Natura 2000 Biogeographical Process – Boreal Region the Boreal

Natura 2000 Biogeographical Process – Boreal Region

The Boreal Restoration Tour Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania 15 – 19 August 2016

Tour Report

A dammed ditch in a restored mire area in Soomaa National Park, Estonia. Photo: Aulikki Alanen. The Boreal Restoration Tour in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (15 to 19 August 2016) – Tour Report ______

Editors: Jussi Päivinen, Metsähallitus, Parks & Wildlife Finland

Tuomas Haapalehto, Metsähallitus, Parks & Wildlife Finland

Inka Keränen, Metsähallitus, Parks & Wildlife Finland

Hans Van Gossum, Arcadis

Authors: Ludovic Le Maresquier, European Commission

Kaisu Aapala, Finnish Environment Institute

Aulikki Alanen, Ministry of the Environment, Finland

Marja Hokkanen, Metsähallitus, Parks & Wildlife Finland

With contribution of: Agu Leivits, Environmental Board, Estonia

Sandra Ikauniece, Nature Conservation Agency, Latvia

Žydrūnas Preikša, Aleksandras Stulginskis University

Funding: European Commission as part of contract number 07.0307/2012/60517/SER/B.3.

Disclaimer: The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Commission, nor is the European Commission responsible for any use that might be made of information appearing herein.

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FOREWORD ...... 4 1 Introduction ...... 6 2 Into the field: the Boreal Restoration Tour ...... 8 2.1 Day 1 – Estonia ...... 8 2.1.1 Soomaa National Park (Natura 2000 site) ...... 8 2.1.2 Laulaste Nature Reserve (Natura 2000 site) ...... 15 2.2 Day 2 – Latvia ...... 17 2.2.1 Gauja National Park (Natura 2000 site) ...... 17 2.2.2 Melnā ezera purvs (Melnais Lake Mire) ...... 20 2.2.3 Ķemeri National Park (Natura 2000 site) ...... 21 2.3 Day 3 – Lithuania ...... 24 2.3.1 Kamanos State Strict Nature Reserve ...... 24 2.3.2 Adomiskiai raised bog (Kamanos Nature Reserve) ...... 26 3 Conclusions ...... 27

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FOREWORD

The Boreal Restoration Tour (BRT) has been organised under the umbrella of the Natura 2000 Biogeographical Process launched by the European Commission together with the MS in 2012. Overall, this process is the result of a commitment taken by the European Commission and the Member States in the context of the 2020 EU Biodiversity Strategy, aiming to help the Member States to enhance the management of Natura 2000 as a coherent ecological network. The first Natura 20000 Seminar was organised in the Boreal region, in 2012, generously hosted by Finland.

Since that date, the Boreal region has been organising several follow-up events related to the Process such as networking events, workshops, field trips and conferences allowing experts from the five member States to share best practice on common issues. Boreal colleagues have also structured their network of experts in order to enhance the exchange of information related to Natura 2000 and nature conservation management. As a result, each country has now one expert playing the role of national focal point for each of the four selected groups of habitat types (forests, freshwaters, wetlands, grasslands). Given that exemplary cooperation at the biogeographical level, Boreal experts felt the need to organise a field-oriented Tour to exchange information and share best practice from restoration projects at the field level, focusing on bogs, mires, peatland and forests where still many challenges need to be addressed in order to improve the status of conservation. The BRT was born!

Having participated to that field event, as a representative of the European Commission services, I can confirm that this event was a most fruitful forum for discovering and exchanging experiences in the field, presenting successes as well as difficulties inherent to some major restoration projects in Natura 2000 sites, for which many of them have benefitted from financial support from the LIFE programme. After 3 full rainy days walking in fens, bogs, marshlands, peat, bogs and forests, it was clear from the sky and from the ground that water matters! Indeed, the BRT could have been called the "Water and Dams" Boreal Tour as the measures seemed to be mainly aiming at mastering the flow of water with dams everywhere. Every day, each project was proud to show its strongest, biggest, most effective dams; sometimes small, sometimes big, some made from peat, others from wooden sticks or plastic devices. This was done in order to reverse the damaging effects of ditches and drainage systems that had been installed in earlier times in order to maximize forest production or to exploit peat.

Sometimes it was clear that the dam was a success and allowed to keep the water in the ecosystem and even to raise its level whereas, sometimes, it was unfortunate to realise that the water had nevertheless found the way to escape from the system. On forest ecosystems, people exchanged a lot on different techniques to restore diversity, for instance in monoculture pine forests (Pinus sylvestris). Different silvicultural technics were debated such as making selective cuts, creating small or medium patches, removing bark rings to smooth the dying process etc. However, the most striking difference in the approaches was the use of fire. Indeed, whereas controlled burning is common and traditional in Finland and Sweden to restore the ecosystem, it is not socially accepted

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According to many experts I had the opportunity to discuss with, it appears that early feedback already shows that this kind of field visits are important for adjusting actions in on-going projects but also for optimizing new measures still under preparation. Participation in this event also offered a unique opportunity to see what the effects of such restoration measures can be 1, 2, 5, even 10 or 15 years after the work had been carried out. The event produced also gave some input to the forthcoming 2nd Boreal Seminar which will take place from 5 to 7 October in Vilnius, in particular for the discussions in the "wetlands" habitat group.

I would like to conclude that this BRT has been a real success for sharing best (and sometimes less successful) practice for nature conservation and restoration. We not only had great opportunities to learn from each other's experiences, but also to discover the beauties of Baltic countries! Some colleagues who participated in the Tour have already indicated that similar events could be organised elsewhere in the Boreal region, for example on forest habitat types. This is a good sign of the usefulness of such events, and overall, of the fact that cooperation among the European nature conservation experts works very well!

For all those reasons, the European Commission services would like to hereby thank again the efforts of the colleagues from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Sweden and of the European Commission consultants Arcadis and ECNC (European Centre for Nature Conservation). Without their commitment and efforts, this BRT would not have been possible.

***

Ludovic Le Maresquier, Nature Policy Officer – European Commission – DG ENV, September 2016.

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1 Introduction

The purpose of the New Biogeographical Process is to help Member States to manage Natura 2000 as a coherent ecological network, whilst exchanging experience and best practice, addressing objectives and priorities and enhancing cooperation and synergies. As an output of the first Natura 2000 seminar in Finland (Aulanko Seminar Document 2012) several topics connected to ecological restoration that deserve further attention were raised.

The purpose of the Boreal Restoration Tour (BRT) was to address these topics (see Box 1) and to do so in the field, this keeping in mind the relevance of ecological in realising the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2020. The BRT brought together forest and wetland restoration experts from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Sweden, and also members from the European Commission and Arcadis. For the BRT site visits were made in three countries: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. For each of these countries a country representative kindly hosted the excursions: for Estonia this was Agu Leivits, for Latvia this was Sandra Ikauniece and for Lithuania this was Žydrūnas Preiksa.

In total the BRT had 26 participants: Jussi Päivinen, Tuomas Haapalehto, Marja Hokkanen, Johanna Ruusunen, Tiina Kanerva, Vytautas Uselis, Aulikki Alanen, Agu Leivits, Anneli Palo, Dalia Čebatariūnaitė, Kaili Viilma, Žydrūnas Preikša, Maret Vildak, Gitana Sidabrienė, Gintarė Grašytė, Mara Pakalne, Janis Kuze, Uģis Bergmanis, Kaisu Aapala, Kadri Möller, Herdis Fridolin, Andreas Wedman, Sandra Ikauniece, Marju Erit, Ludovic Le Maresquier and Hans Van Gossum

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Box 1: topics connected to ecological restoration of forests and wetlands in the Boreal biogeographic region

FORESTS – Problems: The (re) establishment of appropriate management and the restoration of degraded habitats is one of the key issues for forests in the boreal biogeographic region

Solutions

• A key solution is to clarify the correct management that should be applied to the specific forest type in question within the country, region or locality that in which it occurs.

• Following the identification of the correct management, the reintroduction of the appropriate forest management is the next obvious step.

• Habitat restoration in the form of the restoration of degraded and poor quality areas of forest habitat provides a further solution to this problem. Furthermore, the creation of buffer zones or the extension of existing areas of habitat through restoration activities on their margins, can increase their viability for the habitats and species that they contain and provide them with protection from the effects of external impacts (such as pesticide run-off, hydro geological change, etc.).

WETLANDS – Problems: The (re) establishment of appropriate management and the restoration of degraded peatland habitats is one of the key issues for mire ecology in the boreal biogeographic region. Reasons for this include intensification of the management of peatland ecosystems in modern times through the development of sophisticated harvesting machinery, the loss of traditional management (partly due to socio-economic factors and demographic change within the boreal countries) and other external factors such as climate change and general changes in land use management in particular the drainage activities associated with modern agriculture and forestry.

Solutions

• A key solution is to clarify the correct management that should be applied to the specific peatland type in question within the country, region or locality that in which it occurs.

• Following the identification of the correct management, the reintroduction of the appropriate peatland management is the next obvious step.

• Habitat restoration in the form of the restoration of degraded and poor quality areas of peatland habitat provides is a further solution to this problem. Furthermore, the creation of buffer zones or the extension of existing areas of habitat through restoration activities on their margins, can increase their viability for the habitats and species that they contain and provide them with protection from the effects of external impacts (such as pesticide run-off, drainage activities associated with modern agriculture and forestry, climate change, etc.).

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2 Into the field: the Boreal Restoration Tour

During the BRT in consecutive order sites in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were visited. In this report details are provided for each of the countries and sites visited. The report focuses mainly on the exchange of information and on reflection of the discussions that occurred.

2.1 Day 1 – Estonia

The first, rainy, fieldtrip day (16 August 2016) was spent in Estonia where we visited two peatland restoration sites in Soomaa National Park and one forest restoration site in Laulaste Nature Reserve. Our guides for the day were Agu Leivits (Estonian Environmental Board) and Priit Voolaid (State Forest Centre) for the peatland sites and Agu, Kaili Viilma (Estonian Environmental Board) and Anneli Palo (Tartu University) for the forest site.

2.1.1 Soomaa National Park (Natura 2000 site)

In Soomaa (in English “Mireland”) National Park (founded in 1993) there are three large and two smaller mire areas (altogether ca 30 000 ha of the total 39 639 ha of the NP) and plenty of flooded meadows, alluvial forests, other types of forests and meadows etc. The first protected part (since 1957) of Soomaa was a wooded meadow site with oaks near the river. Mire areas in national park were protected already since 1981 as special mire conservation areas. The area is designated as a PAN Parks site with many visitors, one of the main attractions being the flood period, “the fifth season”, with canoeing etc. The large flooding area located in surroundings of tributaries of river Pärnu which is the biggest river in Estonia and the dammed part in lower course will also be restored to enable the salmon and other fish species return to the river for spooning. There have not been any serious conflicts with local people about the restoration work in Soomaa, only tree cutting needs in restoration areas has been a topic of discussions. According to Action Plan for Protected Mires (adopted by Minister of Environment on January 18, 2016) restoration of degraded parts of mire areas in Soomaa Natonal Park is the first priority action and the drained edge areas of mires in Soomaa will be restored with support of EU Cohesion Fund. In addition, for mire restoration sites so called “Capercaillie consortium” established an intensive study area and implemented a large replicated experiment during 2014-2016 in Soomaa to test habitat management and restoration options on drained peatland forests for Capercaillie (look future reading Lõhmus et al 2016).

Further reading:  Action Plan for Protected Mires (in Estonian) https://www.envir.ee/sites/default/files/soode_tegevuskava.pdf  Lõhmus, A. 2016. The Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus): an iconic focal species for knowledge-based integrative management and conservation of Baltic forests. Biodiversity and Conservation DOI: 10.1007/s10531-016-1223-6

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Fig 1. Wet BRT participants in a wet environment in Soomaa National Park. Photo: Hans Van Gossum

Kuresoo - mire restoration site

Kuresoo is one of Estonia´s largest mire areas (11 500 ha) with over 100 ha of drainage at the edges. The area at the south-east edge of the huge bog complex was drained in 1971 for peat mining. It was the first restoration site in protected areas in Estonia. The idea for restoration was formulated by the Estonian Fund for Nature (ELF), who led an Interreg project (2006-2007) on restoration planning activities. In 2010 – 2013 the State Forest Management Centre implemented restoration activities that were defined in the Interreg. Actions were funded by EU Regional Development Fund (ERF). 80 ha were restored by blocking the ditches and cutting of trees. Altogether 7 km of ditches was blocked. Before restoration water level was 40-50 cm below the ground. Four different dam types were tested using wood, peat and geotextile. Because the differences in the water table level between the dams were too big, more addition dams were built comparing technical plan for restoration. Approximately 60 dams altogether have been built at the site. The project took the approach of ‘learning by doing’ – higher and bigger dams were needed. Water was not directed to flow over the ditch to the undrained part of the mire in the west, because it was assumed that the main direction of the water flow before the drainage had been from north to south. In general, wooden dams were considered inefficient and the idea is that they may leak easily.

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Fig 2. The main ditch in the southwestern part of the drainage area was full and there was plenty of water overflowing the dam. Photo: Aulikki Alanen.

Fig 3. Same ditch upstream, this dam holds the water, and there is a clear difference in water level. Nevertheless, some of the waters circled the dam and drained to the ditch just below the dam. Photo: Aulikki Alanen.

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Different tree management experiments were also conducted in the area (cutting all trees, cutting trees higher than 3 meters). The Tour visited a larger, 15 ha, clear-cutting site. Main reasoning for clear-cutting was to raise the water-table level and to create open mire habitat typical for Western Estonia. Approximately 1500 m3 of timber was cut down and removed.

Field remarks:

Some of the trees had clearly been growing on the site already before drainage, but all trees were cut at this site. Usually older trees are left to grow and are not cut. There was quite a lot of birch and pine seedlings.

Typical bog butterflies colonize restored sites very quickly, as do dragonflies. GHG measurements were carried out as part of the monitoring work. Usually there are no preliminary species inventories, because the focus is on habitat restoration. At this site, as part of the Interreg project, there were careful inventories before restoration.

Earlier, the monitoring was relying on old maps and aerial photos but now drones can be used to help the process. For site level monitoring comparing drone pictures before and after restoration is a very useful tool. There was an interesting discussion among the Tour group about priorities for restoration – should it be species, such as capercaillie, or habitat restoration?

Further reading:  Summary and recommendations of the research carried out in the drained part of Kuresoo bog http://elfond.ee/images/ELF/050/kuresoo_research_summary2.pdf  Kureso mire habitat restoration (poster) http://elfond.ee/images/ELF/025/postera3_eng.pdf

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Fig 4. Clear-cut area with some older trees left standing. Birch seedlings are abundant. Photo: Aulikki Alanen.

Valge raba - peatland restoration site

The second visited peatland restoration site was situated at the southern part of Valge raba mire complex. Drainage area is about 350 ha, with 35 km of ditches. Ditches were closed by using different types of dams. Approximately 200 ha of different types of forest cuttings were also conducted: forest thinning (at the visited site) + clear cutting with leaving old trees.

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Fig 5. Mire restoration areas in Soomaa (orange areas) and visited sites (red dots).

Field remarks:

Instructions for restoration had been: leave the birch, remove bush layer and leave dead trees standing. Site was originally a transition mire / large area between two bog complexes. Nevertheless, the goal of the restoration is to have bog woodland (91D0) and not the original, more open peatland habitat (open transitional mire). This is because the aim is to help the strictly protected, declining species, Capercaillie. Surroundings of the Valgeraba are an important area for Capercaillie, e.g. last spring there was a large lek in nearby area. Results of the experiments to improve Capercaillie habitat will be monitored.

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Fig 6. Valge raba restoration site with forest thinning just done. Photo: Aulikki Alanen.

Fig 7. Cut trees were being removed from the site as we were visiting it. Photo: Aulikki Alanen.

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2.1.2 Laulaste Nature Reserve (Natura 2000 site)

Laulaste Nature Reserve (1066 ha ) forest restoration site was the first place to restore natural forest hydrology in Estonia in frame of Life Nature project LIFE02NAT/EE/8555 “Protection of priority forest habitat types in Estonia”. Dams with intentional overflow were built, just to slow down the water flow. The damming was done on mineral soil and not peatland. Also gap felling experiments with different kind of restoration (including gap creation with and without added deadwood, added deadwood without gaps, gaps plus overburning) were done, and monitoring the restoration success is conducted every five years (vegetation, beetles, and forest structure parameters). According to the results gap felling appears, in general, to be a useful restoration measure (e.g. Laarman et al. 20131). However, diversity of different species groups respond differently to treatments with understory vegetation diversity increasing the most in gaps with burning, lichens in gaps without burning and bryophytes with the addition of dead wood. Finnish studies are in line with these findings: restoration can be used to accelerate the development of degraded forests towards a higher level of naturalness, and especially controlled burning is a powerful measure to increase the amount of dead and charred wood as well as target species (Hekkala 20152).

We visited two artificially created gaps in an even-aged pine stand, where trees had been removed from an area of ca. 20 m in diameter. The general opinion was that the gaps should be large enough, minimum of 30 m but preferably 50 m in diameter to be effective. The opinion among Estonian forest specialists appeared to be that time will do the work on nutrient poor, even-aged pine stands like these, and this type of restoration was not considered very useful.

Further reading: 1 Laarmann, D.; Korjus, H.; Sims, A.; Kangur, A.; Stanturf, J.A. 2013: Initial effects of restoring natural forest structures in Estonia. Forest Ecology and Management 304 (2013). 2 Hekkala, A. 2015: Restoration of the naturalness of boreal forests. Acta Univ. Oul. A 654.

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Fig 8. Boreal Restoration Tour(ists) filling the gap in Laulaste Nature Reserve forest restoration site. Photo: Aulikki Alanen.

Fig 9: Laulaste nature reserve

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2.2 Day 2 – Latvia

The second field day (17 August 2016) was spent in Latvia where the BRT visited three restoration sites: Gauja National Park (guides Jānis Andrušaitis (Nature Conservation Agency LIFE+ project FOR-REST forest specialist and Sandra Ikauniece(Nature Conservationa Agency, project NAT- PROGRAMME ), Melnais Lake Mire (guide Māra Pakalne, LIFE+ project) and Kemeri National Park (guide Jānis Ķuze, Nature Conservation Agency).

2.2.1 Gauja National Park (Natura 2000 site)

Gulbjusalas Mire – peatland restoration site

A raised bog, mostly covered with forest. The bog has three domes and several lakes. In the 1960s, the bog was drained for peat extraction which, fortunately, was never done. In early 2015, a total of 37 ditches were blocked or filled up with peat (almost 14 km in total). In order to restore the hydrological regime, both peat (4 dams) and wooden dams (29 dams) were built, 29 ditches were completely filled up. Trees on the ditch margins were cleared. In Latvia, this was one of the first trials to fill up ditches.

Field remarks:

The restoration of hydrology appeared well-planned and executed. It could, however, be seen that occasionally water should spread more widely in the area; it was still flowing in the big canals and ditches (although the flow is slower than earlier) and the bog woodland remained too dry. In cases where the water was still flowing through the dams the use of filter cloth or complete filling with peat was discussed. Surface dams extending several meters on both sides of the larger canals would be needed to direct water flow to the areas outside the ditch lines. The water could also be directed towards dry areas outside the ditches by excavating small feeder ditches where topography allows such operations.

One problem remaining in the area were the trees: they could not be cut and taken away because the area is protected and the legislation does not allow tree removal. Trees cause evaporation and are slowing or totally impeding the rewetting of the area.

Despite some challenges the mire is developing towards a better ecological state.

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Fig 11. Small ditches draining bog woodland were blocked by wooden dams in Gulbjusalas mire. Photo: Tuomas Haapalehto

Lenčupe – boreal forest restoration site

A relatively young, homogenous coniferous forest dominated by pine (altogether 240 ha). In order to enhance biodiversity elements in the area, the site was proposed for controlled burning in 2015. However, due to resistance of local inhabitants and a massive campaign against prescribed burning in the media, it was cancelled. In spite of active communication efforts, the idea remained unaccepted by the local stakeholders. The proposed action was replaced by thinning, ringing the trees and increasing the amount of dead wood. Perhaps the most valuable lessons learnt of working with local community and media was that sometimes different opinions can completely change the initial restoration ideas. Since the problems with public acceptance started, there has been cooperation with Latvian and Finnish officials and LIFE projects, and some of the loudest Latvian opponents have visited Finnish restoration sites. Some Latvian locals have changed their attitudes towards mire restoration but the general opinion towards forest restoration by controlled burning is still negative.

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Field remarks:

The public acceptance and local people were discussed a lot. The terminology used with restoration activities is sometimes very important: one mistake in communicating the restoration was perhaps to name the action ‘a forest burning’ (instead of forest vegetation burning). Because of historical reasons the attitude of locals is very negative towards burning.

The forest site looked suitable for burning and could have benefited from it. However, the idea to increase the amount of dead wood (high stumps, ringed trees and cut trees) was maybe the second best solution. Dead and decaying wood did increase in four plots/ha within the whole area (240 ha). Some of the dead wood has been stolen from the forest (presumable as fire wood).

Restoration goals provoked a very lively discussion at this site. On this site the target was to increase the amount of dead and decaying wood and produce more variability to the forest structure. Some thought that the result on this site, after 500 -700 years, will be an oak dominated forest.

In Latvia, a pine forest can be cut when the average diameter reaches 35 cm or the age of 100 years. In Lithuania, selected cuts are possible in pine forests in protected areas (but not in strict protected areas) at the age of 170 years!

The follow up inventories of insects and vegetation are currently on the way.

Fig. 12. Some on the pines had been felled or girdled to create dead and decaying wood. Photo: Sandra Ikauniece.

All actions in Gauja National Park were carried out by the LIFE+ project “Forest Habitat Restoration within the Gauja National Park” (FOR-REST), LIFE10 NAT/LV/000159 FOR-REST.

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Further reading:

 http://for-rest.daba.gov.lv/public/eng/  http://for-rest.daba.gov.lv/upload/File/GRAM_16_sugu_biotopu_apsaimn_mezos_EN.pdf  http://for-rest.daba.gov.lv/public/eng/publications_and_documents/

2.2.2 Melnā ezera purvs (Melnais Lake Mire)

At the second part of the 2nd day we visited Melnā ezera purvs N2000 site at the edge of Riga city. The present-day, Natura 2000 site, is a fragment of Cenas tīrelis (Cena Mire), formerly one of the largest bog massifs in Latvia (in the past it covered ca. 9000 ha). Large areas of Cena Mire were drained and used for peat extraction (still ongoing). Today most of Cena Mire is converted into other land use types (agriculture, forests, built-up areas etc.). Melnā ezera purvs was restored by blocking the ditches (by peat dams) in 2012.

Field remarks:

Large peat dams were used for blocking water flow along the large canals in former peat milling areas. However, several meters of peat had been excavated from the peat cutting areas, and the peat fields were currently topographically lower than the surrounding non-cut areas. The site is an example of a case where the goal of restoration needs to be adjusted partly due to social grounds. Total damming of the ditches would result in the flooding of the peat fields, and create too favorable habitat for water fowl. The creation of open water surfaces, lakes and pools was forbidden by local authorities because the water fowl would create a threat to flight safety at the Riga airport.

Part of the former peat milling areas and some peat fields outside Natura 2000 are spontaneously recovering as the ditches and drains do not function anymore – the peat milling fields are covered with shallow water, mosaics of mire vegetation, and provide an excellent habitat for waterfowl even though the water has not been raised as much as it could have been. According to the comprehensive monitoring, the level of ground water is nowadays more stable compared to the previous state.

A rather uncommon issue of an alien moss species appearing on restoration sites was discussed in the field. Campylopus introflexus is an alien invasive moss species in the area and a possible problem in the future. The moss is widely distributed in its native range on the Southern hemisphere. Its first observation in Europe was in Southern England in 1941 and from then on it has spread largely. Campylopus introflexus can form dense carpets, 2-10 cm thick of moss covering up to 100 % of the ground which has been shown to negatively affect native biodiversity.

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Fig 12. Restoration tourists examining the wide peat dams used for blocking water flow in the huge canals at Melnais lake mire. Photo: Tuomas Haapalehto.

The mire was restored within LIFE project “Raised Bogs”, LIFE08 NAT/LV/000449.

Further reading on this restoration site and other are included in the LIFE project:

 http://www.purvi.lv/en/  http://www.purvi.lv/files/2014/7/1/purvi_web.pdf

2.2.3 Ķemeri National Park (Natura 2000 site)

Lielais Ķemeru tīrelis (Great Ķemeri Mire) is a former peat extraction site restored by elevating the water table. The peatland restoration area is a part of Great Ķemeri Mire (> 6000 ha). In the Soviet time (1950s to 1980s) the peat was extracted at ca. 115 ha area by using both peat cutting and milling methods. The peat extraction ceased in the 1980s as it became a threat to formation of sulphurous mineral waters, a resource widely used in the Ķemeri resort at that time. In 2006, the water table was raised by dams built of mineral soil and peat, thus rewetting the formerly dry, bare peat milling fields. After 10 years, the results seemed promising – the mire vegetation is recovering and the area is suitable for waterfowl, waders and different migratory bird species.

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Field remarks:

The existing road/dam-combination has a very important role for the restoration project. It helped to gain local residents approval for the project. Beavers are, however, a risk for destroying the dam and with it the mire would be destroyed. To prevent from such event, the dam structure will be improved with a mesh to protect against beaver activity.

Seedlings of birch exist on the restored area. They are, however, not considered a problem because high water level prevents them from growing.

Part of the area has not yet restored well. Water level cannot be raised enough because of the topography of the terrain (the dams should be very massive.) The less well restored area has a Sphagnum layer but it is still too dry. There is a plan to build terraces to improve the restoration results on this former peat extraction area.

Reed has covered some parts of the area. The future will show how significant the reed problem will become and whether there will be a need for intervention.

Restoration is cost-efficient because large pools can be rewetted by blocking a single ditch draining a pool. In the future, water table will be raised by additional ditch-blocking in the surroundings of the peat milling fields. The water level in other bog pools could most likely be raised at this stage, which would be important for the recovery of hydrology in the surrounding non-drained bog as well.

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Fig 13. Rewetted bog pools in Kemeri are important for water fowl and many insects. Restoration is cost-efficient because large pools can be rewetted by blocking a single ditch draining a pool. Photo: Tuomas Haapalehto.

The area was restored within LIFE-NATURE project “Conservation of wetlands in Kemeri National Park”, LIFE02 NAT/LV/008496.

Further reading on Ķemeri National Park and on the monitoring results:

 http://www.daba.gov.lv/public/eng/visiting/zemgale/kemeri_national_park1/basic/  http://www.purvi.lv/files/2014/7/1/purvi_web.pdf (pp. 148-157)

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2.3 Day 3 – Lithuania

We had some small rain showers the third fieldtrip day the 18th of August 2016. The day started with a visit to Kamanos Nature Reserve Visitor Center in northern Lithuania. Chief ecologist dr. Vaidotas Grigaliūnas showed a power point presentation (which is available at the Communication Platform together with this BRT report) about the nature values and management of the Kamanos Nature reserve. After studying the innovative and interesting exhibition at the visitor center we visited two mire restoration sites. Our guides for the day were Žydrūnas Preikša and Vaidotas Grigaliūnas.

2.3.1 Kamanos State Strict Nature Reserve

Kamanos State Strict Nature Reserve is the largest raised bog (2,434 ha) in northern Lithuania region (a farming region) with ridge-pool complexes, numerous small lakes and surrounding wet forests. Kamanos Strict Nature Reserve was established in 1979. The size of the area is 3,935 ha (buffer protection zone 2,530ha). It preserves the Kamamos wetland with interior areas of dry land (islands and peninsulas), bog pools encircled by sloughs, as well as the nearby Didmiškis forest with its typical and rare plant and animal species. Examples of rare species found in Kamanos include Orchis militaris in small wet meadows, Drosera intermedia in the raised bogs, and Hammarbya paludosa in transition mires. Habitat types include Natural dystrophic lakes and ponds, Active raised bogs, Transition mires and quaking bogs and Fennoscandian deciduous swamp woods, western taiga, Fennoscandian herb-rich forests andalluvial forests.

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Fig 14. Aerial photo of Kamanos reserve surrounded by agricultural landscape.

Kamanos reserve is drained by 12 complex drainage systems and altogether 164 ditches with the length of 74 kilometers. In 1999-2000 130 dams were built and 29 ditches were dammed. In 2002 reliable, long-term dams started to be built in Paisle and Augutis drainage systems. Nature Heritage Fund administrated the Conservation of inland wetland biodiversity - project in Lithuania II in 2004 -2011. In 2004 – 2010 65 ha of bogs and meadows were restored with damming 18,5 km of ditches in Kamanos Nature Reserve. Several types of dams were tested during the restoration. Small plastic dams with low construction costs appeared to be the most cost-effective solution. The results of the projects improved the biodiversity of the area. The Sphagnum community is beginning to recover in places where it had been negatively impacted before and the water table is rising. Also the wild cranberry yields have increased. The LIFE project ‘Restoration of proper hydrological condition in Amalvas and Kamanos bogs started 2014 and will be running until 2018.

We visited a 1,5 kilometers long canal that was ditched in 1907 to dry lake Kamanos. The water level was set down about 1 meter at that time. The first attempt to wet up the lake was 1984, but the dams were destroyed because of the fear that the raising water would damage the surrounding forest. Further restoration work was done during 2002 – 2007 when altogether 17 dams were made of peat and wood. The recovery of peatland ecosystem took place in the surroundings of the canal, and the visual appearance of the restored area was very similar to the sites that have been restored around 10 years ago in Finland. At that point of the recovery process peatland species that have survived during the drainage phase (especially Sphagnum) spread vigorously and start the regeneration of the surface peat as well (see e.g. Kareksela & Haapalehto ym. 20151). In the middle

25 The Boreal Restoration Tour in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (15 to 19 August 2016) – Tour Report ______of the raised bog a patch of 20 hectares was kept open by removing birches and pines yearly since 2002. The main target was to keep the bog treeless and get the water lever higher.