PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The morphological diversity of Bologna Province engenders a great variety of microclimates, which in turn has repercussions on the vegetation. The project concerns 7 pSCIs which include habitats such as dry heaths, grasslands on calcareous substrate and calcareous screes. The difficult access to some of the subsites has allowed amphibians (Salamandrina terdigitata), bats (Myotis myotis, Myotis biythi, Rhinolophus euryale) and birds (Falco biarmicus, Falco peregrinus, Pernis apivorus) of Community interest to survive here.
All of the problems facing the sites have man-made origins. The continuous impact of the road systems and the lack of ponds and pools, caused by tapping water for agricultural purposes, has led to a general impoverishment in biodiversity. Uncontrolled human exploitation of the caves, plus the fact that inappropriate forestry practices have yielded woods where all trees are the same age and there are no hollow trunks, has lowered the bat population. These same forestry interventions have also degraded the juniper thickets. High-tension power lines pose grave dangers for the larger birds which crash against the cables or are electrocuted.
OBJECTIVES
The approach chosen by the beneficiary, the Province of Bologna, was new among LIFE(Nature) projects in Italy: elaboration and application of an action plan with guidelines for the management of no less than 7 proposed Sites of Community Importance with a total area of about 20,000 ha. Specific management plans were to be elaborated for at least two sites. In addition, the project foresaw a diverse spectrum of measures, ranging from appropriate agro-forestry management to allow habitats to recover, to making the power lines secure so as to avoid fatalities among the birdlife. For the amphibians, measures to boost the existing populations, such as the restoration and creation of ponds and pools, captive breeding and release of the ecologically most important species and the provision of constructions to allow passage past artificial barriers, were all foreseen. The protection of caves and the installation of artificial “holes in trees” were planned for the bats.
RESULTS
All actions have been completed according to the foreseen timetable, obtaining all the objectives and succeeding in minimizing several management problems linked with the complex structure of the project, carried out in 7 pSCIs of the Province territory. The beneficiary adopted a multidisciplinary approach in the implementation of the whole project.The project has adopted a naturalistic approach also for interventions that usually are engineering oriented, with a high potential impact, i.e. fish ladders (structures that allow fish to go upstream, overcoming pre-existing weirs). A wide range of public boards (municipalities, mountain communities, protected areas, associations) sustained the project both financially and technically. The main outcomes were:
The elaboration of an action plan for the management of 7 the pSCIs of the province and its approval as a thematic unit of the Province Territorial Coordination Plan (PTCP). The elaboration of the management plan for two pSCIs. The involvement of farmers in the implementation of sustainable practices in habitats of EU interest, i.e. calcareous grasslands, through the payment of indemnities. Several local companies have been involved for the implementation of the interventions. Numerous dissemination actions carried out (seminars, public meetings, publications, video, website). Among them it is worth mentioning the realization of a multifunctional structure, the Amphibians Centre, where in situ and ex situ conservation actions are carried out close to education spaces, favouring the contact of the students with an operative structure. A wide spectrum of field actions carried out, directed at habitats and species listed in the annexes of the Birds and Habitats Directives, together with other naturalistic peculiarities. These actions achieved the following results: Restoration and/or realization of 98 ponds, targeting amphibians of EU interest like the spectacled salamander Salamandrina terdigitata or the southern crested newt Triturus carnifex; Placement of almost 1.000 bat boxes, of infrastructures for the protection of 1 cave and of 40 artificial cavities to be inhabited by EU interest bats, like the leaf-nosed bat Rhinolophus ferrumequinum. Realization of interventions on overhead electric wires to minimize the impact of collisions for large birds like the golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos, Pernis apivorus and Circaetus gallicus. The national electric company ENEL has substituted 5,6 Km of electric wires with new Elicord. Re-naturalization of watercourses inhabited by EU interest fishes and the white-clawed crayfish. The captive breeding of a few individuals of yellow-bellied toad Bombina variegata, a species listed in annex II of Habitats Directive that is at high risk of extinction in the area. The beneficiary established contacts with other LIFE Nature projects, including the Ministry of the Environment, which is responsible for a LIFE project for the elaboration of guidelines for Natura 2000 sites, and other Italian administrations in order to exchange the achieved experience. The project has given a relevant benefit to Natura 2000, thanks to the networking approach adopted, with an incentive effect in terms of implementation of the Habitat Directive: the integration of the action plan as a thematic unit in the province plan for territorial coordination (PTCP, the general planning instrument of the province), together with other documents elaborated during the project as annexes, should contribute to a wider awareness of Natura 2000 among the municipalities included in the Bologna Province. The province expressed its intention to continue the actions of the project through a three years programme, the “Programma Rete Natura 2000”, to be started in 2003. Meanwhile, the continuation of the activities of the Amphibians Centre is assured through specific funds by the Province and the Pianoro commune, where the centre is located.
