Master Plan for North Livonia Wetland Protection and Rural Development in the Transboundary Area of Latvia and Estonia February 2006 Table of Contents Preface . 3 3.4. Identifying impacts and proposing management activities . 36 List of partners . 4 3.5. Recommendations for coordinated nature Abbreviations . 5 management . 36 Executive summary . 6 4. Sookuninga, Nigula and Ziemelu Purvi as Transboundary Ramsar Site . 38 1. Background Information . 8 4.1. Relation between Ramsar Convention and 1.1. Introduction to the Master Plan . 8 EU Directives on Nature and Water . 38 1.2. North Livonia . 8 Water Bodies and their linkage to wetlands . 39 1.3. Physical Information. 10 4.2. Ramsar and EU management planning . 40 1.4. Biological Information . 10 Pilot River Basin Projects and Ramsar 1.5. Protection status of the biodiversity in Sites – an opportunity . 40 the project area . 13 4.3 Potential transboundary designation 1.6. Main factors influencing the biodiversity shared by Latvia and Estonia . 41 values in North Livonia . 14 4.4. Suggested procedure for achieving a transboundary designation of a 2. Management and Development of “North Livonia” Ramsar Site . 41 North Livonia . 16 4.5 Recommendations . 41 2.1. Protected areas management . 16 2.2. Hydrological management . 18 5. Recommendations for the future transboundary co-operation . 42 2.3. Forestry . 20 5.1. Importance of transboundary 2.4. Eco-tourism . 23 co-operation . 42 2.5. Cultural heritage . 26 5.2. Recommendations for the future transboundary co-operation . 43 2.6. Game management . 27 2.7. Agriculture. 29 References . 44 2.8. Estonian Native Cows. 30 List of Annexes . 44 3. Cross Border Management Planning for two Natura 2000 Sites . 31 3.1. History and biodiversity values of Sookuninga and Ziemelu Purvi . 32 3.2. Harmonising Conservation Objectives for Sookuninga and Ziemelu Purvi . 34 General legends of the maps 3.3. The Natura 2000 habitat types and species . 35 in this report 2 Preface The underlying report summarizes the outcomes of • GIS Group, headed by Tiina Dishlis the PIN/Matra project “Integrated Wetland and Forest • Forestry Group, headed by Janis Rozitis Management in the Transborder Area of North Livonia • Ecology Group, headed by Ma¯rtin¸š Lu¯kins (Estonia-Latvia)” funded by the Dutch Ministry of • Estonian Native Cow Group, headed by Käde Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the Dutch Kalamees Ministry of Foreign Affairs. • Nature Management Group headed by Agu Leivits. The State Nature Conservation Centre, Pärnu – Viljandi The final Technical Reports of the workgroups can be Region (formerly Nigula State Nature Reserve Adminis- found on the CD included in this Master Plan. tration (Estonia) and the North Vidzeme Biosphere The Project Management Team wishes to thank all those Reserve Administration (Latvia) were the local project who contributed to the success of the project including partners responsible for the project implementation the representatives of the Ministries of Environment of locally, while Wageningen International (formerly IAC, Latvia and Estonia for allocating co-funding and for The Netherlands) was the Project Holder responsible showing their commitment to the implementation and for the overall project implementation process. follow up of the project. The Transboundary Steering Committee with represen- The Project Management Team hopes that this Master tatives from the two Ministries of Environment and Plan will contribute to further strengthening the ties local and regional administrations and interest groups between Latvia and Estonia in the field of nature supervised the project implementation. conservation and that it will contribute to the sustain- The Project Management Team with representatives of able development of the transboundary area of North Wageningen International and the two local project Livonia. implementation organisations was responsible for the guidance of the Local Project Manager and the work Kilingi Nomme, February 2006 groups. The following workgroups including a total of 80 The Editorial Team experts from the two countries and assisted by Dutch and Danish advisors have carried out the required Henk Zingstra, Wageningen International (NL), Anneli inventories and produced recommendations for the Roosalu and Agu Leivits, State Nature Conservation Master Plan for each of their sectors: Centre, Pärnu – Viljandi Region (EE), Andris Urta¯ns, • Hydrology Group, headed by Dr. Elve Lode North Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve Administration (LV), • Game Management Group, headed by Ja¯nis Ozolin¸š and Karina Kitnaes, Bio/consult (DK). 4 Abbreviations BD The Birds Directive (European Council Directive NR Nature Reserve 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation NVBR North Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve, Latvia of wild birds) PEEN Pan-European Ecological Network CH Cultural Heritage PIN/Matra Dutch funding programme under the Ministry DK Denmark of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of EE Estonia Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality ENCBS Estonian Native Cattle Breed Society PIO Project Implementation Organizations EU European Union pSCI potential Site of Community Importance GIS Geographical Information System SCI Site of Community Importance HD The Habitats Directive (European Council SFS State Forest Service Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the SPA Special Protected Area Conservation of habitats and wild animals and SPNT Specially Protected Nature Territory plants) MP Management Plan IAC International Agricultural Centre, The TPA Temporary Protected Area Netherlands (new name is Wageningen WFD The European Water Framework Directive International) WKH Woodland Key Habitat IBA Important Bird Areas in Europe WWF World Wide Fund for Nature JSC LVM Joint Stock Company “Latvijas Valsts Mezi” LPM Local Project Manager LV Latvia MR Micro Reserves NL The Netherlands NNRA Nigula Nature Reserve Administration, Estonia 5 Executive Summary The project “Integrated Wetland and Forest Management 2) Water management and hydrology, in the Transborder Area of North Livonia (Estonia- 3) Forestry, Latvia)” funded by the PIN/Matra programme under 4) Eco-tourism, the Dutch Ministries of Agriculture, Nature and Food 5) Cultural Heritage, Quality and Foreign Affairs was implemented by 6) Game management and hunting, Wageningen International (formerly IAC) from 2002- 7) Agriculture, 2006. The State Nature Conservation Centre, Pärnu – 8) The Estonian Native Cattle, Viljandi Region (EE), and North Vidzeme Biosphere 9) Nature management plans for N-2000 sites, Reserve Administration (LV) were the Local Project 10) Designation of a transboundary Ramsar site. Partners. The overall project objective was to support The recommendations are based on the technical the protection and management of the biodiversity and reports produced during the project by 80 different to integrate biodiversity protection into socio-economic experts, working in 7 work groups. The Master Plan development in a transboundary context. aims to provide direction to the development of future The project resulted in the underlying Transboundary projects for harmonised nature management, physical Master Plan presenting an analysis of main issues related planning and rural development. The target group to transboundary biodiversity management and providing includes local municipalities, national and regional directions for tuned development and management of authorities, water managers, state forest managers the transboundary area. and local interest organisations. The Master Plan contains recommendations for One of the most tangible outputs of the project is the 1) Protected areas management, creation of a transboundary GIS database with digital 6 maps holding all relevant information about the topics measures to ensure the long-term protection of the mentioned above. This GIS is an indispensable tool for Transboundary Ramsar Site and other areas valuable future cross border co-operation. for nature conservation. The project provided insight in the hydrological Draft nature management plans were developed simulta- system of the transboundary area and lead to the neously for two Natura 2000 sites (pSCIs) on both sides conclusion that in many cases borders of protected of the border (Ziemelu Purvis (LV) and Sookuninga NR areas do not follow the borders of hydrological (EE)) in order to secure favourable conservation status catchments. It is therefore recommended to adjust the for the Natura 2000 habitat types and species. The borders of protected areas so they will coincide with tuned setting of objectives and design of management the borders of hydrological units or catchments. It is activities for two sites separated by a country border is strongly recommended to prohibit the maintenance or unique in the implementation of Natura 2000. restoration of drainage systems in the direct vicinity To sustain the transboundary co-operation on manage- of protected areas. More detailed investigations on the ment and development of North Livonia the Joint possibilities for restoring the natural water regime for Transboundary Commission on Nature Conservation the protected areas are needed. between Estonia and Latvia was established during the An important prerequisite for the long-term biodiversity last Project Steering Committee meeting. conservation is the continuation of traditional agriculture of the semi-natural habitats. Long-term agreements with Last but not least the project supported the Estonian farmers are important to sustain the management of Native Cow Society to safe