NORDIC WORKING PAPERS Improving ecological connectivity in boreal forests of the Barents region Background, issues and recommendations Jani Heino, Risto K. Heikkinen, Olle Höjer, Jevgeni Jakovlev, Aleksandr Kryshen, Jyri Mikkola, Ninni Mikkonen, Carlos Paz von Friesen and Raimo Virkkala http://dx.doi.org/10.6027/NA2019-909 NA2019:909 ISSN 2311-0562 This working paper has been published with financial support from the Nordic Council of Ministers. However, the contents of this working paper do not necessarily reflect the views, policies or recommendations of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Nordisk Council of Ministers – Ved Stranden 18 – 1061 Copenhagen K – www.norden.org 1 IMPROVING ECOLOGICAL CONNECTIVITY IN BOREAL FORESTS OF THE 2 BARENTS REGION: BACKGROUND, ISSUES, AND RECOMMENDATIONS 3 4 Jani Heino1, Risto K. Heikkinen1, Olle Höjer2, Jevgeni Jakovlev1, Aleksandr Kryshen3, Jyri 5 Mikkola4, Ninni Mikkonen1,5, Carlos Paz von Friesen6 & Raimo Virkkala1 6 7 1 Finnish Environment Institute, Biodiversity Centre, Helsinki, Finland 8 2 Naturvårdsverket, Stockholm, Sweden. 9 3 Karelian Research Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences, Petrozavodsk, Russia. 10 4 Suomen Luonnonsuojeluliitto, Helsinki, Finland. 11 5University Of Helsinki, Faculty of Science, Helsinki, Finland 12 6 Länsstyrelsen i Västerbottens Län, Umeä, Sweden. 13 14 Correspondence e-mail:
[email protected] 15 16 1 17 Abstract 18 19 Enhancing ecological connectivity is an important topic in biodiversity conservation and 20 conservation planning. Assessing the importance of ecological connectivity entails examining 21 the efficiency of natural connecting elements in the landscape (e.g. fragments of primeval 22 forests, habitat quality, riverine corridors, and their riparian zones) for promoting 23 connectivity between protected and otherwise valuable remaining high-quality areas.