Master Thesis Cost-Effective Biodiversity Conservation
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UNIVERSITY OF COPENH AGEN FACULTY OF SCIENCE Master Thesis Sebastian Iuel Berg Cost-effective biodiversity conservation A systematic approach to conservation planning in Gribskov Supervisor: Niels Strange External supervisor: Per Lynge Jensen (the Danish Nature Agency) Submitted on: 23rd of October 2018 Name of department: Department of Food and Resource Economics Author: Sebastian Iuel Berg (KSM882) Title and subtitle: Cost-effective biodiversity conservation – a systematic approach to conservation planning in Gribskov Topic description: Conservation planning in Gribskov connected to the designation as biodiversity forest through Naturpakken, by use of evidence-based conservation and principles of complementarity. Supervisor: Niels Strange External supervisor: Per Lynge Jensen (the Danish Nature Agency) Submitted on: 23rd of October 2018 Front page photo: Rold Skov, photo © Rune Engelbreth Larsen ECTS points: 30 ECTS Number of characters: 170.417 (excluding spacing) 1 Foreword This mater thesis is the culmination of two exciting and challenging years at University of Copenhagen, studying to become a MSc in Forest and Nature Management. The master thesis was conducted in collaboration with the Danish Nature Agency, whom provided guidance and masses of data. I am particularly grateful for the guidance I received from Per Lynge Jensen - my external supervisor – and the help I received from Bjørn Ole Ejlersen, Jens Bach and Troels Borremose regarding the supply of data for the analysis. Erick Buchwald provided a priceless contribution to this master thesis, by making the compiled data set of threatened species present on areas owned by the Danish Nature Agency, which he compiled in connection to his PhD project “Analysis and prioritization of future efforts for Danish biodiversity”, available to me. Without his contribution, my work would not have been possible. The thesis came to be in an office provided by Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, where I spent countless hours during the summer of 2018. The work environment was inspiring, and allowed me to – from a distance – follow the work of some of the leading experts in Denmark on the topic of this thesis. I am especially grateful for the guidance I received from Anders Højgaard Petersen, regarding the application of the principles of complementarity. Finally I would like to thank Niels Strange – my supervisor – for his patience and guidance throughout my work, and inspiring lectures prior to my choice of topic. 2 Abstract This thesis investigates the biodiversity potential in the areas designated as biodiversity forest through the Nature Conservation Action Plan (Naturpakken), in Gribskov. It aims at answering how the conservation of nationally- and internationally threatened species can be ensured cost effectively in the newly designated area, under the economic limitations given by the Nature Conservation Action Plan. The thesis aims at addressing this question by firstly providing evidence for the design of interventions that effectively promote the conservation of threatened forest dwelling species. This is achieved by relying on the principles of evidence- based conservation, and conducting a structured literature review based on the Mistra Council for Evidence- Based Environmental Management (EviEM) biodiversity database. Following the systematic literature review, an optimization exercise was conducted with the aim of ensuring cost effective resource allocation for biodiversity enhancing interventions – the characteristics of which was provided by the literature review – by applying the principles of complementarity, and solving a series of complementarity based algorithms. An input of threatened species distribution data (compiled in connection to the PhD project Analysis and prioritization of future efforts for Danish biodiversity and supplied by the author of said PhD project, Erik Buchwald), and intervention cost estimates allowed for calculating an optimal solution for the resource allocation for biodiversity enhancing interventions in Gribskov. Contrary to the general use of complementarity analysis, this thesis applies the method on a single forest scale, and uses the litra system for targeting conservation actions. The analysis was conducted on a basis of a categorization of the threatened species within the designated area of Gribskov, by their overall habitat requirements defined as wetland associated-, open habitat associated- and saproxylic species. The systematic literature review identified three themes of conservation actions necessary to effectively ensure the continuous presence of threatened forest dwelling species: dead wood enrichment, hydrological restoration and establishment of forest grazing. The recommendations for enabling effective conservation actions regarding dead wood enrichment consists of maximizing substrate diversity. In case of forest grazing the greatest effect is achieved by applying low to moderate grazing pressures (>0,25 animal units ha-1), focusing on expanding areas with a history of continuous management and establishing year round grazing. The literature review revealed a significant research gap regarding hydrological restoration in forests formerly managed for timber production, and thus provided no evidence on this topic. It is as such recommended that the Danish Nature Danish Agency clearly documents baseline conditions prior to any hydrological restoration effort, which will provide valuable information for future research on this topic. The revealed evidence provided the basis for designing biodiversity enhancing intervention models aimed at accommodating each habitat requirement category – these intervention models made up the basis for cost estimation used as input in the complementarity analysis. The complementarity analysis provided a spatial prioritization of areas that should targeted for biodiversity enhancing interventions, to ensure cost effective conservation. In case of dead wood enrichment and hydrological restoration, the targets suggested by the complementarity analysis had a minimal impact on providing an increase in available habitat for wetland associated and saproxylic species – which is attributed to the applied intervention models. The application of the litra system turned out to disadvantageous regarding the optimization of hydrological restoration interventions, in which a grid system is suggested to be more useful. The complementarity analysis did however provide useful results regarding optimization of grazing management, although ensuring connectivity between the targeted areas will induce additional costs. If species distribution data at sufficiently high resolution is available, and the conservation strategy is under severe budget constraints, a complementarity analysis can serve as a useful tool for ensuring cost effectiveness in conservation efforts. 3 Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 6 1.1 Forests- and forest biodiversity in a historical perspective................................................................ 7 1.2 The Nature Conservation Action Plan ................................................................................................. 9 1.2.1 Biodiversity forest designation ...................................................................................................... 9 1.2.2 Management budget and economic limitations ........................................................................... 9 1.2.3 Management principles ................................................................................................................ 10 1.2.4 Designation of biodiversity forests .............................................................................................. 11 2 Problem statement ...................................................................................................................................... 13 3 Delimitations ............................................................................................................................................... 14 4 Theory .......................................................................................................................................................... 15 4.1 Biodiversity enhancing interventions in forests ................................................................................ 15 4.1.1 Low impact harvesting and gap creation in a conservation perspective ................................. 15 4.1.2 Dead wood enrichment in a conservation perspective .............................................................. 17 4.1.3 Hydrological restoration in a conservation perspective ............................................................ 18 4.1.4 Grazing and mowing in a conservation perspective .................................................................. 19 4.2 Ensuring cost effective conservation – principles of complementarity ........................................... 20 4.3 Evidence based conservation .............................................................................................................. 23 5. Methodology ............................................................................................................................................... 24 6. Systematic literature review ....................................................................................................................