Technical Report - 2015 - 089 ©Peter Loeffler Natura 2000 and Forests Part III – Case studies Environment Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union New freephone number: 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://ec.europa.eu). Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2015 ISBN 978-92-79-49397-3 doi: 10.2779/65827 © European Union, 2015 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Disclaimer This document is for information purposes only. It in no way creates any obligation for the Member States or project developers. The definitive interpretation of Union law is the sole prerogative of the Court of Justice of the EU. Cover Photo: Peter Löffler This document was prepared by François Kremer and Joseph Van der Stegen (DG ENV, Nature Unit) and Maria Gafo Gomez-Zamalloa and Tamas Szedlak (DG AGRI, Environment, forestry and climate change Unit) with the assistance of an ad-hoc working group on Natura 2000 and Forests composed by representatives from national nature conservation and forest authorities, scientific institutes and stakeholder organisations and of the N2K GROUP under contract to the European Commission, in particular Concha Olmeda, Carlos Ibero and David García (Atecma S.L) and Kerstin Sundseth (Ecosystems LTD). Natura 2000 and Forests Part III – Case studies Good practice experiences and examples from different Member States in managing forests in Natura 2000 1. Setting conservation objectives for Natura 2000. Experiences in some Members States.............................................................................................................................. 5 2. Integrating conservation objectives into public forests in Austria. Measures to improve the conservation status of bird species linked to forests .................................................. 8 3. Improving forest management in cooperation with landowners in the Natura 2000 site Tullnerfelder Donau-Auen, Austria ................................................................................ 11 4. Management of public forests in Natura 2000 sites in South East Belgium ..................... 13 5. Integration of nature conservation objectives in forest management. Restoring conservation status of forest habitats in Flanders .......................................................... 15 6. Sustainable management of forests in Natura 2000 sites in Smolyan region, Bulgaria .. 18 7. Natura 2000 Green Annexes, a tool for management of forests with protected habitats and species in France ................................................................................................... 21 8. Forest management through collaboration and contracts in the Vallée de la Loue et du Lison, France ........................................................................................................... 23 9. Forests for the Capercaillie in the Vosges Mountains (France) ..................................... 25 10. Natura 2000 management planning in Baden-Württemberg, Germany ........................ 27 11. Analysis of the natural and economic impacts of the Habitats Directive on the basis of case study forest enterprises in Germany ..................................................................... 29 12. Guidance for the conservation of old trees and dead wood DE - AuT-concept in Baden-Württemberg, Germany ..................................................................................... 32 13. Guidance on Appropriate Assessment procedure for forestry activities in Ireland ......... 34 14. Ireland’s Native Woodland Scheme. A tool for the management of Natura 2000 woodland ...................................................................................................................... 36 15. Bosco della Fontana, Italy. Techniques for re-establishment of dead wood for saproxylic fauna conservation ....................................................................................... 38 16. Ecoforests in Latvia ....................................................................................................... 40 17. Integrating Natura 2000 management plans into forest management plans in Poland .. 42 18. Forest management in Slovenia. Strategic approach to integration and funding ........... 44 19. Tools for forest management planning in Natura 2000 in the Castilla y León Region (Spain) .......................................................................................................................... 46 20. Forest exploitation compatible with Black Vulture conservation in a private forest in Spain............................................................................................................................. 49 21. Maintenance of ‘dehesas’ in Spain ................................................................................ 51 22. National strategy on forest protection and guidance on management of protected forests in Sweden ......................................................................................................... 53 23. Management of wooded pastures in Sweden ................................................................ 56 24. Developing guidance for woodland expansion in Golden eagle Special Protection Areas in Scotland (UK) .................................................................................................. 58 25. Site based management of Natura 2000 forests in Denmark ........................................ 60 3 4 1. Setting conservation objectives for Natura 2000. Experiences in some Members States Conservation objectives can be set in documents linked to the designation of the Natura 2000 sites (e.g. SAC designating acts) and more specifically laid out in the management plans or conservation measures established for the sites. Some examples are presented below: Belgium - Wallonie. Quantitative and qualitative objectives have been defined at regional level for all habitat types and species present in the Natura 2000 network in the Wallon region1, which provide the basis on which conservation objectives at the site level should be set. These objectives are aimed at the maintenance or restoration of habitat types and species populations and are based on the parameters used in the article 17 reporting. Taking into account the current status and distribution of habitats and species, precise targets to be reached in 2025 are defined, e.g. the maintenance or increase (in ha) of the habitat area or the distributions of species populations (in grids of 1x1 km). Qualitative objectives include maintenance or improvement of habitat quality and precise criteria for the evaluation of habitat quality have been defined. At the site level, quantitative and qualitative objectives are also defined for the habitat types and species of Community interest. E.g. quantitative objectives for habitats: a) to maintain the area of existing natural habitat types for which the site is designated; b) if necessary and with the agreement of the owner and the occupier concerned, extend the existing areas of the habitats by restoring new areas. Qualitative objectives: a) maintain the quality of natural habitat types for which the site is designated as assessed in the designation act or according to the best knowledge available. Quantitative objectives for species of Community interest and bird species: a) maintain in the site in question and subject to natural fluctuations and fluctuations due to external causes, the populations of the species for which the site is designated, as well as the areas of existing habitat for these species, as estimated in designation act or according to the best available knowledge; b) if necessary and with the agreement of the owner and the occupier concerned, strengthen, on the site concerned, the population levels referred to above or expand on the site concerned, the existing areas of habitat of the species concerned. Qualitative objectives for species: a) maintain the quality of the habitat for the species for which the site is designated, necessary to maintain the population levels referred to above; the quality is assessed on the basis of data on the conservation status of the species included in the designation decree, or according to the best knowledge available; the quality is also evaluated based on criteria set in an annex to the decree. Denmark. Conservation objectives are included in the Management plans approved for each Natura 2000 site2. They have been formulated at site level for species and habitat types of both the Habitat and Bird Directives. The plans acknowledge that the overall goal is to maintain or restore at favourable conservation status the habitats and species for which the site has been designated and also set more specific objectives. These specific objectives define long-term goals for the condition of the individual habitats and species 1 http://biodiversite.wallonie.be/fr/enquetes-publiques-offentliche-untersuchungen.html?IDC=5580 2 http://naturstyrelsen.dk/naturbeskyttelse/natura-2000/natura-2000-planer/natura-2000-planer-2009- 15/ 5 habitats and set clear targets, e.g.: habitat type area to be extended on a specified percentage, ensure breeding habitats for certain species, maintain or increase populations, etc. France. General and operational objectives are defined in the Docobs (Documents d'Objectifs, i.e. site management