PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Deciduous herb-rich forests account for a mere 1% of Finland's forest area. Remaining stands are threatened by intensive forestry as well as by the natural spreading and planting of spruce. Especially in southern Finland, most herb-rich forests have been cleared for farmland and pasture owing to their fertile soil. Most of Finland's surviving deciduous western taiga is in the northern and eastern parts of the country. Boreal forests comprise no less than seven different sub-habitats. This LIFE project focused on old-growth forests in which deciduous species predominate. The deciduous forests in the eastern parts of the country differ from other similar old forests in that slash-and-burn farming was practised in them for centuries. The predominant species is birch, and the forests are characterized by ample light, providing a propitious environment for species such as the white-backed woodpecker (Drendrocopos leucotos) and flying squirrel (Pteromys volans). Even here, however, the shade-loving spruce was gaining sway, reducing the diversity of tree species and undergrowth.
OBJECTIVES
This LIFE project sought to preserve the characteristic features of western taiga and herb-rich forests by removing spruce (220 ha) to prevent them from spreading, leaving rotting trees in the forest (140 ha) and burning woodland on a small scale in order to restore former burnt-over areas. The project covered nine sub-areas, two of which (Puijo and Kolmisoppi-Neulamäki) are just outside the city of Kuopio (population 90,000). Both are major recreational areas, Puijo being renowned for its scenery, vegetation and winter sports contests. The project involved the drafting and implementation of management plans for each of the nine sub-areas, taking into account environmental protection requirements as well as the needs of local residents, tourists and other user groups. This "something for everyone" approach was dictated by the fact that Puijo houses a sports complex of World Cup standard, a hotel and a lookout tower visited by 150,000 people every year. The City of Kuopio and the Kuopio Nature Society provided some of the funding for the project. Worn vegetation in the Puijo and Kolmisoppi-Neulamäki areas were to be restored and new paths laid out. Small wetland areas and meadows near the forests would also be rehabilitated (by mowing the grass and blocking the ditches).
RESULTS
This project finished succesfully. Land acquisition progressed smoothly and 273 ha was acquired. The City of Kuopio protected an additional 290 ha, without compensation, parallel to the LIFE acquisitions. It protected 229.3 ha in subsite Kolmisoppi-Neulamäki (basically the whole subsite), 42 ha in subsite Puijo and 19.3 ha in subsite Halmejoki. A win-win outcome: The owner of Turulanvaara site, Suomen Metsäosuus Oy, is part of a big Finnish forest industry company. It remained the owner of the forest, because the LIFE-Nature project only paid the value of timber which can not be used any more, and used the fact that a certain % of its forests was now nature conservation area for sustainability certification purposes. The project produced 6 restoration plans and 3 management plans. The implementation of all management plans started during the project; for restoration plans implementation was completed within the project. The only delay was the management plan for Puijo, which was not adopted until 21.6.2004. It took more time than foreseen, because of the site’s complexity (popular recreation area for citizens of Kuopio, with ski facilities, lookout tower and a small hotel with a restauraunt; covered by boreal forests, herb-rich forests and hosts 5 Annex II FFH species). Public consultation on Puijo continued after the project end and the beneficiary did the necessary adjustments before adopting the plan. However, the implementation of this plan already started within the project. The project removed spruce from 150 ha, increased decayed wood on 80 ha and restored 2 mires (7 ha in total). The biotope management measures were implemented in all 9 subsites as foreseen and most of them do not need further measures within the near future. Much experience was gained on the management of boreal forests and Fennoscandian herb-rich forests and the monitoring of these activities in the future should bring more new information. The success of the restoration measures is being monitored, but definitive results of the project biotope management measures can be better known only after several years. Conservation benefits for the Natura 2000 site and species/habitats targeted: The project area was 830 ha; all sites are pSCI and 3 are also SPA. The size of the sites ranged from 14 ha to 232 ha. The main target was conservation of *boreal forests and Fennoscandian herb-rich forests and species related to them, but also other habitat types benefited directly, like *bog woodlands and Fennoscandian lowland species-rich dry to mesic grasslands. Additionally 5 other habitat types benefited indirectly. An Annex II species directly benefiting was the flying squirrel, Pteromys volans, from the restoration activities in overgrown herb-rich forests. Plant species which have benefited from project restoration actions were Cypripedium calceolus, Cinna latifolia, Diplazium sibiricum, Plagiomnium drummondii and Herzogiella turfacea. Plagiomnium drummondii exists only in Finland within the EU-15 and of the 40 Finnish occurrences, 25 % are in Puijo subsite. Herb-rich forest restoration in Huosiaisniemi, the best lady’s slipper site in southern Finland, improved habitat conditions for Cypripedium calceolus. As for Annex I species of the Birds Directive, protection and management actions of the project certainly improved the living conditions of several species. Conservation techniques: Using explosives to increase decayed wood was an innovative method in Finland and Fennoscandia. The beneficiary compared the expected results and costs between different methods for increasing decaying wood. Costs for using explosive were about 550-733 EURO/ha; pushing trees down with a machine 412 EURO/ha, but the two methods can not always replace each other. The monitoring of Kolmisoppi-Neulamäki included an interesting study on the risk of increasing bark beetles by increasing decayed wood, because this discussion cropped up during the implementation of the project actions. The results showed that “dangerous” bark beetles like Ips typographus and Pityogenes chalcophragus did not increase much, probably because 1) work was done in winter, 2) microclimate in small-scale openings is not favourable to Ips typographus and 3) natural enemies of bark beetles increased at the same time. This study gave good arguments to continue with this type of biotope management measure in other Natura 2000 areas as well. Project results were disseminated elsewhere, e.g. in Italy (LIFE-Nature seminar “Strategies for the Conservation and Restoration of European Forests”, Parma, 7-9.6.2001), in Estonia (seminar about restoration possibilities to protect biodiversity in Estonia 4.12.2001) and at the Italian LIFE-Nature Bosco Fontanella project seminar in Mantova in May 2003 (Dead wood – a key element to biodiversity). The project coordinator, hired via LIFE on a temporary basis, got a permanent position at the Environment Centre of Pohjois-Savo at project end.