Last of the Wild

as nature intended – best practice examples of wilderness management in the Natura 2000 network last of the wild OVERVIEW OF STATUS AND MONITORING OF SOME WILDERNESS RELATED SPECIES IN THE NATURA 2000 NETWORK last of the wild OVERVIEW OF STATUS AND MONITORING OF SOME WILDERNESS RELATED SPECIES IN THE NATURA 2000 NETWORK Published by PAN Parks Foundation 2009 supported by The sole responsibility lies with the author and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained here. contents contents 2 2 foreword 4 introduction 6 background 6 wilderness and wildlife 6 large spaces – large species 7 wilderness conservation in the EU 7 impetus behind further re-wilding 8 species depending on wilderness 9 large herbivores chamois 10 CENTRAL BALKAN AND RILA NATIONAL PARKS, BULGARIA MAJELLA NATIONAL PARK, ITALY ibex 14 TRIGLAV NATIONAL PARK, SLOVENIA large carnivores brown bear 17 FULUFJÄLLET NATIONAL PARK, SWEDEN RILA NATIONAL PARK, BULGARIA MAJELLA NATIONAL PARK, ITALY wolf 22 MAJELLA NATIONAL PARK, ITALY FULUFJÄLLET NATIONAL PARK, SWEDEN SOOMAA NATIONAL PARK, ESTONIA eurasian lynx 26 FULUFJÄLLET NATIONAL PARK, SWEDEN SOOMAA NATIONAL PARK, ESTONIA TRIGLAV NATIONAL PARK, SLOVENIA birds of prey white-tailed eagle 31 ARCHIPELAGO NATIONAL PARK, FINLAND conclusion 34 last of the wild – overview of status and monitoring of some wilderness related species in the natura 2000 network There are many reasons why Europe should pay more attention to its wilderness areas. Most importantly, these territories are an invaluable refuge for many species such as large mammals like the brown bear, wolf or lynx - Photo: Tamas Gereczi/gt-photo.hu foreword 4 by Hans Kampf Executive Director Large Herbivore Foundation It is more than 40 years since I realised that I wanted Secondly, at a time when they wandered and migrated to work in the field of nature conservation, preservation in enormous numbers across our regions, they influenced and development. At that time I was educated to and even created ecosystems and the landscape through consider the management of the habitats; often fenced continuous browsing, grazing, trampling and even in, relatively small parcels of nature which had to be digging. Both aspects provide an often forgotten part of carefully tended, like gardens. In past centuries that kind our nature management. of nature would have been found in agricultural areas; indeed, our present nature management seeks to copy The task of the Large Herbivore Foundation is to protect traditional agricultural methods. But we must now ask the large herbivore species in Eurasia and turn the threat ourselves whether this approach has a future; will we of extinction into their rehabilitation and preservation. able to maintain it over the coming centuries either Only a few of the Eurasian large herbivores are safe and organisationally, financially or even ecologically? many of them are seriously threatened. However, we will not succeed in allowing any of them to survive in For instance we have to prepare for the effects of climate healthy and sustainable populations if we cannot restore change. As nature managers we have a responsibility to large and unfragmented nature areas. We will not be develop tools to mitigate these effects. Thinking in an able to manage such areas through traditional ecological way, this means that we have to manage and agriculture; instead we will have to return them to design our nature so that it is resilient in the longer term natural processes and wilderness nature. and suitable for all kinds of change. We can learn from the past, when the words and the notions nature area I have learned a lot from foresters. Not from the way and nature management did not exist. At that time that they manage trees, but because they are able to wilderness areas were vast and unfragmented with room think ahead in long periods, even in centuries; indeed, in for all kinds of natural processes such as fire, water, the lifespan of the oak. It is rather easy for people to rivers and storms. Their vast scale made these areas look back into history; now I wonder how we can reach climate proof. forward in time to create a vision of the future that reflects what many creative talents have done in our In this wilderness large herbivores played a double role. past. I am certain that, if the process of creating a Firstly as food: forming the basic prey for large beautiful and wild Europe is managed properly, we will carnivores; and as carrion for a myriad of invertebrates enjoy future landscapes which deliver significant social (themselves important prey for birds, bats, badgers etc.), and economic benefits including providing long-term for a range of mammals like the wild boar in its role as protection and enhancement of a range of ecosystem the European hyena, fox and pine marten, but also for goods and services; and surely that is what we all want. birds including vulture, raven, kite and buzzard. last of the wild – overview of status and monitoring of some wilderness related species in the natura 2000 network 5 by Vlado Vancura Conservation Manager PAN Parks Foundation I grew up in a ranger house at the edge of Tatra to find effective ways of protecting remaining wilderness National Park in Slovakia. During my childhood areas of Europe that are more resilient as the nature I was in daily contact with what is still the wildest that once existed on our continent. area of the park to this day. Large-spanning, dark forests giving home to countless species; red deer, wild PAN Parks Foundation aims at protecting Europe’s boar, chamois and brown bear, with lynx and wolves wilderness in a way that may support the widest just a few meters beyond my backyard. This experience spectrum of life forms in their natural environment, and was deeply inscribed in my soul and wilderness became at the same time serve as attractive grounds for people my life-long passion. to visit, both for pleasure and education. Our main ambition with this publication is to present that there But soon I had to face the intensification of agriculture, are numerous species in Europe that require wilderness which led to the extinction of numerous species areas as a safe homeland for their healthy survival. The alongside the modernisation of forestry operations. descriptions of brown bear, lynx, wolf, chamois, ibex and This, as we all know, has resulted in a network of roads white-tailed eagle will show that proper wilderness penetrating protected areas, disturbing wilderness species management, employing non-intervention techniques and and destroying their natural habitats. Later on I realized regular monitoring can greatly contribute to the long- that the deterioration I was experiencing had already term survival of these wilderness-dependent species, and happened in many parts of Europe, with the kind of in turn help maintain diverse ecosystems on our highly wilderness I witnessed as a child long gone. developed continent. In my professional life I keep being reminded of the Wilderness has been an illuminating master for me all challenges we face in trying to properly conserve the through my life. It has shown me how everything is remaining wilderness areas of Europe. Growing ecological linked to the fragile web of life, sometimes quite threats such as the loss of biodiversity or the effects of evidently but many times in a less visible way. The climate change trigger an increasingly ecological- intricate connections within all life forms of any given conscious thinking throughout Europe, resulting in a ecosystem work in a naturally healthy way if left paradigm shift towards the re-instalment of natural undisturbed – hence it is our major responsibility to use processes in large protected areas. our skills, knowledge, capacity and resources for the The stubborn implementation of command-and-control development of protected wilderness areas where wildlife resource management, however, is still a threat on can thrive in the most natural form possible. wilderness species and their favoured habitats. For these reasons, following the identification and analysis of natural resource management, our major task today is introduction BACKGROUND As a result of traditional management measures, applied 6 extensively for centuries, there is a very low percentage Biodiversity – the variation of life forms in a given of preserved wilderness areas left in Europe: and those ecosystem, biome, or the entire Earth – is of crucial areas, as well as wilderness-dependent species are under importance not just from an ecological perspective but immense pressure. According to the Millennium ethically, emotionally, environmentally and economically Ecosystems Assessment, almost half of our wildlife is in as well. As the European Union’s Biodiversity Action Plan serious decline and valuable ecosystems have become of 2008 concludes, diverse ecosystems “form the degraded and fragmented. In 2001, the European Union foundation on which we build our societies.” set the ambitious goal of halting the decline of biodiversity by 2010, but despite enormous efforts and The countless living organisms of varying population the investment of millions of Euros, it is unlikely that this density and population dynamics require very different ambitious goal will be achieved, due primarily to the circumstances to live and thrive in. Some species have lack of a complex and comprehensive approach focusing adapted to living in cities, some others require vast open on the protection of biodiversity in actively managed countryside landscapes that are actively managed, and landscapes as well as in wild ecosystems. there are numerous important species that depend on wilderness and are simply unable to survive in areas WILDERNESS AND WILDLIFE where human impact alters their natural living conditions. It is our responsibility to look after the Wilderness is best understood as a multidimensional habitats of all the different species and create and concept, consisting of biological and social elements.

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