospects” are assessed as “unfavourable-inadequate”. The situation is worse in the Mediterranean region, with the indicator ‘structure and functions’ estimated to be “unfavourable-bad”. At European level, the conservation status of Mediterranean yew is also unfavourable for all indicators. This situation reflects the serious problems it faces in both the EU and Spain (with the yew forests of the Cantabrian mountain range).
OBJECTIVES
The aim of the LIFE BACCATA project was to improve the conservation status of the priority habitat type, Mediterranean yew, in 15 Natura 2000 network sites in the Cantabrian mountains, by focusing on three conservation status indicators: “area of occupancy”, “structure and functions” and “future prospects”. Specific project objectives were to:
- Develop targeted actions to increase the area covered by Mediterranean yew woods including silviculture activities, removal of exotic species, and cultivation and planting of characteristic species of plants;
- Implement measures designed to improve the structure and functions of the woods, including silviculture works to promote characteristic species and control exotic species, and establishing infrastructure to stop herbivores having a negative impact;
- Apply measures to achieve an improvement in the future survival prospects of the woods, including establishing Mediterranean yew ‘genetic resources conservation units’ (GRCUs) and two gene banks, drafting a management plan and storing a collection of DNA tissue samples in five arboretums;
- Improve habitat knowledge and protection measures against human induced pressures;
- Establish a specific strategy to disseminate and transfer knowledge on the measures developed during the project to ensure their replicability at EU level. The GRCUs will be part of the EU programme EUFORGEN (the European Forest Genetic Resources Programme);
- Inform and raise public awareness on the relevance, values and ecosystem services provided by Mediterranean yew woods; and
- Involve regional and local administrations, landowners, stock-breeders and forestry associations in the long-term conservation of this priority habitat.
RESULTS
Overall, the project was implemented satisfactorily and its main objective, to improve the conservation status of habitat 9580* in 15 SACs in the Cantabrian Mountains, by acting on three habitat conservation status indicators (area of occupancy, structure and functions and future prospects), has been achieved but not in its entirety. The reason for this failure is that in 3 of the 12 target SACs of Castilla y León (ES0000210 Alto Sil, ES4130149 Omañas and ES4130037 Hoces de Vegacervera) no action was carried out. In the SACs ES4130035 Valle de San Emiliano and ES4120025 Ojo Guareña the only action undertaken was the creation of one of the planned arboreta.
The conservation works undertaken in the other 11 SACs have allowed the increase of 146.03 ha in the area occupied by habitat 9580* (vs 146 ha envisaged) and the improvement of this habitat by 472.3 ha (vs 541 ha envisaged). It should be mentioned that actions A1 (characterisation and diagnosis of habitat 9580*) and A2 (planning of actions) revealed that the number of spots where habitat 9580* would be enlarged or improved should be increased, even if each of them was smaller than those planned. Also, it should be taken into account that the previous information and cartography on habitat 9580*, on which the proposal was drafted, were not particularly accurate and that these were improved in the framework of Action A1, allowing a more adequate design of the conservation actions to be developed within the framework of the project and without losing the objective of the project at any time.
The project has made a major contribution to improve the knowledge, and hence, the information available about the distribution, characterisation and conservation status of habitat 9580* in northern Spain. However, this has not yet been reflected in the SDF, as committed by the competent authorities (Regional Governments of Galicia, Castilla y León and the Basque Country) before the project start.
The project has defined the variability and the genetic relationships between the different populations of Taxus baccata and the degree of genetic connectivity, establishing their kinship structure and producing a genotypic database. It is worth highlighting that the territorial scope of the genetic analysis was far increased from the 15 SACs initially envisaged, to 82 localities (1,151 yew trees sampled) that include 49 natural populations (1,114 yew trees sampled) covering 30 SACs from northern Iberian Peninsula (Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Euskadi, northern Portugal), and 37 monumental yews. The information of the 49 natural populations was shared with EUFORGEN. As a result, the EUFORGEN core network has added a new Forest Genetic Conservation Unit in EUFGIS, and one of the existing ones has been redistributed. The information available on the rest of the Northern Iberian Peninsula units has been improved. Thanks to the involvement of INIA-CSIC, CITA and MITECO in this process, 49 yew Genetic Conservation Units have been incorporated at Spanish level.
The awareness raising activities accumulated an important delay during the two first years of the project and started gathering pace over the course of 2019. However, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted seriously on them. From the onset, this part of the project was not very ambitious in terms of audience targeted and the type of activity organised. Main efforts were focused on the display of the itinerant exhibition and the implementation of activities aimed at schoolchildren and the general public in Castilla y León and in Galicia for which several dissemination and merchandising materials were produced. In the Basque Country, apart from the display of the exhibition, an informative route is open in the Natural Park of Pagoeta since July 2020 (and it seems that is being well received by the visitors to this protected site). Two workshops were organised in 2017 and 2018 with an attendance of about 30 people in each event. The effort invested in the project website and the social media was the minimum necessary. Three articles were published in scientific journals. The layman’s report (ES/EN) was attached to the FR.
In relation to networking, the initial approach (creation of a communication platform and working groups to work through the project website) was completely unsuccessful. Only during the last phase of the project implementation, the beneficiaries organised several exchange visits to other projects dealing with the same topics and two virtual workshops to inform relevant stakeholders and interested parties about the project results.
