PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
One of the most diverse habitat complexes in northern Europe can be found in the estuary of the river Kokemäenjoki and the Yyteri Peninsula in western Finland. Here is a mosaic of rocky islets, broad beaches and mudflats, lagoons, shore meadows and semi-natural pastures grading to wooded dunes and old conifer forests. The beaches, mudflats and meadows in particular are ideal resting and feeding sites for Arctic waders during the spring and autumn migrations; there are in fact no comparable sites along the Finnish coast between Liminganlahti and Estonia. The isostatic uplift of the coast has created this spectrum of habitats from shallow littoral to meadows and inland forests which is so suitable for migrating birds, but it also represents one of the main threats. The all-important open meadows are rapibly conquered by reeds and bushes and then by trees, once livestock grazing stops, which is exactly what has been happening over the past decades. In addition, the city of Pori is expanding in this direction while increasing beach and pleasure boat recreation are affecting the shores - most ironically, bird enthusiasts have also been disturbing the avifauna.
OBJECTIVES
Biotope restoration and visitor control were thus the two pillars of this project. Work to keep abandoned shore meadows open had been going on under a job creation scheme since 1988 (the district has a high unemployment rate) but this was threatened in 1995-96 by cuts in government funding. LIFE was to provide the means to continue, securing ten jobs in biotope restoration work. Wood from the trees and bushes cut down would be used to make panels, boardwalks and observation platforms to improve visitor access. Livestock was to be brought in and through movable fences, grazing could be adapted to the seasons and management prescriptions. To obtain coherent blocks for clearing and management, private sections between the public reserve lands were to be bought. Forest owners would be asked to agree to wise-use plans. Much effort was intended to go into consultation with local citizens, e.g. through a forum to hammer out land use options and influence the local zoning plan. To seek an economic spin-off from the conservation work, the local authority and ornithologists would develop guided hiking packages for nature tourists.
RESULTS
Prior to the LIFE project, conservation efforts focused on shore meadows, which had declined drastically throughout Finland since the 1970s. Since 1987 volunteers, later supplemented by a team of labourers, had been restoring meadows in the Yyteri area. By 1996 70 ha had been restored. LIFE however allowed a much broader programme (management planning, land purchase, restoration, visitor guidance) to be undertaken. The participatory planning it carried out was innovative both at regional and at national level. The LIFE project management, wanting to know what local people consider valuable about their nature areas, sought to involve all of them and take their opinions into account (which was not yet standard practice in Finnish conservation planning in the 1990s). It used this process to prepare two plans, each for a buffer zone around the Natura 2000 core, involving not only the main landowners but also hunters, berry and mushroom pickers, boaties and hikers to whom the management of the area is also important. Participatory planning involved several meetings, after which written opinions and information about managing the site were also received from the public. The style of the meetings was innovative: a relaxed unofficial atmosphere, small groups where everybody was easily able to give his opinion. This required some adjustment from authorities who were more used to a top-down style, the beneficiary reported. The first of the two plans, the Meri-Pori plan, was not legally binding, but a set of recommendations which the environment authorities should employ to influence the official land use plans. The second plan is a forest management plan covering the forests owned by the city of Pori on the Yyteri peninsula and the private forests in the Yyteri scenic area. (1) For the forests owned by the city of Pori (covering 1000 ha), the plan was a multi-purpose forest plan taking into account nature conservation biodiversity, recreation, and landscape and shelter effects. (2) For the private forests in the Yyteri scenic area (1100 ha) – most owned by a big forestry and paper company, the rest by individuals – the plan was not binding, the purpose was more to make landowners aware of valuable biotopes. When the owner does want to cut, he must apply for a permit to the regional environment centre which should take the plan into account in its decision. An inventory of key biotopes in the forests inside and outside the Natura 2000 site was drawn up - 106 biodiversity 'hot spots' were discovered. Information about them, with management advice, was sent to landowners and authorities. A publication "key biotopes inventory in Natura 2000 buffer zones" was made. Ecological studies (birds, beetles, butterflies and plants) were carried out in the shore meadows to assess the impact of grazing management. To secure the habitats of bird species, the project purchased about 850 ha of land in the shore area (60% being shallow water and mud areas which represent important feeding and staging areas for migrating and breeding birds). All the terrestrial areas acquired (potential shore meadows) could be used for grazing in the future. NGOs and individuals in the city of Pori set up an association to start grazing with Scottish Highland cows. Agri-environment contracts were available for farmers whose cattle was grazing the shore meadows. In terms of one-off biotope management, bushes were cleared from the city-owned land and on the land purchased. An old mink farm was demolished to get more grazing area. An area of 51.5 ha of shore meadows has been restored, of which 94% (48.5 ha) was fenced and grazing management by cows, horses and sheep was initiated. Another 50 ha was planned to be cleared immediately after the end of the project. Guided hiking packages were arranged to waterfowl sites and pastures by the Ornithological Society of Pori and the Environment Society of Pori Region. These proved popular with local people. An info package was sent to 3,000 homes in the district concerning biodiversity in Natura 2000 areas in Yyteri. A biodiversity management workshop was organized called "The present status and future of Natura 2000 sites of Meri-Pori" attended by NGOs, local associations of farmers, local industrial companies and tourism enterprises. The socio-economic impact of the project was very important in Pori where the unemployment rate was one of highest in Finland. The project was able to employ 10 persons over its full duration for the biotope measures. For the benefit of sustainable nature-based tourism, visitor infrastructure was set up to guide bird watchers, including 3 observation towers, one hide, 2 km boardwalks and 1.2 km nature trails. Wood from the areas where scrub had been cleared was used to build board walks and bird observation towers. The project also published a leaflet for birdwatchers. After LIFE this work was continued with Structural Funds support. In terms of publications, a film of 20 minutes duration was produced, showing actions in the field, restoration work, building boardwalks, meetings with local people. It was distributed to schools in the Pori region. A CD-rom about "Biodiversity management in the Natura 2000 areas in the Yyteri peninsula" was also produced for distribution to schools and NGOs. The results of the project were published in the publication series of Satakunta Environmental Research Centre (9 articles altogether). The project networked with the Liminganlahti LIFE-Nature project and gave presentations at the 1998 Bath Conference on Natura 2000 and people and at the International Baltic Cities Conference.