Military Training Areas - Places with High Nature Conservation Value

MILITARY TRAINING AREAS - PLACES WITH HIGH NATURE CONSERVATION VALUE

Milota Kustrová

Abstract: The term military areas covers a wide and heterogeneous range of terrains and infrastructures owned and/or used by the armed forces. Most of the military areas, and especially those used for training and testing, contain significant, even spectacular, amounts of natural and semi natural habitats and landscapes, with corresponding abundances of wildlife. Sometimes they are among the richest and most important sites for biodiversity in the country. The article deals with the description of military training areas from the nature conservation perspective, talks about the importance and nature conservation projects in military areas in some European countries.

Keywords: military training area, nature conservation

1 Introduction At first view, military practice and nature conservation have little in common. But: Since military areas are less fragmented and benefit from a rather low impact of agriculture and forestry they are of utter importance to conservation. The military areas used for training and firing exercises stand out as large areas, uninterrupted by roads or built-up areas. Size is an important ecological condition for the population dynamics of many species. The French Ministry of Defence is one of the country’s biggest landowners, controlling 265,000 ha, 0.5% of the total national territory. 13 military camps alone account for 40%, or 108,600 ha. The UK’s Ministry of Defence owns 240,000 ha in total, 1% of total British land territory. The natural value of this estate is illustrated by the fact that it includes 190 SSSI (Sites of Special Scientific Interest, the most stringent protection level under national legislation in the UK). The Italian armed forces control a territory whose total surface is 170,100 ha, four times the surface of the nation’s flagship Abruzzo National Park. This includes 331 training areas, half of which are used as firing or shooting range, and about 200 sites occupied by lighthouses and radar devices.[1] In all these areas public access is strictly forbidden, as well as any kind of exploitation, including building, agriculture and tourism development. Many rural areas have lost ecological gradients as a result of rural land consolidation programs and intensification of agriculture. These processes bypassed military areas. Many military areas have a high biodiversity because they were never used agriculturally, and so were never fertilized. A basic ecological principle is that the number of different plant species on a site increases as that site’s soil and water becomes poorer in nutrients. An oligotrophic environment means that microhabitats, each with their peculiar plants and animals, stand out more clearly, whereas when soil and water become enriched with nitrogen and phosphorus (i.e. eutrophic) the ecosystem becomes more uniform and biodiversity declines. Some areas have been used only as 59 military areas for very long periods, during which other users were not allowed in, or much constrained in their activities. This meant no intensive agriculture, no residential building, no quarrying or mining, no hydrological changes, etc. Hence, natural processes (like river erosion and sedimentation processes, mobile dunes, accumulation of dead wood in forests) could take place untrammelled over large areas and – often – on intact soils. The armed forces may not originally have had the intention to preserve large tracts of natural heritage, but the fact that de facto they have done so, deserves to be acknowledged.

2 The impact of military activities on nature The general public usually considers military training areas as a devastated moonscape. This opinion is widespread especially among those who have never been to a military area, or who lack the necessary information. People are often convinced that operations in the military areas cause large-scale contamination by chemical or radioactive combat substances, fuels, destruction of vegetation and soil, killing animals or disturbance by excessive noise. These negative factors, if they do occur, usually affect only small sites within the military areas which are intensively used for training. Much larger areas of military districts, however, serve only as a buffer zone for the intensively used parts and military operations are almost never carried out here, or only irregularly and very rarely. Such extensive buffer zones are needed primarily for safety reasons. They often serve as important refuge for endangered species and communities. Human activities with negative impact on the natural environment, such as over-intensive agriculture and forestry, construction, industry and recreation, are excluded in the long term from the areas of active military operations. Moreover, the regular disruption of land cover during military operations supports the maintenance of several habitats of community interest (it often replaces the natural function of wind on drift sands). Military areas are isolated from the surrounding landscape for decades. Its biological value is several times greater than of the surrounding countryside.[2] This may sound strange, given the kind of activities commonly associated with military use. Disturbance does occur in military areas, but mostly at regular intervals, often in the same sections of the area, while the size of many military areas allows migration possibilities. Although military exercises may seem violent and spectacular, in many bases and training areas only a part of the site is used. Firing ranges for instance typically consist of long straight ‘shooting galleries’ separated by broad areas of wood or heath in between. The ranges are used, but for obvious reasons there is not much traffic on them, and the swathes of nature between the firing lines are seldom if ever used for anything. Tanks and other heavy vehicles tend to be used on well-defined tracks or routes which do not change that often. Infantry exercises do range over a wider area, but their impact is often low. Paradoxically, some of the disturbance that occurs during military activities can be beneficial for conservation. Pioneer communities of fauna and flora depend upon disturbance; in nature this can be soil erosion, wildfire, flooding etc., to which certain species are adapted. In the absence of disturbance, such communities evolve into other habitats through the process of natural succession. Bombing, shelling, prescribed burning for training purposes and armoured vehicle manoeuvres can mimic these natural disturbances and create pioneer communities, or maintain them against natural succession. Thus bare sand and soil, uncommon habitats which rapidly evolve through succession but host a range of rare plants and invertebrates, are constantly created in military areas used for such exercises. Holes left

60 by tracked vehicles can fill with water and become pools which are ideal breeding habitat for amphibians. [1] Defence estate covers a number of sites of high ecological value, with a variety of well- preserved habitat types ranging from long tracts of coastline and alluvial plains to high mountain peaks, heaths and scrub, wetlands and steppe grasslands in between.

3 NATURA 2000 and the military NATURA 2000 is a coherent European ecological network of protected areas that is being established within the EU Member States. The network aims to conserve the most valuable natural habitats and the most endangered species of wild fauna and flora - i.e. habitats and species of Community interest. The European Commission selects the sites from submitted proposals (National Lists) of the individual Member States and decides about their incorporation into the NATURA 2000 network. Natura 2000 is not a system of strict nature reserves where all human activities are excluded. Given that they host such important natural heritage, it is not surprising that considerable portions of the military estates in the EU scientifically qualify for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network, and have indeed been proposed (for examples: in the Netherlands 50% of the total military estate have been included into Natura 2000, in Belgium 70% was included, 45% of Danish military areas has been included into Natura 2000). The armed forces are already important stakeholders in Natura 2000 by the very fact that military areas have been proposed for the network, but they are also potential partners. Natura 2000 has much to gain from a partnership with the military owners and managers of pSCI (Sites of Community Importance) and SPAs (Special Protection Areas). Natura 2000 is by no means intended to be a system of totally closed reserves, and multifunctional use (including military activities) of the sites is one of the essential characteristics of the network. LIFE is the EU’s financial instrument supporting environmental and nature conservation projects throughout the EU, as well as in some candidate, acceding and neighboring countries. Many LIFE projects cover more than one site. Multi-site projects often target a particular habitat type or species at national or regional level, implementing actions in a series of Natura 2000 areas where the habitat or species occurs. In several such projects, the Natura 2000 sites included military areas. Two different routes were taken: Active military participation: the military authorities became partners in the project, responsible for carrying out conservation actions on their own land. Passive military participation: the military authorities left the conservation work to the specialists, but gave permission for the NGO or agency running the LIFE-Nature project to enter the military area and do what was needed. These are multi-site LIFE projects where some sub sites are military estate and the military authorities allow the project beneficiary to do restoration work on their land, collaborating with it in planning and supervising the work. A number of LIFE-Nature projects have received technical assistance from the Armed Forces, even though not one of the sites was a military area. In these cases, the military provides manpower, machinery or specialist knowledge towards solving a challenge facing the project on the ground. Partnership projects between the military and environment authorities, co financed by LIFE, are excellent laboratories to learn to work together and gain mutual trust and a professional working relationship. Besides active military sites, there are former military sites which kept or acquired great

natural value thanks to their military status, but began losing this value after their decommitment from military use. Where the ecological value came from regular disturbance by military activities which kept creating and re-creating pioneer habitats, decommitment meant that these habitats and the species which depend on them began disappearing. Where the ecological value stemmed from a lack of disturbance because the site was closed to the public, decommitment meant an influx of visitors, or possibly even plans to commercially exploit the site. The events of 1989 and following years brought a completely new strategic environment and this has been reflected through major changes to military infrastructure in Europe. Many military bases and training areas were closed, especially in central and eastern Europe. The process is not yet ended – armed forces are still restructuring themselves to become lighter and more mobile, in response to current security issues. In turn, this means that where such military use ends, there is a risk that the nature values decline. Since 2000 ‛nature conservation & the military’ is a major topic at Nature Foundation David (has started 2001 in Germany with a literature research and a data collection of military areas, active and decommissioned). With different projects, military training areas in Germany as well as Central and Eastern Europe (17 countries included), which own a high value for nature conservation, were identified. All relevant information was compiled in databases. The aim of Nature Foundation David efforts are to ensure the long-term protection of conservation values in those areas already taken out of military use or those to be decommissioned soon. In cooperation with CEE web (Central and East European Working Group for the Enhancement of Biodiversity, who has started international military project with CEE network in 2006, Since 2007 they both work together), NF David try to identify military training areas – in current military use or decommissioned – which have a value for nature conservation. The focus was on military training areas larger than 1,000 ha. For these areas detailed information on their conservation value, occurring species, protection status etc. were collected for a database. Results of the database: 6 countries are cooperating in the project and entering data; to date 97 military areas are recorded; where of 73 sites in military use and 24 decommissioned; 40 sites are more than 1 000 ha large; ranges from 300 – 37 000 ha; 24 sites with protection status (NPR, Natura 2000) in all countries; 35 LIFE+ projects on MTAs in Europe, 8 in new Member States (Table 1).

Table 1 LIFE+ projects on MTAs in EU new member states [3, 4] EU Country Full name of LIFE + project Total budget co financing Hungary Restoration and conservation of priority habitats 2.218.000 € 75 % and species in the Eastern Bakony area Establishing the background of saving the 649.000 € 50 % Hungarian meadow viper from extinction Conservation of Otis tarda in Hungary 4.350.000 € 44 % Conservation of Aquila heliaca in the Carpathian 585.000 € 75 % basin Slovakia Restoration and management of Sand Dunes 1.538.000 € 70 % Habitats in Záhorie Military Training Area Restoration of wetlands at Záhorie lowland 624.000 € 50 %

Latvia Marine Protected Areas in the Eastern Baltic Sea 3.111.000 € 50 % Restoration of biological diversity in military 905.000 € 50 % training area and Natura2000 site Adazi

4 LIFE Programs in the MTAs of the Slovak Republic Zahorie Military District is the oldest and largest military district in Slovakia and it presently covers the area of 27 650 ha. Zahorie Military District was established in its recent area in 1950, hence before the large-scale intensification of landscape. Since that time, the entire area has been used predominantly for military purposes. Other human activities have been restricted to the services for the military area only. This very specific land use has resulted in conservation of a unique area of great natural values. Running and still waters and wetlands alternate with dry sand dunes. Chemistry of eolian dunes is extremely acidic, which is reflected in specific soil conditions and vegetation cover. Thanks to extraordinary habitat diversity, there is a high number of species and communities with different ecological requirements present here on a relatively small area. High biological diversity is given also by the location of the area being situated on the edge of the Alpine, Pannonic and Continental bio geographic regions. Forest habitats of various types ranging from fen alder woods to dry pine-oak woods cover more than 72% of the area. 18 habitats of Community Importance and 6 habitats of national importance have been recorded in the area. [5] Thanks to the unique natural richness of Zahorie Military District, parts of this area have been included in the NATURA 2000 network. At present, ten Sites of Community Importance with a total area of almost 5 000 ha are located in Zahorie Military District, while proposals of other sites have been elaborated. In all Sites of Community Importance within Zahorie Military District their military use is considered as a priority. However, usually this is not in conflict with the interests of nature conservation. Zahorie has been the scene of two nature restoration and management projects, co-financed by EU-LIFE. 4.1 Project ‛Restoration of the wetlands of Zahorie lowland’ The first one, lasting from 2005 to 2009, the project ‛Restoration of the Wetlands of Zahorie Lowland’ (WETREST, LIFE05 NAT/SK/000112) submitted by the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic was supported under the LIFE NATURE Program of the European Commission. The main project objective was to contribute to the development of NATURA 2000 network in Zahorie Lowland through the conservation, restoration and overall enhancement of important wetland habitats and species. The following activities were carried out as a part of the project implementation: - Elaboration and implementation of Management Plans and Restoration Projects for 8 most significant wetlands - proposed Sites of Community Importance (4 of them are situated within Zahorie Military District); - Elaboration of amendments to the forest management plans so that they are in compliance with the requirements of nature conservation; - Implementation of specific restoration and management measures - restoration of the water regime of wetlands (blocking and backfilling the drainage ditches, restoration of small streams) and improvement of habitat conditions required by the most threatened plant and animal species;

- Construction of the fish by-pass on Rudava River near Veľké Leváre community in order to enable fish migration that has been obstructed by the existing weir, Restoration of species-rich lowland hay meadows along Rudava River (tree and bush cutting, mowing); - Education and training of project personnel, including excursions, seminars and work - shops for staff of partner organizations participating in the project; - Raising public awareness on wetland conservation and restoration through the project presentation in media, publishing information and education materials, organizing lectures and excursions for general public and installing information panels at the project sites. [5] All these actions dealt with sites that were not directly used for military training, but lay within the buffer zone around the exercise areas. 4.2 Project ‛Restoration and management of sand dunes habitats in Zahorie MTA’ At present, the rare habitats on the shooting ranges of the Zahorie Military Training Area are threatened by overgrowing with trees, especially Scots Pine and Black Locust. Such overgrowing results in serious changes in the structure of these habitats and furthermore decreases the diversity of their unique flora and fauna. The second project does however deal directly with land used for military training and exercises. Therefore, since 2006 to 2011 the Military Technical and Testing Institute Zahorie, in cooperation with the State Nature Conservation of the Slovak Republic and the Regional Association for Nature Conservation and Sustainable Development (BROZ), implemented the project ‛Restoration and Management of Sand Dunes Habitats in Zahorie Military Training Area’ (ZAHORIE SANDS, LIFE06NAT/SK/000115) [6]. The main objective of the project is to contribute to the development of the European network of protected areas NATURA 2000 in the Zahorie Military Training Area, especially through the enhanced conservation of the sand dunes and dry heaths habitats, their restoration and improvement of the living conditions for their characteristic species. [2] Project area is formed by three Sites of Community Importance (SCI Bežnisko, SCI Kotlina and SCI Šranecké piesky). All three SCIs are actively used as shooting ranges and located in Zahorie MTA. The following activities have been performed as a part of project implementation: - Elaboration and testing of new methods and approaches to the habitat management in military areas to reconcile Natura 2000 conservation requirements with their military use; - Elaboration and implementation of comprehensive Management Plans for 3 Sites of Community Importance (SCI Bežnisko, SCI Kotlina and SCI Šranecké piesky) - Implementation of specific restoration and management measures and improvement of habitat conditions for the most threatened plant and animal species at the total area almost 500 ha; - Favourable conservation status of the habitats and species of Community interest was reached at all 3 project sites; - Education and training of project personnel, including excursions, seminars and workshops for staff of partner organizations participating in the project; - Raising awareness of military personnel on nature conservation topics and improvement of cooperation between military and nature conservation institutions on nature conservation management in Zahorie MTA and other military areas in Slovakia;

- Raising public awareness on nature conservation in military areas and other project issues through project presentation in the media, publishing information and education materials, organizing lecture and excursions and installing information panels at project sites. [7, 8]

5 Conclusion There are some deep differences between the Central and Eastern Europe countries, as well as some remarkable parallelisms. Between those countries which are now members of the EU and those which are not. In the former, there is an obligation to designate Natura 2000 sites, which can include military areas, and to ensure that species and habitats from the Habitats and Birds Directives are kept in a favourable state of conservation. In the other countries, there is no such legal and enforceable obligation to designate ecologically valuable military lands as conservation areas. Only the more or less voluntary international conventions such as Bern, Bonn, Ramsar or CBD are applying here. Countries like Croatia which are candidates for EU accession are however already aligning their environmental and nature policies to the EU models, and the Council of Europe-sponsored Emerald network is in many ways parallel to Natura 2000 in its scientific concept and strategy. The transformation programs affecting all the Armed Forces of the countries mean that some training areas and other facilities have been, or will be, decommissioned, while other training areas will be modernized and the training program itself will be changed. The shift away from a conscript army means less basic training, but the target of building up a professional army implies more training, especially more advanced training. Wherever training programs are being transformed, there is an opportunity to introduce principles of ecological care into the new training schemes. Slovakia is interesting because it appears that here the obligation to designate Natura 2000 areas as a result of Slovakia’s accession to the EU in May 2004, has been a powerful catalyst in bringing together environment agencies, NGOs and military authorities to starting nature conservation work on military land. In the 1990s, after the foundation of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic, cooperation began between military and environment authorities, mainly at a local level. An example of this was a project to restore the original hydrological regime in a section, six kilometres long, of the Rudava River, which flows through the Zahorie military training area. With Latvia and Hungary, Slovakia appears to be the CEE/SEE country where practical nature restoration and management work within military areas, and the collaboration between defence and environment authorities and NGOs, is most advanced. Thus, these three countries can act as role models and examples.

References

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[3] HÖNTSCH, K. and JOHST, A. Military training areas of high nature conservation value in Central and Eastern Europe – first analysis of database and networking process. Available on the Internet [online] http://www.adazinatura.lv/~/media/Fotogalerija/Adazi/Sarolta_Tripolsky.ashx. [4] NATURE FOUNDATION DAVID: Nature conservation and the military in Central and South-Eastern Europe. Available on the Internet [online] < http://www.naturstiftung.de/uploadfiles/documents/Militaer/2806_095349_Overvi ew_total_engl_15_2012_06_28.pdf>. [5] VALACHOVIČ, D. Mokrade európskeho významu vo vojenskom obvode Záhorie. Štátna ochrana prírody SR : Banská Bystrica, 2006. 30 str. ISBN 80-89035-70-1. [6] EUROPEAN COMMISSION, DG ENVIRONMENT – LIFE UNITS. LIFE country factsheet – Slovakia 2012. Available on the Internet [online] http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/countries/documents/slovakia_en_jun12.pdf. [7] ŠÍBL, J. a KLIMOVÁ, K.: Obnova a manažment biotopov pieskových dún vo vojenskom výcvikovom priestore Záhorie. VTSÚ, ŠOP SR a BROZ : Senica - Bratislava, 2011. 28 str. ISBN 978-80-89310-64-7. [8] DIRECTORATE GENERAL ENVIRONMENT, UNIT E.4. LIFE: Ex-Post Evaluation of Projects and Activities Financed under the LIFE Programme Country-by-country analysis - Slovakia. July 2009. Available on the Internet [online] .