CONCERVING MIRES IN THE EUROPEAN UNIONwith no intervention. This is especially true for climax...

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Author:Geert Raeymaekers

Editors:Kerstin Sundseth & Anton Gazenbeek

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service contract n° B4-3200/98/000411/MAR/D2

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Just as small mosses, sedges and other flowering plants combined to form mires, so too diddifferent elements of the LIFE-Nature projects come together to build up the picture presentedin this report. Firstly, I would like to thank the project managers and their colleagues of the 66LIFE-Nature mire projects, who took the time to answer my questions and to supply us withsome evocative photos of their work. Then, I must express my gratitude to my colleagues inthe external teams, MECOMAT and ECOSYSTEMS, who monitor these LIFE-Nature mireprojects, and who provided me with invaluable assistance in distilling the substantial amountof information accumulated from the projects into a more coherent whole.

The actual report writing was only possible thanks to the comments from, and the discussionsI had with Bruno Julien, Micheal O’Briain, Maria Gaivao, Oliver Schall and other staff in theEuropean Commission (DG XI/D2) and with colleagues at ECOSYSTEMS and MECOMAT.Richard Lindsay (University of East London, UK) kindly provided interesting comments on thedecline of mires in the European Union. Finally, I would like to thank Kerstin Sundseth andAnton Gazenbeek, for their substantial contributions in preparing the final document.

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� �� - Centuries in the making ...........................................................................page 1- Recent trends ...........................................................................................page 2- Their biogeographical distribution...........................................................page 3

� �� - EU Nature conservation policy ..............................................................page 9- Protection under the Habitats Directive .................................................page 11

� �� !- A long history of land use........................................................................page 23- Identifying the source of the threats ........................................................page 24- Types of damaging action........................................................................page 25

�� "�� #��#�$�� !�- LIFE – The EU’s financial instrument for nature ...................................page 31- Projects funded for mire conservation ....................................................page 33- Country-by-country overview..................................................................page 36

�� %&- Essential prerequisites ............................................................................page 45- Re-instating the hydrological balance of the mire ...................................page 47- Restoring the mire vegetation ..................................................................page 55- Restoration actions did not always succeed, why? ..................................page 59

�� #�� '�- Mimicking traditional farming practices .................................................page 61- Developing innovative techniques and approaches ................................page 62- LIFE after LIFE: Who foot the bill?........................................................page 67

�� #�� (�- Buy it then leave it! .................................................................................page 71

�� (&- Mires’ image problem..............................................................................page 75- Negotiating with the stakeholders............................................................page 75- Informing the public at large ...................................................................page 81- Disseminating the results of LIFE ...........................................................page 82

��)&- List and contacts addresses of LIFE funded mire projects .......................page 85

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARYFrom Stockholm’s elegant waterfront toRome’s bustling streets, Berlin’s modernmuseums to Lisbon’s famous streetcars - one ofthe most striking features of Europe today is itscultural diversity. The second may be itsweather! driving rain in Dublin, scorching hotevenings in Athens…. This combination ofdifferent climates and human activities is alsoresponsible for another of Europe’s moreobscure jewels: its mire habitats. These areparticularly well represented considering thesize of the continent, but their decline is now amatter of grave concern – 70% of their formermire range has already been lost.

To protect what remains of Europe’s naturalheritage, the EU is in the process of establishinga European network of protected areas – calledNATURA 2000. This will be made up of sitesdesignated under the Birds Directive and theHabitats Directive, which together form thecentral pillar of the EU’s nature conservationpolicy. In 1992, a European financialinstrument – called LIFE-Nature - was alsointroduced to help set up NATURA 2000. Overthe last seven years some 350 projects were co-financed to the tune of 283 million euro.

This report gives an overview of the projectsco-financed for mire conservation under LIFE.It starts by describing the 13 mire habitat typescovered under the Habitats Directive, looks atthe principal threats identified through theprojects and provides a country-by-countrysummary of what has been funded so far. Itthen goes on to present the main actions used tocombat these threats, using a wide selection ofreal-LIFE examples from the projectsthemselves to illustrate this.

Altogether, 66 LIFE-Nature projects werefunded for mire conservation over the last 7years – with an EU contribution ofapproximately 25-35 million euro. The largemajority (2/3) focused on restoration – which isperhaps not surprising given the drastic declinein ecological quality of so many mires inEurope. Actions principally involved restoringthe hydrology of the mire and/or re-establishingthe ecological value of the vegetation.

Depending on the habitat types involved, asignificant number of mire sites also requiredrecurring management. This was, however, notas easy at it sounds, mainly because many of

the traditional practices were abandoned in theearly part of this century through agriculturalintensification or changing land uses,consequently much of the management know-how was lost too. Thus, many LIFE projectseither experimented with new ways to recreatethese traditional farming practices, or developedinnovative schemes to stimulate long-termmanagement. Moreover, for mires that stillhave an economic farming interest, the key totheir long-term conservation is through theparticipation of the farmers themselves. Severalprojects focused therefore on pump-priminglong-term agreements through the agri-environment regulation 2078/92/EEC.

Just as active and continued management isvital for some mire types, others survive bestwith no intervention. This is especially true forclimax vegetation such as bog woodland,blanket bogs, aapa mires and raised bogs. Toachieve this, a small but important sub-set ofLIFE projects focused on acquiring strategicand representative examples of these habitattypes. It is estimated that around 35,000 ha hasbeen bought so far under LIFE-Nature.

Finally, because mires are intimately linked to acomplex matrix of other land uses, it isinconceivable to consider restoring or managinga mire without taking the local interest groupsand users into account. Not only is their supportessential for the success of the project, but theyoften play a central role in safeguarding theconservation value of the sites in the long run.Virtually all LIFE projects had therefore acomponent dedicated to dialogue,communication and raising awareness. Thisranged from negotiating with the stakeholdersto actively involving them in the project andraising interest amongst the public at large overthe value of the habitats.

One last but essential element of LIFE-Natureprojects is that the experiences gained by one –whether positive or negative – should beavailable to others to learn from. A list of all themire projects covered by this report, togetherwith their contact addresses, is given in annexfor anyone who wishes to receive moreinformation about the different activitiesdescribed. Also, in Chapter 8 a selection isgiven of some of the methodology manuals andhandbooks produced under LIFE.

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De l’élégant front de mer de Stockholm aux ruesanimées de Rome, en passant par les musées modernesde Berlin aux fameux funiculaires de Lisbonne - l’unedes caractéristiques les plus frappantes de l’Europed’aujourd’hui est bien sa diversité culturelle. L’autreest sans nul doute son climat ! pluie incessante àDublin, soirées torrides à Athènes ..... C’est dans lacombinaison de ces différents climats et de l’emploides activités humaines qu’il faut chercher l’un destrésors les plus occultes d’Europe : les tourbières. Ceshabitats sont tout particulièrement bien représentéscompte tenu de la dimension du continent. Toutefois,leur déclin suscite de graves inquiétudes - 70% de leurétendue a déjà disparu.

Pour préserver ce qu’il reste de l’héritage natureleuropéen, l’UE est sur le point d’établir un réseaueuropéen de zones protégées - NATURA 2000. Il seraconstitué de sites désignés au titre de la DirectiveOiseaux et de la Directive Habitats qui, conjointementconstituent le pilier central de la politique européennerelative à la conservation de la nature. En 1992, uninstrument financier européen - LIFE-Nature - a étéadopté en vue de contribuer à la mise en œuvre duréseau NATURA 2000. Au cours de ces sept dernièresannées, quelques 350 projets ont été co-financés pourun montant de 283 million d’Euros.

Le présent rapport fournit un aperçu des projets co-financés pour la protection des tourbières au titre deLIFE. Il commence par une description de 13 typesd’habitats de tourbières couvertes par la DirectiveHabitats, énumère les principales menaces identifiéesau travers des projets et fournit un résumé élaboré payspar pays des financement accordés à ce jour. Ils’attache ensuite à présenter les actions principalesentreprises pour combattre ces menaces. A titred’illustration, est présenté un vaste éventail d’exemplesconcrets des projets LIFE.

En tout, 66 projets LIFE Nature ont été financés depuisces sept dernières années pour la conservation destourbières - avec une contribution communautaired’environ 25-35 millions d’Euros. La grande majorité(2/3) cible la restauration - ce qui n’est guèresurprenant compte tenu du sérieux déclin de la qualitéécologique de nombreuses tourbières en Europe. Lesactions visaient essentiellement la restaurationhydrologique des tourbières ou le rétablissement de lavaleur écologique de la végétation.

Suivant le type d’habitat concerné, une gestionrécurrente semblait nécessaire pour un nombreimportant de sites à tourbières. Cette tâche ne s’est pasavérée aussi facile qu’il n’y paraît. En effet, denombreuses pratiques traditionnelles ont étéabandonnées au début du siècle au profit de pratiques

agricoles intensives ou de modifications de l’utilisationdes terres conduisant à la perte du savoir faire auniveau de la gestion. Par conséquent, dans denombreux projets LIFE du temps et de l’énergie ontété consacrés à expérimenter de nouvelles méthodespermettant de recréer ces pratiques agricolestraditionnelles ou d’élaborer des schémas innovants envue d’encourager la gestion à long terme. Par ailleurs,en ce qui concerne les tourbières offrant encore unintérêt économique, le secret pour leur conservation àlong terme passe par la participation des exploitantsagricoles eux-mêmes. Plusieurs projets ont servid’amorçage à des accords à long terme au titre durèglement agri-environnemental 2078/92/CEE.

Tout comme une gestion active et continue est vitalepour certains types de tourbières, d’autres surviventbien mieux sans aucune intervention. Ceci estparticulièrement vrai dans le cas des végétationsrenommées comme les tourbières boisées, lestourbières de couverture, tourbières aapa ettourbières hautes. Pour y parvenir, un petit nombrede projets LIFE se sont attachés à acquérir desexemples stratégiques et représentatifs de ce typed’habitats. On estime à ce jour que 35.000 ha ont étéacquis au titre de LIFE-Nature.

Enfin, étant donné que les tourbières sont intimementliées à un ensemble complexe d’autres typesd’utilisation des terres, il est inconcevable derestaurer ou de gérer une tourbière sans prendre enconsidération les groupes d’intérêt et les utilisateurslocaux. En effet, ces acteurs non seulement apportentun soutien essentiel au succès du projet mais ilsjouent également un rôle central pour le maintien dela valeur de conservation des sites à long terme. C’estpourquoi, quasiment tous les projets LIFEcomportent une composante destinée au dialogue, àla communication et à la sensibilisation. Elle va del’établissement des négociations avec lespropriétaires fonciers en vue de les impliqueractivement dans le projet à l’élaboration descampagnes de sensibilisation et de manifestationd’intérêt auprès du grand public sur la valeur de ceshabitats.

Un dernier élément, mais non moins essentiel auxprojets LIFE réside dans le fait que les expériencestirées par l’un - positives ou négatives - devraientêtre transmises aux autres. Une liste de tous lesprojets concernant les tourbières et figurant auprésent rapport, avec les adresses de contact, estprésentée en annexe à tous ceux désireux de recevoirplus d’informations sur les différentes activitésdécrites. Le Chapitre 8 offre une sélection demanuels de méthodologie et des publications produitssous LIFE.

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CENTURIES IN THE MAKING

Some 8000 years ago, when the climate became milder and moister and sea levelsrose (cutting Britain off from Europe, among other things), the last great icecaps tocover northern Europe started to melt away. Wetter weather and higher sea levelscombined to raise groundwater tables everywhere, so that large mires arose in poorlydrained lowlands and basins. Such basins often originated as depressions carved outby the retreating glaciers.

Over millenia these mires grew as peat layer upon peat layer was laid down. Thiswas, and still is - where it persists to this day - an entirely natural process,uninfluenced by man. Pollen analysis of cores drilled straight through theaccumulated peat layers has enabled us to reconstruct the evolution of vegetation andclimate since the formation of the mire at the end of the Ice Age, confirming thatmires have their own ‘natural history’.

In the very early days bogs were simply used as a means of gaining easy access acrossthe countryside. The evidence of this can be found in the numerous ‘corduroytrackways’ (timber trackways) found preserved in peat bogs across the length andbreadth of Europe. Relatively little was done to actively exploit them and so the bogsprobably remained ‘untouched’ for centuries. Our view on mires however changeddrastically during the Enlightenment (end of 17th century) and the IndustrialRevolution (middle of the 18th century), when land became an industrial commodity,which, if it could not be turned fairly readily into commercial gain on an industrialscale, was considered ‘waste’.

Thus, mires, heaths and mountains all developed a cultural label which said‘worthless’. Of course, mires had the added burden of being somewhat dangerous(mainly, it should be said, to livestock rather than local people) and so they have for alonger period been associated with difficulty – ‘bogged down’, Pilgrim’s ‘Slough ofDespond’, ‘stuck in the mire’ – all reflect the somewhat treacherous ground. Thisdread is also mirrored in the sort of toponyms, which crop up in connection with miresacross different languages: “Devil’s bog”, “Schwartzes Moor”, and so on. Or the talesof “will o’ the wisps” (flames from the spontaneous combustion of marsh gas, i.e.methane) leading people to their doom in bottomless quagmires.

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Large-scale drainage schemes first began in the Lowlands, mainly to generate newfarmland to feed Europe’s rising population. But, as mire exploitation began toaccelerate – peat became the fuel of choice for the Dutch, the Prussians and the Irish;ambitious commercial ventures and/or governmental schemes ‘improved’ huge tractsof mire and fen to settle landless peasants and colonists; mires were drained andplanted with trees to meet an expanding timber market. Degradation and outrightdestruction increased exponentially, primarily as a result of state or commercialafforestation and the peat industry. Mires, still relatively intact in Napoleonic times,were reduced to degraded fragments 150 years later, or gone forever.

RECENT TRENDS

Today, compared to other continents, Europe has suffered the greatest losses inmires, both in absolute terms relative to its former mire extent. Peat formation hasstopped in about 60% of the original mire area, of which possibly 10-20% does noteven exist any more as peatland (Joosten 1997).1

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Asia 1,070 980 92 8Africa 10 5 50 50North America 1,415 1,350 95 5South America 25 20 80 20

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Nevertheless, the remaining mires in the European Union still represent a tremendousdiversity in habitats, considering the size of the continent. The different climates,such as the Atlantic maritime climate, the continental climate of central Europe andthe boreal or Arctic climate, combined with complex geology and geomorphology,gave rise to different mire types – even in Mediterranean regions, where one leastexpects them, mires occur. The presence of such a variety of different types on arelatively small part of the globe renders the conservation of mires in the Union amatter of world significance.

THEIR BIOGEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION

Mires have declined in all biogeographic regions of the European Union.

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The destruction ofmires has beengreater in north-western Europe,which once boastedextensive areas, thananywhere else on theOld Continent. Forexample, the BritishIsles, with theirunique dome-shapedraised bogs andextensive blanketmires, have seen asevere roll-back ofmire surface. Over90% of the originalarea of raised bogshas been modified,damaged ordestroyed. Of theFens in East Anglia,only four tinyfragments survivetoday as naturereserves.

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In the Midlands of Ireland, the lowland raised bogs with their characteristic andrenowned scenery are increasingly under threat. Of the 775,000 ha originally found inthe Republic of Ireland only about 112,000 ha are reasonably intact, indicating a lossof 86%.

Much of the undulating moraine landscape of the plains of Lower Saxony, Westphaliaand the eastern part of the Netherlands was also once covered with mires which hadformed naturally after the last Ice Age. The Bourtanger Moor alone covered 300,000ha on the Dutch-German border. Today only a few pitiful mires, each not much largerthan 100 ha, remain and costly measures are required to conserve or restore what isleft.

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In the foothills of the Alps, great inland lakes filled the valleys after the glaciersretreated back up the mountains. One such lake, the Federsee in Baden-Württemberg,terrestrialised over thousands of years, resulting in a large fen.

Nearby, Lake Constance at first covered large areas of today’s Swiss-Austrian Rhinevalley. Sediments from the Alps washed into a delta, which advanced northward intothe lake creating satellite lakes in which mires formed, later used as litter meadows.These two sites exemplify the Alpine foothill mires.

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The low evaporation rate, the gentle topography and the poor soil conditions havebeen ideal factors for the development of vast mires in Finland and Sweden. In fact,the Finnish name for Finland, 5�� is derived from an old Finnish word�� 5��,associated with the word��meaning peatland�� Despite this association of Finlandwith mires, here too there has been a drastic decline in pristine examples.

Many mires have been drained, but compared to the other biogeographic regions ofthe Union, decline has been less pronounced and, from a conservation point of view,many of these degraded mires can still be restored. In Finland, circa 80% and inSweden, circa 35% of the former mire area has been substantially altered, in mostcases through drainage for agriculture and forestry purposes.

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Even in this unlikely region with its winter rains and summer droughts, mires arepresent, but far less widespread and often restricted to mountainous areas, althoughextensive peat deposits also occur in coastal wetlands and at the mouths of the rivers,such as the Rhone delta. These “delta peatlands” with a low organic/high silt contentare formed during the terrestrialisation of coastal freshwater or brackish lakes.Further inland, mires can also occur in the floodplains of large rivers (eg. Tablas deDamiel, River Guadiana, central Spain).

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Bogs, often relicts of former cold climates, occur as far to the south as Corsica orCalabria. Even though the range is limited, many kinds of mire do occur in thisregion: raised bogs, transition mires, calcareous fens with #!�+�� and#��1�+�$�!!��, and alkaline fens.

Blanket bogs do not, however, occur in the Mediterranean zone. Most of theMediterranean mires have been much influenced by, and some of them have evendeveloped as a result of, human interaction with nature.

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Located way out in the Atlantic Ocean, the Macaronesian Region is the most westerlyand southerly point of the European Union. The mires of this region are almostunknown to the outside world. Nevertheless, the Azorean mires encompass a greatdiversity of morphologically distinct types. They are also particularly rich inendangered species of European importance such as the plants #�!�� ,�� >��, ��!� �>��, �� &��$��!��, �� >��, �� >��, etc.

Higher altitudes on the Azorean islands (above 500 m) are extremely humid: heavyrainfall, mist and water retention by the soil allows peat to accumulate and mires togrow. At present Azorean mires – bogs, fens and forested peat bogs – cover an area of2,100 ha, and are found on 7 islands: São Miguel, Terceira, Pico, Faial, São Jorge,Flores and Corvo.

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One can imagine that in the past most of the higher levels of the islands were coveredby bogs and fens, but there are no data to assess the original mire area. There are onlyindications that the present mire area is just a fraction of the original mire expanse.

Recent human pressures for forestry purposes or for conversion to agricultural areas(combined with drainage or peat extraction), have modified, damaged or evendestroyed many of the mire habitats. Nevertheless, several mires have not beendamaged beyond repair and restoration is still possible.

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EU NATURE CONSERVATION POLICY

To meet its international obligations and encourage better management of Europe’snatural heritage, the European Union has been progressively developing andimplementing a nature conservation policy on its territory since 1973. At the heart ofthis policy are two pieces of Community legislation: the ‘Birds Directive’ and the‘Habitats Directive’. Together, these focus on the protection of natural habitats, faunaand flora and the creation of a coherent European ecological network of protectedareas - called the Natura 2000 Network.

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Adopted in 1979, the Birds Directive is concerned with the long-term protection andmanagement of all bird species living in the wild state on Union territory and of theirhabitats. 181 bird species, in particular, benefit from specific conservation measures –for these, the Member States must classify the most appropriate areas as SpecialProtection Areas (SPAs). To date, around 2,400 sites covering over 160,000 km² havebeen classified. These SPAs have also had a positive effect on the protection of anumber of bogs and fens, which are important breeding, resting and foraging sites fora number of the targeted bird species.

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This Directive, adopted in 1992, the year of the Rio summit, is the main EUinstrument to safeguard its biodiversity. It introduces the obligation to preservehabitats and species of Community interest. Around 200 natural and semi-naturalhabitat types - whose current range is very small or has shrunk considerably across theEU - are listed in the Directive, as are a further 200 animal species and over 500 plantspecies requiring habitat protection.

Each Member State is responsible for identifying and designating, as Special Areas ofConservation (SAC), sites which are important for the protection of these species andhabitats. These areas will then benefit from statutory or contractual safeguards, and,where appropriate, management plans will be elaborated to ensure their long-termpreservation through the integration of human activities into a sustainable strategy forthe site.

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The Natura 2000 Network will ultimately be made up of SACs designated under theHabitats Directive and the SPAs classified under the Birds Directive. Onceestablished, it will form the central pillar of the Union’s conservation policy. Whilstthe SPAs are automatically included in Natura 2000, a more stepwise process isforeseen for Habitat Directive sites. First, each Member State proposes a list of sitesfor the conservation of the species and habitat types listed in annex occurring in theirterritory (the national list). Then, the Commission selects, in agreement with theMember States and on a biogeographical basis, those sites that are considered to be ofCommunity Importance (SCIs). Finally, the Member States formally designate theselected sites as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and introduce measures toensure their favourable conservation state.

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When adopting the Habitats Directive in June1992, the ministers in Council gavethemselves three years to propose thenational list of sites to the Commission.However, the first phase took longer thanexpected and for some countries it is still notcomplete. Nevertheless, by the beginning of1999, more than 8,800 sites coveringapproximately 320,000 km² (equivalent to10% of the EU territory) had already beensubmitted to the Commission. This meantthat work could begin in earnest on selectingthe SCIs for some of the biogeographicregions.

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PROTECTION UNDER THE HABITATS DIRECTIVE

Because of their rarity and continuing decline, 13 mire habitat types are included inAnnex I of the Habitats Directive. Leaving bog woodland as a special case, these miretypes can be broadly organised into the following three main groups, primarilyaccording to their topography, hydrological condition and the plant species which arethe most important component of peat formation.

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Bogs occur in situations where the water feeding the vegetation is no longer in contactwith the mineral soil. Because of this, bogs are very poor in nutrients. Peat mosses(sphagnum) take over the role of ‘brown mosses’ in peat formation because they arehighly successful in sequestering the very few minerals dissolved in the rainwater.The uptake of these minerals causes bogs to become acidic because peat mossesscavenge the few cations from the dissolved minerals and exchange them forhydrogen ions (acidity is defined by the concentration of hydrogen ions). Bogs dependsolely on rainwater and are thus ombrotrophic (“rain-fed”). The peat layer of bogs isgenerally thicker than in fens and, because of this, bogs can be seriously destabilisedif this layer is destroyed as a result of digging ditches or extracting peat.

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Fens occur where the vegetation is still in contact with the enriched mineral water,either through the run-off of water from the surrounding mineral soil or throughseepage. Since fens rely on a mineral water supply, they are called minerotrophic(“mineral-fed”). In some cases fens are precursors of bogs. Under certain conditions,the peat soil remains poor in oxygen and is generally very low in nitrates orphosphates, even in situations where a substantial amount of dissolved minerals canbe present in the water, such as in the alkaline fens. However, in other cases, notablythe eutrophic fens, nitrogen and phosphorus may be abundant. In fens, sedges,‘brown mosses’ and some sphagna form the peat. The peat layer is generally (but notalways) thinner than in bogs.

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Boreal mires are particular complexes where bog and fen situations occur next to eachother. Boreal mires are generally flat landscape features, much influenced by theeffects of the annual spring thaws and of compression by snow cover. Trees oftenoccur where the peat layer is thin.

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The following section gives a brief description of the mire habitat types listed in theHabitats Directive, summarised from the “Interpretation Manual of the HabitatsDirective”1 The interested reader should consult this Manual for a more detaileddescription of the habitats and their component plant and animals.2,3

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Habitats Directive code: 7110*: active raised bogs and 7120: degraded raised bogs

Vegetation characteristics and topography� Peatmoss-dominated vegetation, oftengrowing together with small sedges, cotton grasses and ericaceous species such as�� . Small shrubs such as �� , �� and �� are present in boreal raised bogs. Because of the poormineral content, carnivorous plant species such as sundew (?�� .) oftenoccur between the peat mosses or on bare peat. They are called raised bogs becausethe bog surface and the water table in the bog are higher than in the surroundingvegetation. Dome-shaped raised bogs are well known, for example, in the BritishIsles, but a variety of raised bogs also occur in most geographical areas.

Mineral content and acidity: poor and acidic.

Peat characteristics: The peat is formed by peatmoss (��) and the peat layer can bevery deep (up to 7m is not unusual). Inactive raised bogs, a priority habitat type,peat formation is still occurring; indegraded raised bogs, peat formation hasstopped because the bog hydrology hasbeen disrupted as a result of a significantdrop in the water table (ditches, peatextraction ...). As long as the peat is not toodesiccated and mineralised, the bog can stillbe rehumidified and, with appropriaterehabilitation, there is a reasonableexpectation of re-establishing a peatforming vegetation. If the peat layer is toodesiccated and mineralised, the bog is nolonger capable of retaining water naturally.

Conservation issues: Intact raised bogs have become very rare, except in borealregions where they are a predominant mire type in southern boreal regions.

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Vegetation characteristics and topography: extensive bog communities, covering largeareas, so that the peat layer covers the flat or undulating landscape as a blanket.Blanket bogs occur on soils with poor surface drainage in very oceanic climateswith heavy rainfall. Blanket bogs may have started as raised bogs, which thenmerged through the general expansion of the peat layer. In blanket bogs, lateralwater flow may still exist but, because of the continuous peat layer, the blanketbogs are poor in nutrients and remain primarily ombrotrophic. Peat mosses(��.) are still an important part of the vegetation, but sedges are moreprevalent than in the raised bogs.

Mineral content and acidity: oligotrophic and acidic.

Peat characteristics: somewhat similar to raised bogs, but many blanket bogs have amore even and less deep peat layer containing a higher proportion of sedge speciessuch as �� and ��.

Conservation issues: like the raised bogs,intact blanket bogs have become very rareand need protection, in particular sincethey are restricted to the very oceanic partof the Atlantic region. In Sweden,blanket bogs occur in the western part ofthe Jämtland County, where they areconnected to the Norwegian blanketmires. An area between the mountainsconnects this area to the oceanic climatefrom the Trondheim Fjord.

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Vegetation characteristics and topography: Transition mires are intermediary mirestages between fens and bogs and often occur as a succession stage in theterrestrialisation of ponds and lakes. They are, to a certain extent, ombrotrophicbecause the vegetation surface has become somewhat disconnected from themineral water table beneath. However, an increase in the water table after heavyrain or a decrease in the mire’s surface, e.g. when the vegetation is buried under ablanket of snow, soaks the vegetation in mineral-rich water.

A unique type of transition mire is the quaking bog (Schwingmoor). In thesemires, there are carpets of medium-sized or small sedges, associated withsphagnum and brown mosses, which float upon the water surface. Under normalconditions, the quaking bogs are connected to the terrestrial vegetation. However,parts can become disconnected and float freely on the water surface.

Mineral content and acidity: Oligo- to mesotrophic; basic to slightly acidic.

Peat characteristics: intermediate between �� and brown moss peat. Inquaking bogs, the peat has a very high water content as it is largely suspended inthe water underneath.

Conservation issues: transition mires and quaking bog communities evolve into bogsor brook forests, depending on a number of ecological factors. In order to preservethe best examples, these habitats are being restored by recreating earlier successionstages.

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Vegetation characteristics and topography: These are very constant pioneercommunities on exposed peat (or sand) on stripped areas of blanket bogs, ornaturally seep- or frost-eroded areas of wet heaths and bogs. This vegetation alsooccurs where the hydrologically fluctuating zone around oligotrophic pools hassandy or slightly peaty surfaces. This vegetation is closely related to those ofshallow bog hollows, and is characterised by sedges, such as F��F��, sundew species (?�� sps.) and the fern �� .

Mineral content and acidity: oligotrophic and acidic conditions.

Peat characteristics: occur on bare peat surface.

Conservation issues: good examples are locally rare and can be restored by sodcutting, or the creation of bare peat surfaces.

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Vegetation characteristics and topography: Occur on sloping surfaces near springs.Because of the continuous flow, the water is cold, of even temperature and rich inoxygen and minerals. The springs where the water wells up, may have acharacteristic vegetation. In spring fens, the water seeps through the ground andthe accumulated peat. This local enrichment of the mostly ombrotrophic peatlayers results in a unique and specialised fauna and flora.

Mineral content and acidity: unique ecological gradients formed by the contact ofpoor ombrotrophic peat and the mineral-rich water supply.

Peat characteristics: enriched ombrotrophic peat layers.Conservation issues: Very rare.

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Vegetation characteristics and topography: �� fens are flat, lawn-likemires on permanently waterlogged soils. They cannot tolerate variations in waterlevels and the water table is high (slightly above or below the substratum). Theyconsist of species-poor communities, dominated by ��, often as aresult of terrestrialisation of shallow calcareous lakes and may occur next tocalcareous or acidic fens, reed beds or large-sedge communities... �� fen communities mostly occur as sloping fens in sub-montain tomountain areas, and in lowland areas as an early succession stage of mesotrophicand calcareous mires. They consist mostly of a very wet vegetation, since they areconstantly fed by run-off water and groundwater.

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Mineral content and acidity: minerotrophic and basic conditions.

Peat characteristics: generally on a shallow peat layer of sedge peat and brown moss.

Conservation issues: extensive �� fens have become very rare and aremuch threatened by relatively minor changes in the water table. �� fen communities are under serious threat from demand for intensiveagricultural grasslands. They are also threatened by changes in water quality andthrough simple lack of management.

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Vegetation characteristics and topography: This habitat type occurs when hardcalcium-rich water forms travertine or calcareous tufa. In most cases these aresmall point or linear vegetation zones around springs. This habitat type depends onthe continuous presence of light and the continuous supply of hard water, and isdominated by a few characteristic mosses (�� , and others) which areadapted to tufa formation. Petrifying springs are not true mires in the sense thatthey do not form peat.

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Vegetation characteristics and topography: alkaline fens are mires dominated by peator tufa-producing small sedges and mosses (brown mosses) and occur onwaterlogged, base-rich and often calcareous soils. They are generally species-richboth in terms of mosses and flowering plant species. These alkaline fens are oftenclosely associated with �� , �� and transition mires.Outside large rich-fen communities, alkaline fens can occur in dune slacks, wetgrasslands and a few other specialised situations.

Mineral content and acidity: rich in minerals, basic.

Peat characteristics: peat formation is infra-aquatic.

Conservation issues: Because of the rich mineral substrates and the presence of water,alkaline fens have been selectively drained in the past and have become very rare.The abundance of species occurring in these mire types implies that these mireshave a high conservation priority.

Mineral content andacidity: rich incalcium, basic.

Peat characteristics:no peatformation.

Conservationissues: Shadefrom trees andleaf litter candisrupt tufaproduction.

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Vegetation characteristics and topography: Low-sedge and rush communitiescolonising bare gravel, sand, stones, clay or peat substrates of cold water areasalong moraines, glaciers, edges of springs, etc. A long period with permanent orcontinuous soil frost is necessary.

Mineral content and acidity: mesotrophic, slightly acidic to neutral.

Peat characteristics: mineral soils enriched in organic matter as a result of the coldclimate and waterlogged conditions.

Conservation issues: very rare habitat type. The evolution and distribution of thesehabitat types may be a good indicator of increasing temperature worldwide. Foundin the Alps, the boreal countries and locally in the UK.

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Vegetation characteristics and topography: These are mire complexes characterised byminerotrophic fen vegetation, mostly forming flat or slightly concave areas, so thatthe centre does not rise above the surrounding mineral ground (a major differencewith raised bogs). Since aapa mires are flooded in late spring, the characteristichummocks of raised bogs are not formed.

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Aapa mires have a characteristic pattern, which gradually changes as one moves upfrom the middle boreal region to the north. In the middle boreal region, the aapamires look like homogeneous lawn-forming fens. Towards the north, the patternbecomes clearer, showing a structure of pools and strings. This forms a parallel ora net-like structure. In raised bogs, ridges and pools can also occur, but these arealways concentric or eccentric. In the aapa mire margin, where the peat layer isthin, bog woodland types occur.

Mineral content and acidity: poorlyminerotrophic to slightly acidic.

Peat characteristics: sedge peat, mixed withpeatmoss peat and peat formed by brownmosses.

Conservation issues: Since aapa mires arerestricted to the middle and northernboreal region, they have a highconservation value.

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Vegetation characteristics and topography: As one moves north in the aapa region, theeffect of frost increases and palsa mires occur. Palsa mires are characterised by a‘palsa mound’.

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A frozen peat core can be formed where the snow layer is thin; during thefollowing winters, the insulating snow layer remains thin because of the bulgingsurface so that the core increases in size. This can go on until the mound has aheight of 3-4 meters. As the mound increases, the peat layer on the top of themound dries up and the palsa begins to crack and eventually collapses to form acharacteristic ring.

Mineral content and acidity: : ombrotrophic and acidic

Peat characteristics: peat mosses

Conservation issues : locally common in the far north, but in a very restricted area.

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Vegetation characteristics and topography: coniferous and broad-leaved forests on ahumid to wet peaty substrate, with the water level permanently high or higher than thesurrounding water table. Bog woodlands are generally dominated by birch, alder,pine or spruce.

Mineral content and acidity: poor in nutrients and acidic.

Peat characteristics: often occur at the margin of raised bogs or in acid fens.

Conservation issues: same as raised acid bogs.

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A LONG HISTORY OF LAND USE

Throughout the European Union, the quality and quantity of mires has declinedsignificantly. This decline has been very gradual, beginning in western and centralEurope where demand for land and fuel was greatest, followed later by the borealregions and British Isles. Ironically, many of the labour-intensive mire drainageschemes for agriculture or forestry purposes were not entirely successful. Productionestimates were very often not achieved, leading to an abandonment of the ‘landimprovement schemes’, after which the mires, albeit seriously affected and reduced inbiological quality, were left to recover as far as natural processes would allow.

Considerable financial resources were sunk into such ‘land improvement’ projects.Today, financial investment is again needed, this time to repair the damage inflictedby these past schemes. Restoration of mires is an expensive endeavour and there isn’talways a guarantee that the outcome will be as expected. Therefore, preservation ofwhat remains of this important natural heritage should be the primary target.However, where damage has occurred, restoration becomes necessary.

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Austria * 84 3 3.60 0.3 10 !�Belgium * 31 1 3.30 0.01 1 !!

Denmark * 43 10 23.0 0.1 1 !!

Finland 338 96 28.0 19.2 20 #�

France * 544 1 0.2 0.01 1 !!

Germany * 357 15 4.2 0.15 1 !!

Greece * 132 2 1.5 0.02 1 !!

Ireland 70 14 20.0 2.1 15 #"

Italy * 301 1 0.3 0.01 1 !!

Luxembourg* 2.6 0.02 1.3 0.001 5 !"

Netherlands * 42 15 36.0 0.15 1 !!

Portugal * 92 0.2 0.2 0.002 1 !!

Sweden 450 67 15.0 43.55 65 %"

Spain * 505 0.5 0.1 0.005 1 !!

United Kingdom* 243 18 7.4 1.8 10 !�

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IDENTIFYING THE SOURCE OF THE THREATS

Because of their need for a relatively continuous and natural water supply, mires arehighly susceptible to any changes in hydrological conditions within their widerenvironment. Nevertheless, the integrity and biological diversity of mires can still bemaintained as long as these hydrological conditions are not changed drastically and aslong as land use is not intensive. For instance, a number of land uses have occurredon mires with little or no damaging effect on the nature values: hay production,grazing of mires, small-scale peat harvesting, and berry picking. In several instances,low-intensity agricultural practices such as mowing or grazing even increased speciesrichness locally and maintainedmires in a particular successional stage, therebypreventing them from developing into other mire types.

More often than not though, the hydrological condition of the mires has beendisrupted by more destructive modes of land use. In these cases, it is essential tounderstand the source of the problem in order to be able to design the mostappropriate remedial actions to restore the habitat. Three questions can be asked inthis respect:

� What has been the ��*� �� -� �� fauna, flora or structure? Assessing andunderstanding the biological effects on the structure and function of a mire isimportant to determine its present conservation status and to be able to ��the impact of restoration works;

� Which actions have caused damage in the past or cause damage at present or maycause damage in the future? This is important in order to know which non-recurring or recurring conservation actions to undertake to �� . *��/�the mires;

� Which are the socio-economic sectors or ��-��.�� responsible for theseactions? This is important in order to know who to involve and negotiate with.

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• Agriculture• Forestry• Transport• Recreation• Tourism• Urbanisation• Construction• Peat extraction• Energy• Industry• Horticulture• Hunting• Mining

• Ditch digging• Afforestation• Tree felling• Water extraction• River diversion• Flooding• Fertilization• Lack of management• Removal of peat• Road construction• Building• Waste disposal• Trampling• Introduction of non-native

species

• Desiccation• Mineralisation• Habitat destruction• Fragmentation (size

reduction)• Nutrient input• Natural succession• Unwanted change in flora

and fauna (introducedspecies, simplification ofspecies composition)

• Pollution• Drowning (hydro-electric

power dams, pond creation)

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TYPES OF DAMAGING ACTION

The following is a description of the most important damaging actions as they wereidentified in the projects co-financed by the EU under its LIFE-Nature financialinstrument (the greater the number of flags, the more frequent and important thisthreat was to the sites concerned):

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� Threat: whether establishing new plantations or promoting natural tree growth,afforestation is a major problem for mires, in particular for blanket bogs, raisedbogs and aapa mires. In boreal regions, fens were selected for woodland becauseof their better mineral content and at these sites, forestry was successful. Later,

afforestation of ombrotrophicmires took place, but because ofthe poor and acidic conditions,this did not give the expectedtimber yields (slow growth rate,poor timber quality and highharvesting costs.)

✔ Response in LIFE projects:removal of trees, one-off com-pensation payments, ring-barking of trees.

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� Threat: Overall more mires havebeen drained for agriculture and forestrythan for peat extraction, but in bothcases this involved the digging of anextensive network of ditches – in thecase of peat extraction this wasfollowed by vegetation stripping aswell. Peat soils degrade rapidly andirreversibly after intensive drainage,especially in drier climates, resulting in adramatic drop in agriculturalproductivity. In large areas of CentralEurope, the costs of pumping and dikemaintenance can no longer be met fromagricultural revenues (Succow & Joosten1999).

✔ Response in LIFE projects: dammingand blocking ditches, filling in ditches.

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� Threat: Initially, tree felling was a means of creating agricultural land.Surprisingly, this locally led to an increase in water, which flowed to the wetlandsand stimulated peat production. At present, the situation is quite different,especially in boreal areas, where most mire sites with high conservation valuehave forests within or immediately surrounding them. This forest is of commercialvalue and is therefore at permanent risk of being chopped down for timber.Preparation of areas for tree felling on an industrial scale means that roads have tobe built to transport the timber, which adds to the severe disruption of thehydrology of the mires.

✔ Response in LIFE projects: compensation payments, land acquisition.

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� Threat: Several mires, having rivers flowing through them, were until recentlyused as extensively managed grasslands for hay production. However, in order toimprove grassland production and to control water levels (often with the aim ofpreventing flooding), water authorities have been re-diverting or canalising riversaway from the mires. Not only was the hydrology disrupted, but also thechemistry of the run-off water changed drastically, often affecting the riversdownstream. Peat mineralisation also meant that soil levels dropped, leading tothe formation of polders.

✔ Response in LIFE projects: restoration of former river bed, rehumidification ofthe mire.

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� Threat: Flooding of mires is a recent problem. Mires situated in river basins areunder threat of being used as water retention basins to prevent flooding of urbanor industrial areas downstream. In other areas, riverine mires are beingtransformed into fishing ponds or lakes for recreational purposes. A recentinventory, undertaken as part of the French LIFE project “Tourbières de France”,of the mires of the Haute-Saône and the Territoire de Belfort showed thatconstruction of ponds was the first cause of decline in 61% of the 107 studiedmires in France (Dupieux, 1998).

✔ Response in LIFE projects: compensation payments, land acquisition.

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� Threat: In boreal mires, fertilisers (NPK) were often used in the past to encouragetree growth. Fertilisation of fens and bogs also occurs as a result of increasedfarming in the mires’ catchment areas. This problem is particularly acute in theLow Countries, though the problem is widespread and is of major conservationconcern.

✔ Response in LIFE projects: A difficult problem to deal with. In most borealprotected mires, fertilisation no longer occurs but the effects are still visible. Inthe Low Countries, the creation of buffer zones and the installation of watertreatment plants has been the best option to deal with this problem.

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� Threat: Water extraction in or near a mire may affect the hydrology of the mireand therefore have a detrimental effect on the vegetation and mire topography.

✔ Response in LIFE projects: movement of the borehole to a safe distance.

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� Threat: Being made up of mosses and small plants, mire vegetation is verysensitive to trampling. Trampling occurs on hiking trails through mires, oroccasionally takes place when too many cattle graze the mires. Another recentthreat to mires is cross-country skiing as ski-tracks are prepared by heavyequipment.

✔ Response in LIFE projects: compensation payments, re-routing trails,…

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� Threat: even though far fewer mires have been destroyed by peat extraction thanby agriculture and forestry, this practice is, without a doubt, the most damagingthing that can be done to a mire, in particular to bogs. Peat extraction is stillongoing today and remains a serious threat as it is usually the pristine bogecosystems that are selected for the extraction of peat.

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✔ Response in LIFE projects: compensation payments, placing areas under strictprotection, experiments to re-establish vegetation.

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� Threat: Garden plants eventually escape into the wild and start affecting the localfauna and flora. For instance, the plant �� !��, a small bushspecies, escaped from gardens around several mire areas and is now a strongcompetitor for the typical mire species in calcareous mires in western Europe(Belgium, Netherlands, also UK and France). �� is asignificant invader of raised bogs in UK and Ireland.

✔ Response in LIFE projects: physical removal of invasive species but techniques toget rid of these plants and animals have to be developed on a case-by-case basis.

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� Threat: Road construction near or through mires may have a detrimental effect onthe sites, as heavy equipment is used and the mire hydrology is changed. Forexample, in the narrow valleys of the Alps, mires are being increasingly squeezedbetween road infrastructures.

✔ Response in LIFE projects: compensatory measures: diversion or re-routing of theroads or infrastructures.

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Apart from these damaging actions, one natural event is also of major conservationconcern to many site managers and this is �� **��. Natural successioninvolves a series of stages, one after the other, by which one plant communityreplaces the previous plant community, until a final stage (climax) is reached. Forinstance, brown-moss sedge communities in the early fen stages may be replacedeither by bog communities where peat mosses are dominant, or by a brook-forestcommunity. How this evolution occurs depends on several ecological factors.

If succession is a natural process, why should it be a problem? Some of the earlystages in the development of mires, such as certain fen plant communities, havebecome very rare as there are too few ‘starting points’ in today’s man-madelandscape. The only possible means to protect these early succession stages is to ‘turnthe ecological clock back’. In most cases this is done by mowing, sod cutting, orremoving trees so that the initial open phases of the fens can develop again. In LIFE-Nature projects, which are dealing with fen or intermediate fen-bog communities,turning back the ecological clock of natural succession is an important andappropriate conservation action.

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LIFE: THE EU’S FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT FOR NATURE

The European Union has had a financial instrument to support nature conservationprojects since 1984. At the start, only relatively small pilot projects could be fundedbut in 1992, when the Habitats Directive was adopted and the concept of Natura 2000launched, Member States recognised the need for a more substantial budget to assistin the establishment of this ecological network. This was not intended to pay for itsimplementation wholesale but rather to promote practical examples and demonstrationmodels of how Natura 2000 could work in practice.

As a result, nature conservation became a major component of LIFE, the EU’sfinancial instrument for the environment. Since 1992, some 40-50 million euro hasbeen made available on an annual basis to co-finance actions targeting theconservation of:

♦ sites proposed under the Habitats Directive (pSCIs)♦ sites classified under the Birds Directive (SPAs)♦ listed species, where their survival is dependent on more than just protecting and

conserving their existing habitats.

The Community’s financial contribution is up to a maximum of 50% of the total costor in exceptional cases, 75% for priority species and habitats. Most often it is publicauthorities, having a responsibility for implementing EU conservation legislation,particularly municipalities, regional authorities and park administrations, who applyfor LIFE funds. But non-governmental organisations also represent a significantproportion of the recipients as they often have the grass-roots expertise required toundertake on-site actions. Also, in recent years, partnership projects, involvingconservation authorities, NGOs and stakeholders, have become increasingly popular.

During LIFE I (1992-1995), the Habitats Directive was in its early stages ofimplementation. It was therefore important not only to support site-related emergencyactions for species and habitat types listed in the Directive, but also to assist MemberStates in the onerous task of drawing up the national lists of sites to be proposed forinclusion in the Natura 2000 Network.

By LIFE II (1996-1999) Member States were entering the next stage ofimplementation. Consequently, the emphasis shifted and priority was now given toprojects involving practical on-site actions �� proposed Natura 2000 areas.

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The overall objective of LIFE-Nature is to fund projects that will make a significantcontribution to the conservation of Natura 2000 sites either by pump-priming initialheavy investment costs that will make long-term management more affordable, orproviding high-profile models of how conservation objectives for particular habitatsand species can be achieved in practice and �� within the interest groups’support – i.e. demonstration projects.

On the whole, LIFE projects follow the logical framework approach wherebysuccessful applicants identified and quantified the problems affecting their site beforeproposing a suite of actions to address these under LIFE-Nature. The type of actionsfunded can be broadly grouped into five main categories. In subsequent chapters, eachof these actions will be described in detail and illustrations given of the kind ofpractical examples funded.

• �� Actions preparing the ground for on-site conservationwork, e.g. administrative preparation (permit procedures, meetings betweenproject partners), negotiations with stakeholders, preparation of managementplans, site surveys, technical blueprints etc..

• �� Long-term conservation of mires can often only beachieved if an effective long-term control over the land use is assured.Acquisition or long-term lease is not always an end in itself, but can also act as afirst step in paving the way for restoration or biotope management work, whichalways affects other land uses. Compensations for restricting existing rights, orending them altogether, also come under this heading, as do land swaps, wherebyland is bought outside the project area and exchanged for a section of valuableland within the site.

• �� (one-off restoration actions): this often means investmentworks to kick-start the restoration or improvement of mires and mire hydrology,e.g. closing ditches, tree felling or removing scrub vegetation, fencing to allow thegrazing of peat meadows, etc.

• �� (biotope management) this involves actions that have to beundertaken on a regular basis to maintain or improve the habitat conditions of themire. For instance, a fair number of mires are used for agricultural purposes(grazing and hay-making) and rely on these low-intensity farming practices fortheir maintenance. Recurring actions can also include the development of specialmowing equipment to be used on the soft and wet mire soils, contracts andmanagement agreements with third parties to mow or graze conservation land, etc.

• �� aimed either at visitors, thelocal community or relevant stakeholders, this includesquite a heterogeneous range of measures from theinstallation of footpaths and bird observation towers tothe preparation and publication of brochures, theorganisation of workshops and public hearings, mediawork, and so on.

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PROJECTS FUNDED FOR MIRE CONSERVATION

Altogether, between 1992 and 1998, some 347 LIFE-Nature projects were financed,committing over 283 million euro to nature conservation within the European Union.Although a very large number of these projects in some way involve mire habitats, 66(20%) of them can be considered to be ‘genuine mire projects’ in that they made asignificant contribution to the conservation of these particular habitats in the differentMember States.

The total amount of money allocated to mire conservation through these projects ishowever rather difficult to assess, as some are part of much bigger projects coveringother habitats as well. Nevertheless, it is estimated that between 25-35 million eurohas been disbursed, specifically for mire conservation work, over the last seven yearssince 1992.

A list of the 66 projects is given in Annex to this report, together with the contactnames and addresses in case those interested wish to have further information on theprojects or their results.

For the purposes of this report, three types of project have been distinguished:

8 Horizontal projects

The term covers two kinds of projects: the first covers the preparation ofnational lists of endangered habitat types and species listed in theDirectives. Such projects were financed between 1992 and 1995 (LIFE-I).Their value lay in building up knowledge on the presence and status ofmire biotopes in countries such as Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Greece. Thesecond type of project involved the preparation of management plans andstrategies for a wide array of biotopes, including mires (but not involvingon-site implementation actions).

31 “Key” mire projects

These are projects which focus primarily on mire habitats, i.e. where morethan 25% of the project site targeted consists of mires.

29 “Relevant” mire projects

Projects where the conservation of mire habitats is also targeted, but to afar lesser extent and in addition to other habitats. Such projects have beenincluded in the report if large mire areas are involved (>100ha), if small butunique mire habitat types (e.g. unique for the Member State in question)were targeted or whenever notable incentive or demonstrative actions fortheir conservation took place.

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Projects where many small but important mire sites are included

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Not all mire projects funded under LIFE-Nature are single-site initiatives. Some havetaken a more generic approach and covered several sites at once. As can be seen fromthe distribution map, site-related mire projects took place in 10 of the 15 MemberStates. In Greece, Portugal and Spain, only horizontal projects focusing oninventories or management plans for threatened habitat types (Annex I of HabitatsDirective) took place. There were no mire projects in Denmark and Luxemburg.

In most cases, the EU LIFE funding complements national efforts within the MemberStates. For example, many projects have used EU LIFE support to finance theexpensive investment in land acquisition as the ‘first step’ in the conservation of themire, but rely on their own financial means to restore or manage the habitat. This isthe case in Finland and Sweden where most LIFE finance was used to acquire andsafeguard mires, many of which were in relatively pristine condition (subsequentmanagement being a fairly low key affair). On the other hand, the UK, beingconfronted with degraded mires, focused its LIFE projects on hydrologicalrestoration. Some countries, like Germany and France, needed a wide range ofconservation actions and so used EU support for measures across the board:acquisition, land lease, restoration and management of degraded mires.

The differences in mire conservation needs amongst Member States has an effect onthe kind of actions needed, which in turn means differences in the way financialsupport is allocated among the five major action types distinguished previously. Thiscan be illustrated by comparing the provisional budgets of projects in five MemberStates (Finland, France, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom). These figures,and those given in the country-by-country review, are indicative only as it is difficultto establish the exact amounts earmarked for mire conservation within projects withonly a partial mire conservation effect.

Preparatory actions

Acquisition

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Recurring management

Public awareness

Project operation

FINLAND

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UK

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COUNTRY BY COUNTRY OVERVIEW

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In this Alpine country, agriculture, residential areas, industry and infrastructure aresqueezed into the valleys, where the intense demand for land poses a great threat tothe lowland mires. Hence, two important projects focus on the conservation of suchintra-montane mires: the Ennstal mires in Styria and the Hörfeld Moor on the borderbetween Styria and Carinthia. The third project, in the Rhine delta, is quite different.The delta has been an important riverine fen area in the past, but, as a result of riverembankment works and drainage of these mires, the wetland area has been muchreduced. The objective of the LIFE-project here is to restore the hydrology of the wetmeadows and remaining small fen sites in the delta.

As the Ennstal project illustrated, if partnership between competent authorities,landowners and private conservation bodies is not secured, the success of therestoration actions and the long-term conservation of the site cannot be guaranteed. Apartnership which is proving more successful is the conservation of the Hörfeld Moor.Here, the partnership has already led to an exemplary involvement of the localfarming community in the conservation of the mire and a number of potential spin-offs for the economic development within the valley.

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Belgium is a mixture of often incompatible land uses, in which conservation workrequires patience and piece-by-piece tactics. Building upon the experience of fenconservation gained during the last decades, two regional conservation organisationsproposed a “key” mire project to safeguard the last calcareous mires in the country,which had been brought to the brink of extinction by the abandonment of traditionalagricultural methods and the lack of effective conservation. Through land acquisition,one-off restoration measures and regular mowing, LIFE-Nature gave a significantboost to the conservation of these mires and raised public awareness of mireconservation. Two other projects included, amongst others, the restoration of smalltransition mires and relicts of bog woodland, while the largest and best developed�� communities in Flanders were protected via a third project.

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Finland is, together with Sweden, the Member State with the most extensive mires. Inone mega-project in Lapland and Ostrobothnia, 29 aapa mires, ranging from 50 toover 10,000 ha each, are being protected with LIFE-Nature support. Althoughdrainage for forestry purposes and occasional peat digging have taken their toll, thestructure and function of the aapa mires included in this project are still veryrepresentative. A second LIFE-Nature project in central and southern Finland focuseson the restoration of 17 degraded aapa mires and raised bogs, for, as one heads south,relatively more mires have been degraded or have disappeared as a result of humanintervention.

Among the “relevant” mire projects, natural old-growth forests in the Kuusamo areaare the prime target of a LIFE-Nature project targeting another 13,780 ha. In thisproject area old-growth forest occurs next to important mires, primarily aapa mires.Since the long-term conservation of these mires can only be guaranteed if they areincluded in the conservation of the forest habitats, the acquisition of 40% of the miresis foreseen in this project. In so doing, this otherwise forest-related project should alsomake a significant contribution to the conservation of mires.

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France is the only Member State which straddles 4 biogeographic regions (Atlantic,Continental, Alpine and Mediterranean), as a result it has a great diversity and numberof relatively small bogs and fens.

One project in particular, “Tourbières de France”, aimed to develop a nation-widestrategy for the conservation and sustainable use of the French mires, andimplemented this policy on 40 sub-sites in urgent need of conservation. The projectrelied on partnership between three non-governmental organisations and the publicauthorities for nature protection, forests (ONF) and water management (OfficeNational de l’Eau). A national committee for the protection of mires was set up andprovided the site managers and stakeholders with sound scientific and technicaladvice.

The project “Tourbières de Midi-Pyrénées” adopted a similar approach for theconservation of mires on its patch.

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Altogether, the French LIFE mires projects covered a great diversity of habitat types,ranging from extensive wetlands dominated by lakes over typical fens and bogs tounique mire sites such as the pozzines in the mountains of Corsica. The land useissues (agriculture, forestry, recreation, hunting, ...) were equally diverse and resultedin the involvement of a wide range of local authorities and stakeholders. This in turnenabled demonstrative restoration actions, such as the restoration of the former riverbeds in the valley of the Drugeon in the Jura (eastern France), to take place.

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It is characteristic for Germany that the regional conservation authorities are heavilyinvolved in the preparation and implementation of LIFE-Nature projects. Only onemire project has been put forward by a non-governmental organisation. Because thecompetent authorities of the different Länder have been the main beneficiaries ofLIFE-Nature projects, this has enabled the development of large-scale projects whichset ambitious targets, for instance to restore entire degraded mire ecosystems.

Examples of such projects concern the riverine fen ecosystems in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the reduced, but once large, fen areas formed by the glacial lakes of theChiemgau and Federsee in the Bavarian and Swabian foothills of the Alps, and theSchaalsee on the border between Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Other LIFE-Nature projects, without an overriding focus on mire conservation,contributed to the conservation of raised bogs and fens as one measure among many.A particularly interesting biotope is the unique calcareous tufa formation of theJohannisfelsen in the Isarauen LIFE project, or the calcareous fen of the BenningerRied LIFE project, which is the only place in the world where the plant �� occurs (both are in Bavaria).

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A precise picture of the distribution and conservation status of the habitat types andspecies listed in the Habitats Directive occurring in Greece, was needed to prepare thelist of potential Sites of Community Importance under this Directive. As over 40% ofall Annex I habitat types occur in Greece, two projects were approved to inventoryand analyse 296 sites covering approx 2.3 million hectares or 18% of the territory.

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Fens and bogs are represented in Greece by three habitat types: raised bogs, alkalineand calcareous fens. The conservation state of most of these mires is precarious,although the alkaline fens at high altitudes in the mountains of the Pindos range, wererecorded as still having an excellent structure and high conservation value. Calcareousfens with �� and �� were found to occur as well-developed communities in lakes, lagoons and valleys in central Greece. A few raisedbogs were recorded as well, but they cover small areas in the Varos and ElatiaMountains and occur here at the southernmost range of their distribution.

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Apart from the Mediterranean coastal environment, Italy has a large Continental andAlpine element and so does harbour a surprising variety of mires. Out of the 2500 orso proposed Sites of Community Importance (pSCIs), there are 399 pSCIs with mirehabitats. Most LIFE projects in Italy however focus on other biotopes, although someof the project sites contain valuable mire biotopes in need of conservation. The miresites which were included in LIFE-Nature projects were located at the very edge oftheir natural distribution range, such as the mires of Massaciucolli near Pisa orAspromonte in the toe of Italy.

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About 10% of the world’s total area of blanket bogs is found in Ireland. In 1987, theIrish Government made a commitment to protect 10,000 ha of raised bog and 40,000ha of blanket bog, covering in total 4% of the original unmodified area of mires inIreland. However, protection measures for these and other habitat types of Europeanimportance were hampered by the fact that many of the site descriptions andboundaries were out of date at the time of adopting the Habitats Directive.

It was therefore decided that a comprehensive nationwide re-survey of 1,600 sitesshould be carried out with co-financing from LIFE Nature. The ultimate objective wasto prepare Ireland’s submission of a national list of pSCIs. Blanket bogs, raised bogsand other priority habitat types received particular attention. A total of 1,225 sitescovering approximately 750,000 ha were finally identified through this process andtheir vital statistics (including ecology, threats, land use and maps) fed into a database. Around 200 of them involved priority habitats, such as blanket and raised bogs.

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As part of a continuing strategy to implement the Habitats Directive in Ireland, asecond horizontal LIFE-Nature project was launched to develop comprehensivemanagement plans for 214 sites containing priority habitats. Approximately 54 ofthese sites contain blanket bogs and 31 sites contain raised bogs.

Finally, a comprehensive land acquisition strategy for blanket and raised bogs wasinitiated under all three projects, with approximately 12,000 ha of land being targetedfor purchase with LIFE-Nature funds.

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What is left of the once extensive areas of raised bog and minerotrophic fen in theNetherlands has already received national statutory protection. Despite this legalprotection, the minerotrophic mires, considered the largest and best developed of theirkind in western Europe, have, since the 1970s, been severely affected by diffusepollution from surrounding agricultural land. The mires, important habitats for plantand animal species, slowly acidify and evolve into species-poor brook forests. BothLIFE-Nature projects seek to create the necessary buffer zones for the hydrologicalrestoration of the mires and, where these have already evolved into brook forest, to re-create the appropriate conditions for natural fen re-establishment.

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A precise picture of the occurrence and conservation state of the mires in Portugalwas needed in order to prepare the list of potential Sites of Community Importanceunder the Habitats Directive. A nationwide project to inventory the habitat typeslisted in the Directive was therefore launched with LIFE co-financing. This was acollaborative effort between six university research groups, coordinated by thecompetent authorities for nature conservation. Because conservation was urgent inseveral of these sites, management prescriptions were also proposed for a subset ofsites.

A preliminary list identified around 96 sites, which merited further consideration asregards their possible inclusion in the national list. Around 14 of these sites harbouredmire habitats. Although not a direct result of the LIFE-project, additional inventoriesbuilding on the LIFE work led to the discovery of several new mire sites. It wouldappear that the most important mires occur in about 25 sites covering circa 18,000 ha

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in the mountain areas (Parque Nacional de Penêda Gerês and the Serra da Estrela) inthe northern part and eastern part.

The inventory indicated that many valuable mire sites do not have a protected status(do not belong to the national system of protected-areas) and are threatened bydrainage schemes, overgrazing, afforestation, burning or industrial activities.Interestingly, in the past mires did occur farther south, such as in the Serra deMonchique, but were destroyed by fire. Similarly, many coastal mires have sufferedseriously from desiccation, residential building or tourist infrastructures.

A similar initiative was financed in the Azores (Macaronesian Region) with specialattention being given to assess and preserve the remaining mire area. This project,which only started in 1997, has already identified about 2,100 ha of mire areas. Themire sites were mapped (scale 1:50,000 and 1:10,000) and are now being entered intoa geographic information system (GIS). Additionally, ecological and hydrologicalresearch of the mires has started whereby special attention is given to mire flora,which is characterised by several endemic species. On the Azorean islands, mires arean important component of the landscape and play a vital role in their water retention.

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Spain has a great responsibility in the conservation of Europe’s natural heritage sinceabout 50% of the habitat types listed in Annex I of the Habitats Directive occur in thisMember State. Apart from a survey of the peat areas (which covers more than mires)by the Geological and Mining Institute (IGME 1987), a complete survey of mires waslacking. Mires are thought to cover about 50,000 ha. As in Portugal, mires are not animportant component of the Spanish landscape, but large mire areas occur in Padul(Granada), with an original surface of 350 ha, and Tablas de Daimiel (Ciudad Real,the National Park area is 1,928 ha) formed by the Guadiana and Gigüela.

In 1992, and with LIFE-Nature funds, the Spanish national and regional competentauthorities started with a national inventory of all habitat types and species mentionedin the annexes of the Directive. In total more than 200 scientists from 30 instituteswere involved in the inventory of habitat types and species in Spain.

By November 1995 this had resulted in the mapping of 160,000 sites on 1,127 maps(scale 1:50,000), with over 1.6 million associated data. For this work, a conversiontable was prepared to link the 1600 vegetation types occurring in Spain to the habitattypes mentioned in the Directive. At this moment, these maps are still beingdigitalised for a GIS-environment. This work is not yet finished, so the outcome formire distribution and conservation status is not fully known yet.2

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Sweden’s LIFE-Nature projects have focused primarily on two habitat types: miresand forests. With 15% of its territory covered in mires, the national conservationbody recognised the special role Sweden had in the protection of these habitats andadopted, in 1991, a National Mire Protection Plan. Altogether some 490 of the mostvaluable sites were identified, covering 400,000ha or 6% of the existing resource.These were carefully selected according to regional representation of mire unit typesand mire complexes, undisturbed state, biodiversity, function, etc….

A LIFE-Nature project was funded to acquire 9,500 ha of pristine bog in 17 sitestargeted by the Plan across the country. A further project combining western taiga andmire habitat sites was subsequently funded for the acquisition of a further 2,200 ha ofmires within 6 sites. No doubt, because of the mosaic mixture of mire and semi-virginforests, which is a typical ecological phenomenon in Sweden, even more mire habitatshave benefited from LIFE funding through the other projects aimed at western taigaconservation, hence they are included in the “relevant” mires group.

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In the UK, mires are largely restricted to Scotland, Northern Ireland, the north ofEngland and Wales. The “Flow Country” of northern Scotland holds the singlelargest expansion of blanket bog in Europe. Significant tracts of this priority habitattype were damaged by commercial afforestation in the mid-1980s. This damage isnow being compounded by the gradual closing of the forest canopy as the trees start tomature.

A LIFE-Nature project was launched in 1994 to secure key areas of pristine bog forconservation purposes and to restore some of the marginally damaged areas to highconservation status. Over 7,200 ha of prime bog were acquired; “conservationfriendly” traditional management techniques were promoted on a further 94,000 hathrough the Peatland Management Scheme (controlled by the Scottish NaturalHeritage) and experimental restoration techniques were tried out on 165 sitesdamaged by forestry.

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Two further prime blanket bog areas were also targeted under LIFE: CuilcaghMountain in Northern Ireland and the Border Mires in northern England. Bothprojects required extensive efforts to restore the damage of past inappropriate landuse.

The beneficiaries of the LIFE projects in the United Kingdom have been veryinventive in the techniques used to restore degraded mires (blocking ditches,restoration of eroded peat surfaces, and so on). They have also involved other interestgroups in the long-term conservation of mires, for example a privatised watercompany was instrumental in displacing a borehole that was draining Redgrave andLopham Fen in England.

Furthermore, the technical documents typically prepared as part of the UK LIFE-Nature projects, are important tools for the training of site managers. For example,the Scottish lowland raised bog project produced a technical manual for the protectionof this habitat type, and the Scottish blanket bogs project recently complemented thiswith a practical guide on restoring damaged blanket bogs affected by forestry.

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ESSENTIAL PREREQUISITES

The previous chapter gave a country-by-country overview of the LIFE projectstargeting mire conservation. We now turn our attention to the main objectives beingpursued by these projects and to an analysis of the type of actions funded. We startwith restoration as this was the main justification for many of the LIFE projects –which is perhaps not surprising given the drastic decline in ecological quality of somany mires in Europe.

Altogether some 45 LIFE projects (65%) can be said to have had restoration as theirmain objective. This involved one or both of the following:� Restoring the hydrology of the mire;� Restoring the ecological value of the mire vegetation and/or increasing its

biodiversity,

The complexity of the work undertaken and the effort required to carry it out variedsubstantially from country to country and from site to site; which is reflected in thecost of restoration work compared between projects. Some projects, working in near-pristine bogs and fens which were only damaged by ditching (e.g. in Finland), neededto do little more once the basic hydrology was restored by blocking the ditches. Inmore degraded bogs, as well as in most minerotrophic fens, more comprehensiverestoration was needed to tackle site hydrology and to re-establish the original mirevegetation, which meant that the effort and costs involved were much higher.

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Because none of these projects operated in glorious isolation, but had to deal withsites embedded among a patchwork of other land uses, restoration was often a verydelicate matter. Tackling the technical, legal and socio-economic problems involvedin mire restoration was thus vital for their success, as was the need to gain localcommunity support and acceptance. This last issue is so central to most LIFE projectsthat we have dedicated a specific chapter to it (see Chapter 8). The other key issues aresound preparation and control over the land.

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In most LIFE-Nature projects, the beneficiary already had a good knowledge of thesite before applying for financial assistance, but sometimes extra preparatory workwas required to fine-tune the actual restoration measures to be implemented. In suchcases, the associated cost was accepted as eligible under LIFE.

Thorough preparation is especially indispensable in the case of hydrologicalrestoration but this is not always an easy task, certainly not in large mire complexeswhich may have been drained at different times and where the water flows have beenaltered in direction or speed over time.

Such preparatory work often focused on:− Assessing how much a mire has been damaged as a result of desiccation or natural

succession;− Obtaining data on the mire vegetation before degradation;− Defining the most important sections (habitat types) to restore and their exact

location ;− Ensuring that the selection of restoration sites minimises damage to mire habitats

(vegetation), flora and fauna (breeding birds,….) and the property of third parties.

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The second key pre-condition is to have full control over the land. One of thepeculiarities of mire sites is that the conservation options (restoration, recurringmanagement, monitoring) have little effect on the overall state of conservation if theentire hydrological unit englobing the mire is not taken into consideration. E.g.restoring or managing a small part of the site may have no positive or long-lastingeffect on the mire at all. It is all or nothing! In practice, this very often means carryingout restoration works over a greater area than the (more or less) natural mire corezone.

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Also, by its nature, mire restoration can have pretty drastic effects. Not only on themire, which is after all the whole point of the exercise, but also on whatever land usesare practised in the surrounding areas. For instance, raising water levels to rehumidifymires will also humidify any adjoining land, which is hydrologically connected to themire. In turn, this may make farming, to name but one activity, economically difficultor even impossible.

Hence, many restoration projects had either already gained control over the land theywished to work on before applying for LIFE funds or did so as a first stage in theproject. When it was included in the LIFE project, land purchase often proved to bethe most popular and cost-effective method deployed. In areas of agricultural interest,land swaps were especially useful. Here, the owner of a site within the mire complexwould be offered an opportunity to swap his land for an agriculturally equivalent orbetter site elsewhere. This not only encouraged landowners to accept the project andits activities but also enabled the beneficiary to consolidate its land and so gain controlover larger areas so that restoration would be more successful.

There were other occasions, however, when long-term leasing arrangements andcompensation payments were preferred, often because the land owner was keen tohold on to his property or to continue such activities as hunting. In thesecircumstances an agreement was made on what could and could not be done by bothparties.

RE-INSTATING THE HYDROLOGICAL BALANCE OF THE MIRE

Water is essential for all mire habitats, whose development is determined by thehydrology of the catchment area. Over the centuries, all too often ditches were dugright into the mire body and rivers were diverted or canalised to drain them.Surrounding areas were ‘improved’ to suit new functions (agriculture, forestry orurbanisation) which resulted in an overall drop in water levels, affecting its peatproduction, vegetation and fauna. Eventually, mires became fragmented into smallrelicts, disconnected from the water which feeds and nurtures them – after that, it isonly a case of waiting for the end.

Providing the mire with enough water is thus the first and foremost emergency action.And not just any water: very often, because of pollution of the surrounding ground orriver water, the chemical composition of the mire water needs to be addressed too.

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Blocking ditches stops the outflow of water from the bog and is therefore one of themost obvious and common techniques used to restore the hydrology of a bog. Projectmanagers have been very inventive in developing different methods for achieving this,depending on the severity of the damage caused.

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Some examples of techniques used in Life-Nature projects:

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• In � #&1 2#$ $�"&#($",�"�03 one of the subsites of the Finnish LIFE-Natureproject on degraded mires, over 180 km of ditches were filled by using the peatwhich had been deposited next to the ditches when these were dug in the 1960sand 70s. It’s simple, but it works! Water level rose rapidly after filling and peatmosses quickly began colonising the bare peat layer in the filled and floodedditches.

• In the �+(&&#1' �,(4 �()$&�53 some 70,000ha of pristine blanket bogs weredamaged by extensive afforestation programmes in the mid 80s. Afforestation inturn meant digging drainage ditches to prepare the land for tree planting. Todayhowever it is increasingly evident that this initiative has been something of aneconomic failure and efforts are now underway amongst the conservation bodiesto find cheap and effective ways of reversing the damage before the tree canopycloses.

Through a LIFE-funded project, the British conservation body, RSPB,experimented with a range of damaged areas to find ways to restore suitableconditions for blanket bog development. Practical restoration work was completedon 7 areas of drained peatland (drain blocking), and on 8 areas of afforestedpeatland (tree removal); one further area damaged by the use of all-terrain-vehicles(ATVs) was also restored. Selected drains were dammed using a range ofmaterials including corrugated plastic sheeting, plastic piling, exterior-gradeplywood and peat. Every method was evaluated not only for its blocking potentialbut also for its cost efficiency and ecological benefits. By the end of the project atotal of 1,250 dams had been installed along 20km of hill drains at an average of£861/ha and a further 2,100 dams installed in forestry furrows. The techniques andresults of the project were then summarised in a best-practice document (seechapter 8) .

• Around 1970, conservationists wanted to block the canalised Kanzachwatercourse, arguing that it was draining too much water from the � * �1 6 $1��"* $�7�&& 28 �%3 � �2"$5�. Farmers were vehemently opposed. TheLandratsamt (= local authority) then decided to construct a temporary dam as anexperiment, to see who was right. This dam turned out to be a success - it boostedwater levels inside the fens yet farmers did not suffer any negative consequences.So it was simply left there. However, 25 years down the road, the erstwhile‘temporary’ dam is now being replaced by an improved version co-financed byLife-Nature. This illustrates yet again the sensitivity of mire restoration, wherelocal acceptance and support is vital for long-term success.

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• Sometimes the nature of theland and the extent of thedamage caused by the ditcheshas been so severe that it isalmost impossible to repair thedamage. Nevertheless, as in thecase of the LIFE project on�)#,+"%' ()$&"#$, NorthernIreland the consequences ofcontinued drainage were sosevere that something had to bedone.

Cuilcagh Mountain is a remotebut stunning expanse of blanketbog extending across the borderfrom Northern Ireland to theRepublic. It is actually muchmore famous for the caves thatlie several hundred metresbelow its surface. The MarbleArch caves are one of thebiggest visitor attractions inNorthern Ireland – drawing60,000 people annually.However, on an increasinglyregular basis the caves had tobe closed to the public due torisks of freak floods, especiallyafter heavy rainfall. Whenexperts investigated the causeof this flooding further, theyfound that it was due to thedamage that had been done tothe bog on the surface.

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Yet, because of the steep incline and the fact that some ditches had reachedsignificant proportions, first attempts to block the ditches proved useless: thematerial just ended up in a soggy heap at the bottom of the mountain a couple ofdays later.

Further experiments showed more encouraging signs though. These used acombination of large vertical drain blocks and hay barrels at regular intervalswithin the ditches. It is still too early to be sure that this method is long lasting, sothe beneficiary is adopting a cautious approach before applying this technique on alarge scale. The consequences of getting this wrong are just too significant, as itcould destabilise the whole bog and provoke a major landslide.

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The management of certain mires depends on grazing. The problem then becomes,achieving sufficient rehumidification to allow mire vegetation to develop yetkeeping a superficial drainage to allow cattle or horses to move around. To solvethis dilemma, a special technique to replace the deep drainage ditches by a set ofshallow channels in the peat (“des rigoles”) was tested in France under the LIFEproject for the conservation of bogs in the #*#��5�9$9 1/

The technique was first tested in this LIFE-project on a small area, and thenapplied to larger sites. It allowed the farming community to go on using the miresin a sustainable way, thereby avoiding abandonment of grazing management. Italso brought the conservation and agricultural authorities together, and thetechnique is now being applied by the farming community with financial supportfrom the ‘Fonds de Gestion de l’Espace Rural, Midi-Pyrénées’.

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Riverine mires were often drained by cutting off the section of river flowing throughthe mire and re-routing it so as to by-pass it. Restoration then means restoring the riverto its original bed, but this is a really expensive measure. Nevertheless, some LIFE-Nature projects took up the challenge:

• The ��)% ($2#� +(2!, ; in France is an 8,000 ha large mire which lies alongthe Drugeon river. It was canalised in the 1950s in order to increase agriculturalproduction. Although the effective outcome of the ‘land improvement’ was only200 additional hectares for agricultural production, the mire was seriously drained.LIFE-Nature support was essential to provide the financial mass to kick off thefirst phase of river restoration, enabling the beneficiary, a consortium of 14municipalities, to move the canalised river back into 4.8 km of its former bedding.

This in turn allowed the mire and surrounding meadows to be flooded again andwater to stay in the mire longer. Now the whole area is qualifying for agri-environment support which should secure its conservation in the longer term,

• The 17,500 ha of the � 8 ,&", �#- �#$ 6 $ in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern(northern Germany) was once watered by the Trebel river. But in the late 1950s,near the town of Tribsees, this strongly meandering river was canalised, and soshortened by 5km. Despite these major engineering works the new channel neverlived up to expectations of becoming a major new waterway. On the contrary, itresulted in a lowering of water level in the fen, a desiccation process furtherstimulated by the creation of polders (maintained by constantly pumping outwater) and deep drainage ditches. This led, in the 1960s and 1970s, to a severemineralisation of the peat (up to 60 cm and more lost), causing an annual emissionof carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) equal to the exhaust gases from 10.000 cars!By the early ‘90s even the intensive agricultural use of the area began to decline,partly due to political changes in the former GDR, but also to the high pumpingcosts needed to maintain the polder.

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To try to reverse these negative trends, the old riverbed was dredged to its originaldepth and a weir was built to divert the water through it (and the fen), instead ofthrough the canal. Mire recovery was further boosted by closing drainage systemsin the fen, as well as abandoning the polders and pumping stations. Unlike mostLIFE-Nature projects, these conservation works were carried out by the competentauthorities for river management, using a battalion of bulldozers, excavators andother heavy machinery. They had their own reasons for wanting this done as there-opening of the meandering natural bed and the rewetting of the fen was not onlylikely to increase the polluted Trebel river’s capacity to cleanse itself, but also toimprove overall water quality and help with flood control. A demonstration ofhow sustainable river management and nature conservation can mutually benefitfrom each other!

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Sometimes the main problem encountered is competition for that valuable resource –water. In such cases, finding alternative sources is often the only means of saving themire.

• In the unlikely setting of the dry Mediterranean climate of southern Italy, theraised bog relicts of �1!�(2($& are more than usually threatened by desiccation.Because water is a scarce and precious resource here, the LIFE projectmanagement created a partnership with the forestry sector and the local inhabitantsto look for alternative water resources, so that the natural water resource of themires no longer needed tapping into.

• � *%�"- "$* �(!'"2 � $ is one of the most important fens in southernEngland. Its importance was dependent on the chalky groundwater that welled upfrom the aquifer below and seeped across the fen in many places. The chalky waterwas mixed with acid water arising from sands along the margins of the fen. Thepeat itself was naturally varying in chemistry from highly alkaline to very acid.

Variations in hydrology, chemistry and topography all produced a habitat of greatdiversity, whose value for wildlife was enhanced by centuries of extensivemanagement by local people. This situation changed markedly in the 1950s whenthe local authority sank a borehole to abstract water for domestic supply. Theborehole was eventually to become the main supply point for north Suffolk. Atthe same time the adjacent River Waverney was deep-dredged to improvedrainage of farmland in the area. Together, these two activities effectively drainedthe fen and led to a catastrophic decline in the wildlife value of the site.

To try to save the fen before it was gone forever, an innovative partnership madeup of a local non-governmental organisation, a public environment authority and aprivate water company applied for LIFE funds. Their intention was to search foralternative locations for the borehole so as to be able to restore the fen to its

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former glory. After years of difficult research the water company finally found asuitable site that was capable of meeting local supply demands and beganconstructing the pumping station and pipes. In the meantime, the NGO beganrestoring the fen to its previous state and the environment agency worked onimproving the River Waverney. Now, after five years of hard work, the fen isfinally back on the road to recovery!

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Many fens develop via their water plant fringes and an ever-increasing carpet offloating fen vegetation. However, diffuse input of nutrients, sustained over manyyears, may change the water quality of these lakes and lead to a simplification of theflora. The direct pollution sources in these cases are usually taken care of by othermeans, often via national or regional water treatment policies and programmes, butthese do not always entail getting rid of the polluted or nutrient-enriched silt alreadypresent in the lake. Yet poor silt quality affects mires and slows down the positiveeffects of restoration work. Life-Nature was used to tackle this problem in a numberof sites:

• The ��"$*�# )3 France, englobes 1400 ha of quaking bogs and 2000 ha of bogwoodland. Agricultural intensification in the surrounding district was silting upthe lake bottom at a speed of 2 cm per year, which is rather disturbing in a lakeonly 70 cm deep. The LIFE project manager used a system of “self-dredging”: aditch was dug, from the point where the lake flows into the Loire River, towardsthe centre of the lake. As a result, during periods of high water levels in winter,when there is little biological activity, the increased current in the ditch flushes siltinto the Loire estuary. According to calculations, three winters should be enoughto dredge most of the lakebed using this entirely natural process.

Removal of the silt has also generated an important win-win situation for thesurrounding agricultural areas. The lake is an important aquifer for thesurrounding district and dredging it has increased the volume of water by 20million cubic metres, thus making more water available to be used to irrigate theadjoining farmland and improving the water quality of the Loire estuary (withpositive impact on fish populations).

• In �""�* �2 �3 Netherlands, increased silt deposition from the agriculturalhinterland has been a major problem for the fen. A special dredging boat was builtby the beneficiary to take out 440,000 m³ of silt. This has the effect of changingthe fen lake from a nutrient-rich to a nutrient-poor habitat where water plants canthrive. Once removed from the lake the silt also has a role to play. It is spread overan area of 150 ha nearby, where a reedland will be created on the spoils and usedto percolate incoming water polluted by agricultural run-off. In so doing, apollution source will be removed.

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RESTORING THE MIRE VEGETATION

Once the hydrology of a site is safeguarded it is equally important to ensure that thetypical mire vegetation can be allowed to recover as well. Several methods wereemployed to achieve this, depending on the circumstances involved.

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Trees can occur naturally where the peat layer is thin and where roots are in contactwith enriched groundwater. However, where mires have been drained, trees andshrubs go beyond their bounds and invade the degraded mire. Through the combinedaction of evaporation and shading, they in turn keep the water level too low andprevent sun-loving mire species from surviving.

Moreover, the needles or leaves they shed change the composition of the soil and out-compete many mire plant species, in particular the peat-forming mosses. Hence theremoval of trees, scrubs or litter layer as well as de-stumping are vital actions torestore the original mire vegetation. These actions proved to be necessary in nearly allLIFE-Nature mire projects, particularly in France, Germany, Belgium and theNetherlands, and also in several small Mediterranean mire sites in Italy.

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Tree and scrub removal is not an easy job and needs careful planning:⇒ The period has to be selected carefully: Often tree removal can only take place

during winter when (heavy) machinery can access the mire. Additionally, wildlifebreeding periods and periods of seed-setting have to be avoided. This restriction isan important reason why many LIFE mire projects last several years.

⇒ Tree and scrub removal is best done in a stepwise manner to avoid distressingchanges to the site. For example, a buffer zone at the margins of the natureconservation area is not being cleared in the ?4#,,8�(+0 bog (Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany). Small groups of trees will also be kept inside theconservation area as they can be important habitats for the nightjar (��) and some of the cut wood will be left on the ground for e.g.

bluethroats (�� ) andstonechats (��1�� D�� ).

⇒ Careful planning is also important toremove the wood debris from themire. This transport is timeconsuming and often rendersrestoration expensive.

In most cases post-operative therapywas needed to facilitate theestablishment of mire species. Clearingof stumps took place in several projects,suckers were treated with herbicides orseedlings cut away at regular intervals.

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Some projects had to clear cushions of purple moor grass (Molinia), which alsoexpand after the drainage of the mires.

• In the LIFE-Nature mire site �@�6 ,* ��A�$& $��& # �2"�0� in Austria, wintersnows compressed these cushions to a dense ‘felt’ mat, and since such a matcannot be mown with a standard mowing machine, it had to be broken up first by aspecial machine, a “Schlegelmäher”, before regular mowing management couldstart up.

The Hörfeld project manager discovered that it took 2-3 years of intensiverestoration work (initial clearance, then special mowing twice a year) before anannual regime of autumn mowing could be installed. Various mowing regimeswere monitored and compared, to judge which one gives the best evolution. Forthe farming community, which uses these mires, the mowing experiments wereimportant to find out how to improve the quality of the hay, for example to reducetall herbs such as meadowsweet (��).

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Often it is necessary to stimulate the regrowth of vegetation on the bare peat surfacesleft after clearing overgrowth and litter layer or where there had been peat extraction:

• In the degraded bog of Kendlmühlfilzen (�'# 2%")3 �"-"�#"3 � �2"$5�sphagnum sods were planted at regular intervals. From 1992 to 1995 the plotswere monitored twice yearly to assess sphagnum growth, ambient shade, and soilmoisture. It transpired not only that stable conditions and a good cover offlowering plants gave the best results, but that small scrubs (such as heatherspecies) play a key role in providing support to stimulate regrowth of mosses.

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Because so many mires have disappeared altogether, site managers want not only torestore the mire vegetation occurring naturally at the site, but also to increase thediversity of the actual mire habitats themselves. Restoration of degraded mires oftencreates conditions under which several mire types can develop on the site in parallel.This “biodiversity option” was seized where few possibilities for mire developmentexist in the first place – particularly in western Europe (Germany, France, Benelux,England). To a certain extent this is a kind of artificial management where, byallowing several normally successive mire stages to co-exist in a highly managedenvironment, what would normally, if it occurred here, be separated by great distancesin time, is now all there at the same instant, merely separated spatially.

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The following techniques were used in LIFE-Nature projects:

• Sod cutting is a technique to remove the mineralised top layer. It has beentraditionally used in heathland management, but far less as a conservation measurein mire restoration. Farmers used it to strip off poorly humidified peaty soil foruse as bedding material for animals. As a conservation measure, sod cutting iswidely used, after rehumidification, to regenerate early succession stages on barepeat. In the French LIFE project ()�8#B� 1* ��"$+ , the technique was testedscientifically in order to define the thickness of top soil to be removed, for if it iscarried out poorly, the seed bank in the soil may also end up being taken away,thereby preventing rapid colonisation by the original mire vegetation.

• When a pond or lake terrestrialises, the vegetation gradually covers the watersurface (starting with floating plants in the open water and continuously orpartially submerged plants near the edges). Eventually the water is covered with amat of plants which is strong enough to carry people - walking on these surfaces islike crossing a trampoline. These “quaking bogs” are intermediate habitat typesbetween fens and bogs and may evolve into alder forests. As temporary stages inmire development they come and go, and the problem in today’s controlledlandscapes is that while they disappear into other formations at one end, there arefew natural opportunities for new quaking bogs to form at the other end.

The �# )40((!1 �,"11 $ in the Netherlands are a near-perfect example of thistype of mire. When by the end of the 17th century, much of the peat here had beenextracted, the landscape of trenches and narrow ridges left behind developed intobroad, shallow lakes with extensive reedbeds. The diggings left intact betweentheir ridges gradually terrestrialised to exhibit various fen vegetations, such asquaking bogs. These fens, reedbeds and associated grasslands are now home to ahigh density of bird species. Yet, paradoxically, nature is now the greatest threatto this area. The various fen types are all evolving through natural successiontowards a uniform, species-poor swamp forest. In earlier times naturalcatastrophes, such as huge storms, would prevent or delay this process bypunching holes in the vegetationand washing away the interveningridges. Now, if such a rare habitatis to be preserved, it is necessary toartificially mimic these events,This is what the LIFE-Natureproject is doing – by regularremoval of the vegetation torecreate open water and bydredging the accumulated siltlayers. Such cyclical management,which needs to take place every 50-100 years, is an expensive measurebut is the only way to preserverepresentative examples of thesetransition fens. ��

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• �� "&#($(6!((,1�Some threatened species, such as invertebrates (in particulardragonflies) but also amphibians and a number of plant species depend on openwater in mires for their survival. Remarkable as it may sound at first, these areasof open water are often rare in degraded mires, and so need to be created in orderto ensure a wide biodiversity spectrum. In most LIFE projects where trees wereremoved, small pools were left wherever root stumps were dug out.

RESTORATION ACTIONS DID NOT ALWAYS SUCCEED. WHY?

Overall, restoration work funded by LIFE-Nature has increased the favourable stateof conservation of the mires targeted, and most project managers have startedmonitoring programmes to assess this in rigorous detail. However, often restoration isa ‘once in a lifetime event’ for site managers and, coupled with the experimental andinnovative approach often taken, success was not always guaranteed after the end ofthe LIFE project. Yet, as elsewhere in science, failure can be as instructive as successif the willingness to learn is there. Some reasons for failure were:

⇒ ��0� �� /�� 0�� when thebeneficiary is unable to acquire the sections of land needed to carry out restoration

⇒ ��: As a result of forest law in some Member States (Belgium,France) and other legislation regulating changes to land cover, official permits areneeded before actions affecting the vegetation can take place.

⇒ ��: Trees on bogs don’t grow very well. As a result the value of thetimber is low and few foresters are interested in responding to calls for tender toremove trees, a job that can only be professionals.

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MIMICKING TRADITIONAL FARMING PRACTICES

After restoration has put the heart back into the mire, the question then arises as towhat needs to be done to keep it in good shape i.e. is recurring management requiredto maintain it in a favourable conservation state? This will depend on the type of mire:for instance, raised bogs, aapa mires and blanket bogs are all regional climaxvegetation and so do not, in principle, need any management after restoration. If thehydrological conditions are not disturbed once they are restored, these mire types cancontinue their natural evolution.

Fens on the other hand are at the early stages of mire development and, consequently,have to be managed quite intensively if the choice is to maintain them as fens and‘artificially’ prevent them from evolving into more ombrotrophic situations. This is adeliberate choice, made by conservation agents in view of the scarcity of the fenhabitat type.

Recurring management on mires is, however, not as easy as it sounds, principallybecause many of the traditional practices were abandoned in the early part of thiscentury through agricultural intensification or changing land uses. Consequently manyof the management skills were lost too. What is more, given the wide variety of miretypes and the local variations in traditional usage, not all mire types need long-termmanagement, nor does a certain kind of mire need the same management all over itsrange of occurrence in Europe. Finally, it is also important to take into account that thestarting situation in today’s restored mires is likely to be fundamentally different fromthe time when traditional methods were being used.

Thus, many LIFE projects had to spend a lot of time and energy either:� experimenting with new ways to recreate these traditional farming methods,� developing innovative schemes to stimulate long-term management,� or pump-priming long-term payments through the agri-environment funds.

Altogether, recurring management actions took place in around 27 LIFE-Natureprojects (40%), mainly in central Europe – France, Germany, Belgium, theNetherlands and the UK. In this part of the EU, many mires were maintained, over thecenturies, by traditional farming systems (such systems also existed in the borealcountries but in these countries priority is given more to the conservation of pristine orlittle-degraded raised bogs and aapa mires).

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DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES AND APPROACHES

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Grazing and mowing are the most commonly used techniques to ‘mimic’ formertraditional land uses. They help to keep the vegetation short, and so prevent naturalsuccession from taking place, which would cause the degraded bogs or fens to developinto scrub- or tree-dominated habitats. Each has its advantages and disadvantages:

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It may take several years to observe the re-establishment of a peat-producingecosystem or to detect a significant effect on the mire’s flora and fauna. Given therelatively short duration of LIFE-Nature projects - generally less than 5 years - oneshould not expect to see miracles by the end of the project. Nevertheless, here aresome examples of the types of techniques that were tried out:

• Historically, �(!'"2� $3 in southern England, was used by the local communityfor various harvesting and grazing activities. However, changing farmingpractices, lower demands for traditional products and the loss of the rural labourforce through two World Wars meant that these practices were all but abandoned.To try to revive these techniques and so ensure a sustainable, long-termmanagement of the site, the LIFE beneficiaries examined various options for re-introducing grazing schemes. First, though, it was necessary for them to acquiretheir own livestock, as the quality of the grazing was too poor to rely on acommercial grazier and the types of livestock required were usually of the non-commercial variety.

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The intention, then, was to introduce a mixed grazing system of sheep, cattle andhorses. Each stock type has its own grazing patterns and preferences and so createsa mosaic of different habitat types. Whilst the Hebridean sheep flock bought atthe start of the project turned out to be very appropriate for most areas, they wouldnot graze in the very wet areas or browse on regrowing scrub. For these tasks, theTarpan or Konik pony - a back-bred relation of the ancient wild horse of Easternand Central Europe – was tried out. Tarpans are very docile, extremely hardy andshowed a greater propensity to browse scrub, graze late into the winter and grazein wetter areas – as such they proved to be far superior to any other ponies. In fact,their success was so pronounced that very soon other conservation organisationswere queuing up to try out the ponies on their land!

• The ()�8#B� 1* ��"$+ project also bought several rustic breeds of cattle andhorses and tried them out in varying degrees and conditions on a number ofdifferent sites. The results were published in a handbook (see chapter 8), whichprovides interesting details on the relative advantages and disadvantages ofdifferent breeds as grazers in mire management. Essentially, the choice willdepend upon the management objectives being set. In contrast to the UK project,they found that on certain sites invaded by alder buckthorn (��), theNantais breed of cattle were much better browsers than the Konik ponies. Also,because this is a heavy kind of cattle, it is excellent for destroying ��tussocks and promoting open areas where peat-producing plants can germinate.

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Horses and cattle also have different behaviour, e.g. horses tend to walk along setpaths, whereas cattle move around in a more haphazard manner. In many instances,a combined use of grazers is a good solution.

• The (�68�( 06 $ in Belgium was destroyed by the construction of an artificiallake and, with a proliferation of ruderalised vegetations, several scientists hadgiven up hope to restore the mire. A few devoted local conservationists, however,managed to restore a small section experimentally. Establishing the appropriatemowing regime was a time consuming and costly endeavour and could not bedone without the important external support provided by LIFE. During the firstyears, mowing was technically difficult and had to occur more frequently than inlater years, but this was needed to reduce the nutrient content in the soil and toallow the species-rich fen flora to develop;

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• the peaty and wet soil in mires makes mowing with heavy machinery difficult.LIFE-Nature co-financed actions in some projects to adapt tractors so that theycould be used in mires. For instance, an adapted tractor “type Carraro” wascustom-designed and bought for the management of the mires of &' �"11#$*)��)% ($ in France.

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Sometimes long-term conservation is not so much dependent upon the conservationtechniques used, but rather on whether the local community is willing to apply new,and not necessarily economically advantageous, schemes to save the mires. Severalexamples have come up in LIFE projects though, which appear to have struck the rightchord with the local farmers and other land users:

• The Peatland Management Scheme in the �+(&&#1'�,(4�()$&�5 is an initiativelaunched by the regional public conservation body (Scottish Natural Heritage) in1992. The objective is to protect the peatlands of Caithness and Sutherland byencouraging the maintenance of traditional extensive peatland activities, such assheep grazing, muirburn, peat cutting and limited use of vehicles. The scheme isopen to anyone willing to manage land within the pSCI in an environmentallyfriendly manner, and, in return, each land user receives an annual payment over a5-year period. As of September 30, 1998, 112 Peatland Management Schemeagreements were in place, covering an area of 93,485 ha. – approximately 62% ofthe potentially eligible peatland area.

The scheme is therefore of benefit to all concerned: the land users are happybecause their activities are being recognised financially, the conservationists arehappy, not only because the pSCI is being managed appropriately for nature butalso because the scheme generates local support for conservation. Finally, thefinance people are also happy because - at just over 2 euro/ha - this scheme hasturned out to be very cost-effective.

• Management of drainage ditches was an important measure in the � * �1 (Germany). Before the LIFE project, ecologically sensitive maintenance took placein only about 20% of the ditches in this relatively large site. As part of the project,a concept for ‘Ecological Management of Ditch Vegetation’ (ÖkologischerGrabenpflege) was developed and implemented. After initial distrust, farmers’attitudes became more positive, as the new techniques turned out to be cheaperthan the orthodox ditch maintenance. On the conservation side, they stimulated,amongst others, the growth of rosettes of perennial floating water soldiers(5 �� ).

• High in the Alps south of Lake Geneva, the mires of the �"51* �"-(& cover 314ha and are the source of the well-known Evian waters. Several habitat types ofCommunity importance are found here: wet grasslands (Eu-Molinia grasslands),raised bogs, alkaline fens and quaking bogs. One of the major threats to this high-altitude site, with a short vegetation season, is land abandonment. Wherever themire has been left behind in a degraded state, scrub and trees have invaded it,leading to an impoverishment of the vegetation. This LIFE project has only juststarted (1998) but, once the trees and scrub are cleared, the municipal authoritieshave agreed to mow the purple moor grass and the alkaline fens at a cost of circa4000 FF/ha. This should ensure that the site is safeguarded from further scrubinvasion, thereby avoiding additional expensive restoration costs.

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LIFE AFTER LIFE: WHO FOOTS THE BILL?

Apart from the examples given above, LIFE-Nature has also co-financed extensiveinvestments to ensure long-term management. It has, for instance, assisted in thepurchase of costly materials such as fences, animals, equipment etc. or helped topromote good links with the local land users and the farmers in particular, to win theirsupport for more extensive – and bog- friendly - management techniques.

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However, as with all recurring management activities, the key question is, how willthis be continued after the end of the project? Sometimes it was the beneficiariesthemselves who took on the task of managing the site in the long run. This wasespecially true for sites owned by them, and where the type of vegetation managementrequired no longer allows farming to take place. Alternatively, it may be where themethods used continue to be experimental and very time-consuming and so notconducive to the use of outside contractors. Or then again it might also be where long-term management is relatively cheap, now that the initial investment costs arecovered.

• As an example: the Zwillbrock mire project in �(�*�' #$� 1&6", $�� 2"$5�cleared several sites with LIFE co-finance, following this restoration work up withgrazing by sheep to keep the sites open. To do this, a new flock of 250-300 sheepis being built up with LIFE- Nature co-financing. At the end of the project, whena constant but less intensive grazing pressure will be needed, the beneficiary willcontinue this activity using its own financial means,

• Similarly, in the Netherlands the large buffer zone around the �""�* �2 �6 $,although created with the help of LIFE, is being managed at the project manager’sown expense.

These cases illustrate how beneficiaries use LIFE-Nature support for the more urgentactions or for actions for which other financial support instruments are lacking, butnot for actions which can be funded out of their own reserves or existing programmes.

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For mires that still have a farming interest, the key to their long-term conservation isthe participation of the farmers themselves. This not only keeps the local communityactively involved in the site but also makes the system sustainable in the long run. Themain instrument that can be used to support this long term management is the Agri-environment Regulation 2078/92/EEC.

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Several examples exist of how LIFE-Nature projects led to long-term agri-environment payments, for the benefit of the local farming community and the miresalike:

• The “Lande de Crec’h an Bars”, Nonnénou, is a 115 ha area consisting ofdegraded raised bogs (circa 30 ha), but mostly of associated peaty grasslands(landes tourbeuses). It is one of the four sub-sites of the project “ ()�8#B� 1* ��"$+ D in Brittany (France). Traditional farming (grazing and mowing) hasmaintained the biotopes on these ‘marginal farmlands’ until recently (1997), whenland abandonment made long-term conservation and management uncertain.Three farmers retired and left the area, while some areas were abandoned becausethey became too wet to be farmed. The decline in the interest of the farmingcommunity was aggravated by a fall in the beef market and the value of straw foruse in stables.

The local project manager decided to exploit the possibilities offered by the agri-environment regulation to manage the complete project area. Following a meetingorganised by the mayor of St.-Nicodème to draw the attention of the town councilto the conservation importance of the site, management contracts were arrangedwith seven people. These management contracts allowed farmers to re-group

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individual parcels of land to obtain larger coherent management units, to promotegrazing instead of mowing (which was difficult because of the micro-topographyof the area) and to limit the number of cattle in the mire or buffer zone.

The contracts can be readjusted annually to define what is the most sustainabletype of agricultural use. For instance, it may be important to fine-tune the contractsso as to be able to increase the number of plant species, improve the micro-habitats for amphibians and obtain a better quality of straw. A flat-ratecompensation of 750 FF/ha/yr was defined initially, with the possibility to adaptthe compensation level depending on the amount of work and means needed forthe management of the sections of land involved. (Reg. 2078)

• In �'# 2%") (Bavaria, Germany) 256 ha of land is managed through threedifferent extensification programmes financed by the agri-environment regulation.Thanks to the complementarity between this LIFE-Nature project and theregulation, the LIFE project manager was able to devote part of his time topromoting the three contractual nature management programmes(“Vertragsnaturschutzprogramm”) among farmers and helping them withquestions and application forms.

• The blanket bogs of �)#,+"%' Mountain in Northern Ireland were suffering badlyfrom overgrazing until the agri-environment regime introduced a seasonal ban onsheep grazing during the winter months and a limit on the stocking density to 2ewe/ha. However, this reduction proved not to be enough to allow the degradedbog areas to recover. The local municipality consequently set up, with LIFE funds,a demonstration plot to experiment with different stocking levels. Through thisand other experiments in the area it became clear that an average of 0.5 ewe/hawas needed.

This revised figure is now being introduced into the 1999 agri-environmentagreements. The farmers, who are traditionally hostile to any interference in such aremote area, also appear to be a little more amenable to the change in the regime,having seen the work and the publicity generated by the LIFE project and havingparticipated in discussions with members of the project team and DANI (theNorthern Ireland Department of Agriculture)

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BUY IT, THEN LEAVE IT!

Just as active and continued management are vital for some mire types, otherssurvive best with no intervention. This is especially true for the climax vegetation,such as bog woodland, blanket bogs, aapa mires and raised bogs. Here, the best meansof conservation is simply to prevent any negative land use. To do this a small butimportant section of the LIFE projects (8) focused on acquiring strategic andrepresentative examples of these habitat types. The advantages of such projects aremanifold: they safeguard the sites from any future detrimental activities, they alsocompensate the owners for having lost opportunities to gain an income from theirland, and, in the long run, they usually also end up being more cost-effectivecompared to leasing or management agreements.

It is difficult to calculate the exact amount of land bought under LIFE as many of theprojects are still on-going and some of the areas bought contain more than just mires –e.g. forests and buffer zones. Nevertheless, it is estimated that altogether around35,000 hectares of these 4 priority habitat types have been bought so far. This is quitesignificant considering that the bulk of this has been in Sweden and Finland, whichonly became eligible for LIFE funding in 1995. Here are some examples:

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With 15% of its territory still covered in mires (4.3 million hectares), Sweden is themost mire-rich country in the European Union. Compared with many other MemberStates, it also has a significant number of undisturbed sites. Recognising this, theSwedish Environmental Protection Agency started, in 1991, to elaborate a MireProtection Plan with the aim of setting up a strategy for the conservation of the mostimportant mires through legislation, planning, and acquisition. Altogether, 491 of themost valuable sites are identified and described in the plan.

These have been carefully selected according to regional representation, undisturbedstate, biodiversity, function etc.. Special attention has also been given to the mosaicmixture of mires and old-growth forests which is a typical ecological situation in theboreal countries.Out of these identified sites, which altogether cover nearly 400,000ha, 146 are already protected by law and it is intended that the remaining sites will beproposed as new nature reserves in the coming 15-20 years. When completed, 6% ofSweden’s best and most representative mires will be conserved.

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As many of the mire sites have forests of high commercial value within orimmediately surrounding them, their single most important and constant threat comesfrom forestry. When this takes place, mires have to be drained some years before thetree felling can begin in order to improve timber growth and quality, and roads arebuilt to access the forest parts. This in turn severely disrupts the mires’ hydrologyand eventually leads to their degradation and loss. Thus, the only way to ensure thatsuch mires are protected in the long term is to purchase entire areas of land and turnthem into nature reserves. That is why, in 1995, SEPA applied to LIFE to help itpump-prime the Mire Protection Plan by co-financing the purchase of 17 of the mostthreatened and valuable sites, covering approx. 9,500 ha. All of them are proposedSCIs under the Habitats Directive. This LIFE project was followed up two years laterwith a further project to purchase of 6 additional mire sites covering 2,200 ha. Activeraised bogs are the principal targets for acquisition, although bog woodland and aapamires are also significantly represented.

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Ireland still has around 100,000 ha of blanket, raised and intermediate bogs. Thelowland and mountain blanket bogs, covering approximately 2/3 of the total mirearea, are situated principally along the west coast. The main threats have, over theyears, come from extensive peat-digging exploitation for energy generation andrecently from overgrazing. Nevertheless, there remains a part that is still in goodcondition and in need of protection from further damaging operations. As part of twoLIFE projects a major land acquisition strategy was launched to buy up strategic areasof blanket and raised bog. Altogether some 10,000 ha were bought within 35 sites.Once purchased they were declared nature reserves and left to develop under naturalconditions. Any adverse land uses such as overstocking of sheep were also restricted.

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Lapland and Ostrobothnia are regarded as very special because of the range of aapamires occurring here, going from poor to rich fens, from flat lawn-like mires tostringmires, and from young mires adjacent to the rising coastline to old mires furtherinland. However, drainage, forestry and occasional peat digging, as well asuncontrolled recreational activities in some mires, have made their conservation statusvulnerable. Also, a remarkably high proportion of the land is in private ownership,which does not always guarantee continuation of the mires’ natural state. Anambitious LIFE project aims, in one fell swoop, to secure most of the important aapamires in Finland which have not yet been protected, by tackling 29 separate sitesranging in size from over 10,000 ha to less than 50 ha and totalling about 53,700 haThis will involve the acquisition of over 12,000 ha of mire either by purchasing orswapping.

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The Flow Country in Scotland covers around 400,000 ha and is said to be the singlelargest expanse of blanket bog in Europe, and possibly the world. A strategic sectionof this area was bought at the very core, under a ‘95 LIFE project. Covering over7,265 ha, this land was intended to act as a showcase for good conservationmanagement and to draw attention to the plight of the remaining areas withinScotland. Different restoration and grazing techniques were tried out and monitored.In addition, a visitor centre and self-guiding bog trail was constructed to entice localsand visitors alike to the site in order to find out more about the bogs.

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MIRES’ IMAGE PROBLEM

Although mires are, for the most part, natural habitats requiring little intervention byhumans, they are, all the same, intimately linked to a complex matrix of other landuses. It is therefore inconceivable to consider restoring or managing a mire withouttaking the local interest groups and users into account. Not only is their supportessential for the success of the project but they can often also play an active role insafeguarding their conservation values in the long term, as chapter 6 on managementillustrated.

Virtually all LIFE projects had therefore a component dedicated to dialogue,communication and raising awareness. These can be broadly categorised into threemain types of approach:� Negotiating with the socio-economic stakeholders;� Raising interest and awareness with the public at large ;� Promoting the results of the project and disseminating best practice to peers.

NEGOTIATING WITH THE STAKEHOLDERS

Most people are convinced of the value of, and need to conserve endangered speciesand habitat types, but accepting the restrictions entailed by effective natureconservation is often met with suspicion and opposition. The classic response is toprovide information about the threats and values of the mire and to involve as manyinterest groups as possible in the preparation and implementation of the measures.

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The most straightforward approach is to contact socio-economic interest groups at theoutset and to discuss with them the best options for tackling a particular conservationproblem. Most of the LIFE projects did exactly this; in fact had they not taken thisinto consideration at the time of applying, their projects are unlikely to have beenapproved for funding, as this is one of the key items the Commission takes intoconsideration when evaluating applications.

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Here are some examples of how this was done:

• The �'# 2%") (Bavaria) is one of the most visited areas in southern Germany andrecreational pressure can be intense on peak days. In order to solve this problem,the competent authority for nature conservation studied the options for guidingvisitor movements, but took care to build up and maintain good working relationswith the local tourism boards, particularly when considering solutions such asblocking certain paths. Thanks to the high profile given to the mire area as a resultof receiving EU funds for a LIFE project, the construction of a planned cycle trackthrough one of the mires (Bergener Moos), which would have damaged it, was puton hold. After negotiations with the municipality responsible an alternative,ecologically acceptable route was found.

Tourists remained animportant target group,when a second LIFE-Nature project waslaunched in this area.Measures now include theconstruction of observationplatforms and a boardwalkthrough the raised bog toallow visitors to penetratedeeper into the boggyareas, so that they can havea better view of theKendlmühlfilzen mires,targeted by the first LIFEproject. This mire wasmuch degraded in the pastbut successfully restoredby the sowing of peat mossfragments into the peatymire surface.

• Negative reaction from the public has been most intense in situations where a pastpolicy of ‘land improvement measures’ entailed the systematic drainage of mires.Take the �#$$#1'2#� restoration project. People in Finland have been drainingmires for centuries and this was always seen as social and economic progress.Now ditches are being filled again, much to the consternation of the locals. This isone of the reasons why the project employed the same people to restore the miresas those who had drained them in the past. To reduce the visual impact in themuch visited Seitseminen National Park, the beneficiary started to fill ditchesaway from the roads, and only later, when the public had been better informed,were the more visually sensitive ditches filled up.

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• � $$#$% ��# * (Germany) is a ca 30 ha large fen, which over the years has beenhemmed in by newly built-up areas. The urgent conservation need to increasewater flow into the fen to maintain its unique vegetation and flora (��), caused major problems for the surrounding home-owners, who fearedflooding of their basements. Therefore, in collaboration with them, an in-depthanalysis of the most appropriate hydrological conservation measures was carriedout. All the owners were contacted to explain the situation, to assess thelikelihood of damage and to examine various tailor-made solutions. A solutionwhich satisfies everybody has not yet been found, but hydrological testing andmonitoring is continuing.

• The "�"#1 * ," �()+' in the upper Oise valley in Picardy, France is aparticularly well developed �� fen complex covering 4,500 ha.However, the site is gradually deteriorating through a combination ofabandonment of traditional forms of land use, excavation of small ponds, dredgingof lakes and other damaging recreational activities – such as hunting, angling,camping, weekend cottages etc…. In addition, the water is becoming increasinglypolluted as a result of surrounding industrial activities and agricultural run–off.Faced with such a battery of problems, restoring the fen will not be a simple orstraightforward task and is likely to stimulate some degree of trepidation and evenhostility on the part of the local interest groups. The beneficiary has thereforeopted for the ‘softly softly’ approach of starting with a small demonstration site ata very visible location to illustrate the practical consequences of conservation andto provide an opportunity to promote the larger-scale actions required to save thefen.

• Like many wetlands, mires can have an important waterfowl population, and soare preferred hunting grounds. In ��"$*�# ) (France), where for a long time,hunting has been a tradition outside the existing nature reserves, the hunters’organisation met regularly with the other parties involved in preparing theimplementation of mire restoration (water boards, agricultural departments,environmentdepartment,nature conser-vation sector)and a well-targeted cam-paign hasbeen set up tobring togethernatureconservation,hunting andfarminginterests.

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An approach which goes beyond the ad hoc consultations sketched above, is toinvolve the stakeholders in the preparation of major parts of the site conservation andeven in the implementation of a LIFE project. In other words, to build a partnershipbetween the conservation bodies and other interest groups.

• The nationwide project “ ()�8#B� 1 ��"$F"#1 1” is a model of partnership.Already during its preparation, the applicant, “Espaces Naturels de France”discussed in detail the major conservation objectives with the Ministry of theEnvironment. During implementation, it relied on a network of regional‘operators’, maintained contact with the regional environment authorities(DIREN), with the water authorities and with the forest administration.Additionally, scientific support was given by an existing network of mire experts,the “Groupe d’Etudes des Tourbières”. Involving so many stakeholders was notonly essential to implement urgent restoration measures in approximately 40 miresites, but primarily to lay the grounds for a long-term, sustainable conservationand land use of the mires in France.

Furthermore, in order to prepare a national mire strategy, local organisations, mireexperts and competent authorities are working together to understand the presentconservation status of the mires in France. Delegates of these stakeholders meet ina national committee (Comité National des Tourbières) to safeguard the mires inthe context of the Natura 2000 Network.

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• The agricultural sector is probably the most important sector to be taken intoaccount in mire conservation and restoration, certainly in the Atlantic and theContinental biogeographic regions. As the previous chapter demonstrated, many ofthe LIFE projects have pump-primed long-term funding under the agri-environment schemes. This resulted from sustained dialogue and involvement ofthe farmers themselves. In the � * �1 (Baden-Württemberg, Germany), forexample, mire conservation projects were discussed together with the farmingcommunity in advance, and their collaboration was instrumental in agreeing on therural land holdings consolidation procedure which is being used to extend thebuffer areas around the fen core zone

• The �'# 2%") project in Bavaria (Germany) had a notable success in workingwith the farming and hunting communities. Even before the project began, theproject management checked with the local farmers which sections were ‘out ofbounds’ (e.g. valuable land, farmers did not want to give up) and kept thenegotiations transparent. Before shrub and tree removal started, hunters werecontacted to ensure that their rights were borne in mind. Then the vast quantitiesof hay, collected during the first mowing after a long period of abandonment, werenot disposed of at high cost but were made available to the farmers for free.Demand for this hay turned out to be surprisingly high as many farmers were stillusing traditional stabling techniques for livestock while others were organicfarmers or horse breeders. This all created a positive atmosphere and a positivecommitment from the local authorities of the Landkreis Traunstein.

• In Italy, the local farming community became involved in the LIFE project whichtargeted the restoration of the �� mires in "� 22", when itturned out that the buffer zone around the site could be used as a wild pasture forbuffaloes, producing mozarella cheese. The sustainable use of the grassland is thusimportant for the conservation of both.

• The beneficiary of a large-scale wetland conservation project in the �(& $&#$ areain Normandy (France), the ‘Syndicat mixte d’Equipment Touristique du Cotentin’is a local organisation involved in tourist development. A management plan forthe most important sites, prepared by the Parc Naturel Régional du Cotentin et duBessin, was linked up with the regional development of the area, where agricultureand tourism are the most important economic sectors. As part of the LIFE project,a detailed study was made of the hydrological conditions and the agricultural andbiological requirements were assessed so as to provide a viable solution for thefarming and tourism communities as well as for the conservation problems.

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Evian, whose mineral water comes from the aquifers under the mires of the�"-(& area (Haute Savoie, France), is a major stakeholder in their conservationand, together with the association managing the mires (APEGE), has a vestedinterest in preserving these sites. The conventions agreed under the LIFE projectare the result of several months of negotiations with the company, backed up by asustained local information campaign.

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• In order to carry out restoration works in the riverine fens in the � 8 , "$*� +0$#&C valleys, a close cooperation between the competent nature conservationand water authorities was established in the form of a “project team” comprised of4 specialists. This type of cooperation was a major factor in making the twoprojects a succes. The water authorities provided their experience and “influence”,which helped the project to steam through all the permit procedures at high speed,while the nature authorities provided the necessary scientific and ecological input.A motivation for this “symbiosis” can be found in the “win-win” strategy of theprojects: not only does the mire benefit from the conservation measures, but alsowater quality and flood-protection concerns are satisfied. Last but not least, thepositive climate change effects should be mentioned: by partly stopping andreducing the mineralization process of the mires, less carbon dioxide will beemitted into the air.

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INFORMING THE PUBLIC AT LARGE

For centuries mires were viewed as ‘dark, wet, isolated places’. This image haspersisted in most people’s minds over the years and it is probably true to say thatmires, still today, clearly have an image problem. Moreover, for people living inboreal areas where aapa mires are still a normal part of the landscape, or for peopleelsewhere in Europe who have always lived close to bogs and fens, these habitats donot look like endangered, unique areas to be protected. Consequently, they often takethe degradation of their mires for granted. In many cases however, LIFE-Nature, i.e.EU support for a neighbouring bog or fen site is, for local inhabitants, a surprising andunexpected signal that there is something special about these sites.

Project managers have used a wide array of promotional means to inform the publicabout what has been done and why; they have, where feasible, also improved theaccessibility of the sites, so that people can admire the bogs and fens withoutdestroying the fragile vegetation.

Here is a selection of the actions undertaken under LIFE:

• Installing information panels at the entrances to a site has been the moststraightforward and effective means of telling people that the site is of Communityimportance and that it should be protected and managed for its unique flora andfauna. For example, in �'# 2%") (Germany), a total of 45 information panelswere erected, mainly to ask the many visitors to the area to stay on the paths.According to local farmers and hunters this has indeed had a positive effect.

• Information folders, brochures (acknowledging LIFE support), newsletters andother printed material; distributed door-to-door, via conservation organisations,left at pick-up points like town halls or tourist offices, etc, has been an effectivemeans too since it allowed the site manager or statutory organisation to provideprecise information, without relying on intermediaries. Information brochuresand folders were made for mire projects in all Member States. New techniques,such as the CD-ROM “Moore” (Trebeltal project), are now cropping up as well,home pages and websites are being developed, for example for the LIFE-Natureaapa mire project in Lapland and Ostrobothnia (http://www.vyh.fi/lap/life/eng.htm) or for the Federsee project in Germany(http://www.angele.de/nabu-federsee/index.htm).

• On occasion audiovisual media (local broadcasting news on radio and TV) havebeen roped in to promote the LIFE-Nature mire projects as well, for instance bythe �#$$#1' !�(E +& ($ * %�"* * 2#� 1, or the �# )40((!1 �,"11 $(Netherlands) where the beneficiary, Natuurmonumenten, collaborated with anational TV station to make a video (“Puur natuur”) of the site.

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• On a more material level, several sites developedsmall-scale visitor facilities such as bird hides,observation towers, boardwalks etc to persuadevisitors to find out more about the mire and theproject. The �+(&&#1' �,(4 �()$&�5, forinstance, used a combination of different methodsto draw enthusiasts to this very remote part of theworld. This included doing up a small visitorcentre at the local railway station, constructing aself-guided peatland trail built from local materialand hosting a series of events such asdemonstration days, international bog week,walks and lectures. The site was also promotedthrough the local tourist board. Yet, probably themost effective publicity came from the nationwide appeal launched by thebeneficiary at the start of the project to raise money for the acquisition of the site.This ran along the lines ‘for every pound you put in, the EC will match it withLIFE funds’ People who contributed were kept informed of progress and asignificant number of them went out of their way to actually visit the site.

• Part of the work also consisted in visitor management i.e. not discouraging peoplefrom enjoying the sites but rather persuading them to do so in a conservation-friendly manner. In �(�1#+", where fens or bogs are small and unique features inthe landscape, trampling by hikers erodes the mire surface of the ‘pozzines’, aunique micro-variant of raised bogs found on this Mediterranean island. The ParcNaturel Régional de Corse and the Office National des Forêts took importantsteps to restore these unique habitats by fencing off certain fragile parts and bycarrying out small-scale restoration actions. To guarantee long-lasting effects,they launched training programmes aimed at the competent authorities,disseminated information to the public about the uniqueness of this habitat andensured that the hiking paths were better indicated.

DISSEMINATING THE RESULTS OF LIFE

Many mire site managers out in the field would appreciate scientific and technicalinput to help them manage the site appropriately. It is not surprising, therefore, thatsite managers express a desire to be informed about what is going on in other mireareas, including other LIFE-Nature mire restoration projects.LIFE attaches particularimportance to this issue – the production of this report being a case in point! Projectsare encouraged to monitor the activities undertaken, to disseminate the results (bothpositive and negative) and to network with other projects, for instance through hostingthematic workshops or conferences.

It would however be too long to list all the results gleaned from the projects to date.We hope that, by having illustrated some of the actions undertaken, people who wantto know more will take contact directly with the project managers (a list of projectsand coordinates is given in annex to this report).

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Alternatively they can consult the DGXI website for more information on theindividual projects (http://europa.eu.int/ en/comm/dg11/nature/home.htm). This has aone-page summary of each project, since 1992, in the original language and with aFrench and English translation. Nevertheless, a selection of some methodologyhandbooks and manuals produced under LIFE perhaps deserve a special mention inthis report as they could be of general interest to all those interested in mireconservation:

� In “�($1 �-#$% � "&,"$*1D3 the beneficiary of theScottish lowland raised bogs project compiled 45presentations given during a conference, “ThePeatland Convention”, organised in Edinburgh in thesummer of 1995. This compilation covers a widearray of papers describing the peatlands globally andin Europe, the value of mires for the ‘peat archive’ (atopic which has been only touched upon in thisreport) and the biodiversity, ecology, conservationand management of peatlands.

� As part of the same project, a technical manual “�($1 �-#$% �(%13 &' "$"% 2 $&�"$*8((0” was produced. Focusing primarily on the conservationof raised bogs, but also usable for the conservation of other mires, it describes indetail the monitoring and restoration techniques and presents a number of practicalexamples of bog conservation.

� Whereas the “Conserving Bogs” manual focuses onmonitoring and restoration of mires, the Frenchproject “Tourbières Françaises” takes a broaderperspective and in its manual ‘�" � 1&#($�($1 �-"&(#� * 1 ()�8#B� 1 * ��"$+ ”, itpresents particularly interesting data on therestoration and management of mires and presentsover 20 case studies. Additionally, for the interestedsite managers, this project also produced a list of 900references on the management and ecology of mires,which is also available on the world-wide web(http://perso.wanadoo.fr/philippe.julve/).

� A publication on the LIFE Project for the Trebel fens,“� $"&)�# �)$% * 1 �,)G&",2((� 1 #&&, � � 8 ,D3 discusses previous non-sustainablemanagement and the decline of the large riverinemires in the area, and the efforts undertaken by theriver authorities to restore the damage done in thepast. It is an good example of a “coffee table book”which, for those faced with watercourses, whichcould benefit from some ‘ecological engineeringtshould making interesting reading,

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✔✔✔ Preserving the Alpine valleyof the “Mittleres Ennstal”.

Mr. Michael UrlSteiermärkische LandesregierungKarmelierplatz 2,A-8010 GrazTel.: +43 316 877 4882

348,600 (50%) 06/1995 –07/1998

✔✔✔ Protection of the Hörfeldmire

Mr. Rudolf Schratter,Naturschutzverein Hörfeld-Moor,Reiftanzplatz 1,A-9375 HüttenbergTel.: +43 4263 247

263,270 (50%) 02/1997 –12/1999

✔✔ Improving the hydrology ofthe Rhine Delta

Dipl-Ing Herr Thomas BlankAmt der VorarlbergerLandesregierung, LandhausA-6901 BregenzTel: +43 5574 511 27 45

260,959 (50%) 02/1998 –12/2001

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✔✔ Three valleys Mrs. K. Gevers,Regionaal Landschap NoordHageland,Oudepastoriestraat 22,B-3390 Tielt-Winge

200,000 (47%) 01/1996 –03/1998

✔✔✔ Protection of the remainingcalcareous mires in Belgium

Mr. J. Dewyspelaere,Mrs. J. Huysecom,BNVR-RNOB, Koninklijke St.-Mariastraat 105,B-1030 BrusselsTel.: JD +32 2 245 43 00 and JH +32 2 245 55 00

429,000 (50%) 04/1995 –03/1998

✔✔ Protection of heathlands andNardus grasslands

Idem above 410,896 (50%) 05/1996 –12/1998

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✔✔✔ Restoration of active raisedbogs, aapa mires, and bogwoodland in Natura 2000areas

Mrs. Marja-Liisa PitkänenMetsähallitusPL 38FIN-39701 ParkanoTel: +358 20 564 52 70

408,733 (50%) 10/1996 –09/1999

✔✔ Protection of old-growthforest in the Kuusamo Area

Mr. Eero KaakinenPohjois-PojhanmaanympäristökeskusIsokatu 9, PL 124FIN-90191 Oulu

2,174,113 (50%) 01/1997 –12/1998

✔✔ Conservation of thePorvoonjoki estuary.

Mrs. Tina TihlmanUudenmaan ympäristökeskusPB 36,FIN-00521 HelsinkiTel: +358 9 148 88 341

507,045 (50%) 02/1997 –01/2000

✔✔✔ Protection of aapa mires inLapland and Ostrobothnia

Mrs. Paula AlhoLapîn YmpäristökeskusHallituskatu 3, PL 8060FIN-96101 RovaniemiTel: +358 16 329 41 11

3,031,244 (49%) 02/1997 –01/2001

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✔✔✔ Drugeon Basin M. Christian Bouday, présidentSyndicat Intercommunaldu Plateau de FrasneMairie – F-25560 FranceTel: ++3333 3 81 49 88 84

750,000 (50%) 09/1992 –06/1997

✔✔✔ Conservation of bogs in theMidi-Pyrénées

MM JJaaccqquueess TThhoommaass,,CChhaarrggéé ddee MMiissssiioonnCC..RR..EE..NN.. MMiiddii--PPyyrréénnééeess1166 aavveennuuee ddee ll’’EEuurrooppee,, BBââtt.. BBPPaarrcc tteecchhnnoollooggiiqquuee dduu CCaannaall,,FF-- 3311552200 RRaammoonnvviilllleeTTeell:: ++3333 55 6611 7755 0022 2266

320,000 (50%) 09/1994 –09/1998

✔✔✔ Lac de Grand-Lieu MM.. MMaarrcc GGaallllooiiss,, DDiirreecctteeuurr,,SSNNPPNN99 rruuee CCeellssFF--7755001144 PPaarriissTTeell :: ++3333 11--4433--2200--1155--3399

750,080 (44%) 07/1994 –02/1999

✔✔ Natural habitats and floraspecies in Corsica

M. Jean-Noël LivrelliOffice de l’Environnement de laCorse,26, cours PaoliF-20250 CorteTel: ++3333 4 95 61 08 19

425,000 (50%) 09/1994 –12/1997

✔✔✔ Wetlands of Cotentin MM.. RRoollaanndd CCoouurrtteeiillllee,,CChhaarrggéé ddee MMiissssiioonnSSyynnddiiccaatt MMiixxttee dd’’EEqquuiippeemmeennttTToouurriissttiiqquuee ((SSMMEETT))MMaaiissoonn dduu DDééppaarrtteemmeenntt,,RRoonndd ppooiinntt ddee llaa LLiibbeerrttéé,,FF--5500000088 SSaaiinntt--LLooTTeell:: ++3333 22 3333 0055 9955 0000

463,600 (50%) 09/1995 –02/1999

✔ Natura 2000 ManagementPlans

MM.. JJeeaann RRoollaannddRRéésseerrvveess NNaattuurreelllleess ddee FFrraannccee55,, rruuee ddee llaa FFoorrggeeBBPP 110000FF--2211880033 QQuuééttiiggnnyy CCééddeexxTel: +33 3 80 48 91 00

1,363,300 (50%) 09/1995 –12/1998

✔✔✔ Tourbières de France MM.. BBrruunnoo MMoouunniieerrEEssppaacceess NNaattuurreellss ddee FFrraannccee1166 rruuee dduu BBooeeuuff SSaaiinntt--PPaatteerrnneeFF--4455000000 OOrrllééaannssTTeell:: ++3333 22 3388 7777 0022 8833

1,295,800 (50%) 09/1995 –05/1999

✔✔✔ Pays de gavot MM.. DDuuttrruueellSSIIVVOOMM dduu PPaayyss ddee GGaavvoottGGrreemmeeFF--7744550000 SSaaiinntt--PPaauull--eenn--CChhaabbllaaiissTTeell :: ++3333 44 5500 7755 0044 5511

141,123 (50%) 02/1998 –12/2000

✔✔ The Vezère PlateauMillevaches

MM.. OOlliivviieerr DDoommEEssppaacceess NNaattuurreellss dduu LLiimmoouussiinnLLee TThheeiillFF--8877551100 SSaaiinntt--GGeenncceeTTeell:: ++3333 55 5555 0033 2299 0077

181,660 (45%) 08/1998 –12/2001

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✔✔ Habitat protection in theRöhn (Rhön I)

Frau Ursula Schneider,Regierung von Unterfranken,VerwaltungsstelleBiosphärenreservat Rhön,Markstrasse 41,D-97656 OberelsbachTel.: +49 9774 654

1,500,000 (75%) 10/1993 –03/1997

✔✔✔ Preservation of the TrebelRiver fen system inMecklenburg-Vorpommern

Direktor Prof. Dr. Ingbert GansLandesamt für Umwelt und NaturMecklenburg-VorpommernBoldebucker Weg 3,D-18276 GülzowTel.: +��

5,100,000 (75%) 05/1994 –09/1998

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✔✔✔ Protection of mires andcorncrakes in the SüdlicherChiemgau (Chiemgau I)

Herr StrohwasserLandratsamt TraunsteinPostfach 1829D-83276 TraunsteinTel.: +49-861 58 0

810,000 (50%) 04/1994 –12/1996

✔ Monitoring priority habitats inthe continental region

Dr. SsymankBundesamt für NaturschutzKonstantinstraße 110D-53179 BonnTel: +49 228 954 34 27

456,800 (50%) 01/1996 –12/1998

✔✔✔ Conservation anddevelopment of naturearound the Federsee

Herr SchwabBezirkstelle für Naturschutz undLandschaftspflege TübingenKonrad-Adenauer Straße 20D-72072 TübingenTel: +49 7071 757 38 13

831,071 (50%) 01/1997 –12/2000

✔✔✔ Protection of the quakingbogs of Benninger Ried

Herr LenzRegierung von SchwabenD-86145 AugsburgTel +49 821 327 01

643,233 (50%) 09/1996 –09/2000

✔✔✔ Preservation and restorationof major fens of theSüdlicher Chiemgau(Chiemgau II)

Herr StrohwasserLandratsamt TraunsteinPostfach 1829D-83276 TraunsteinTel.: +49-861 58 0

732,255 (50%) 09/1997 –09/2000

✔✔✔ Management of thewerlands of the Nature ParkSchaalsee

Frau GebhardtAmt für das BiosphärenreservatSchaalseeWittenburgen Chaussee 13D-19426 ZarrentinTel: +49 38851 302 00

331,533 (50%) 01/1998 –06/2002

✔✔✔ Restoration of the mires ofthe Recknitz Valley.

Direktor Prof. Dr. Ingbert GansLandesamt für Umwelt und NaturMecklenburg-VorpommernBoldebucker Weg 3,D-18276 GülzowTel.: +��

1,479,050 (60%) 07/1998 –09/2001

✔✔✔ Moore und GrosseRohrdommel in die Müritz

Herr MeßnerNationalparkamt MüritzAn der Fasanerie 13D-17235 NeustrelitzTel: +49 3981 458 922

531,159 (50%) 09/1998 –12/2002

✔✔✔ WiedervernassungOchsenmoores/Dümmer

Frau U. LangendorfNiedersächsischesUmweltministeriumArchivstraße 1D-30169 HannoverTel: +49 511 120 3554

351,229 (50%) 02/1998 –12/2000

✔✔✔ Optimierung des SPA Mooreund Heiden des westlichenMünsterlandes

Dr. AschemeierBiologische Station ZwillbrockZwillbrock 10D-48691 VredenTel: +49 2564 986 00

1,377,976 (50%) 08/1998 –07/2002

✔✔ Habitat protection in theRhon (Röhn II)

Frau Ursula Schneider,Regierung von Unterfranken,VerwaltungsstelleBiosphärenreservat Rhön,Markstrasse 41,D-97656 OberelsbachTel.: +49 9774 654

1,258,334 (60%) 04/1998 –06/2001

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✔ Inventory, identification,evaluation and mapping ofhabitat types and flora andfauna species in Greece

Professor Spyros DafisEKBY14th km, Thessaloniki-ThermiGR 57 001 Thermi

976,000 (75%) 06/1994 –12/1995

✔ Conservation andmanagement of sites ofCommunity importance inGreece

Idem 443,200 (75%) 01/1996 –12/1996

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✔✔✔ Protection of habitats ofCommunity importanceunder the Birds and habitatsDirective

M. Alan CraigNational Parks and Wildlife Service51, St Stephen’s GreenIRE- Dublin 2Tel: +353 1 661 31 11

8,300,000 (75%) 08/1993 –12/1995

✔✔ Development ofmanagement plans andemergency actions aimed atcandidate SACs

Idem 879,800 (50%) 01/1996 –03/1999

✔✔ Conservation actions forIreland's SPAs

Idem 1,513,475 (31%) 01/1997 –12/1999

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✔✔ Implementation of theHabitats Directive in Italy

Mrs. Patrizia De Angelis,Ministero dell’Ambientevia Assisi, 163I- 00161 RomaTel: +9 6 784 665 27

4,500,000 (75%) 01/1993 –01/1997

✔✔ Protected areas in CentralItaly

Mrs. Francesca PaniLegambientevia Salaria, 40300199 RomaTel: 39 (06) 862 683 61

178,500 (50%) 01/1996 –03/1998

✔✔ Urgent action programme forprotected areas in Southernand Central Italy

Mr. Alessandro BardiWWF-ItaliaVia Garigliano, 57I- 00198 RomaTel: +39 6 844 973 86

678,000 (50%) 01/1994 –12/1995

✔✔✔ Brabbia Swamp Mr. Vincenzo RizziLIPUVia Trento, 49I- 43100 ParmaTel: +39 521 273 043

208,935 (50%) 01/1997 –12/1998

✔✔ Mont Avic M. Massimo BoccaNatural Park Mont AvicLocalità fabbrica, 134I-11020 Champedraz (AO)Tel: +39 125 960 643

245,442 (50%) 01/1997 –12/2000

✔✔ Restoration of Massaciuccoli M. Mario CenniRegional park Migliarino S. RossoreMassaciuccolivia Aurelia nord, 4I-56122 PisaTel: +39 50 525 500

370,677 (50%) 04/1997 –02/1999

✔✔ Stopping the StellaWetlands from drying out

M. Franco MusiRegione Friuli Venezia GiuliaVia Manzini, 41I- 33100 UdineTel: +39 432 294 711

435,330 (50%) 02/1998 –12/2001

✔✔ Breathing space for birdsand dunes in Maremma

M. Niccolò MatteiParco regionale della Maremma:Via Aurelia Antica Loc. PianacceI-58010 Alberese (GR)Tel: +39 564 407 111

230,469 (45%) 11/1998 –11/2001

✔✔ Preserving natural habitatsin the Milan hinterland

M. Michele CeredaParco naturale di Montevecchia:via Donzelli, 9I- Montevecchia (LC)Tel:+ 39 39 993 03 84Fax: +39 39 99 30619

128,294 (50%) 06/1997 –12/2000

✔✔ Initial conservation work inAspromonte

M. Bruno DominianniParco Nazionale dell'Aspromontep.za G. MangerucaI –89050 Gambarie di S. Stefano inAspromonte (RC)Tel: +39 965 743 060

219,529 (50%) 10/1998 –09/2001

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✔✔✔ Integral Restoration PlanNaardermeer

Mr. A. Stoker,Natuurmonumenten,Noordereinde 60,Postbus 9955, NL-1243 ZS ‘s Graveland,Tel.:+ 31 35 655 9868

933,729 (50%) 06/1996 –12/1999

✔✔✔ Restoration Plan for theImportant Bird AreaNieuwkoopse Plassen

Idem 895,503 (50%) 02/1998 –12/2001

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✔ Natural habitats and flora ofContinental Portugal

M. Barreto CaldasDep. Botânica (Faculdade Ciênciasdo Porto),PortoTel: +351 2 608 26 00

1.500.000 (75%) 10/1994 –06/1997

✔ Study and conservation ofthe Azores natural heritage

M. Manuel LoureiroDRRFR. do Contador, 23P- 9500 Ponta Delgada, AçoresTel: +351 96 286 588

1.461.905 (75%) 01/1997–12/2000

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✔ National InventoryProgramme for the HabitatsDirective

M. Cosme MorilloMinistry of the EnvironmentGeneral Directorate of NatureConservationGran Vía de San Francisco, 4ES- 28005 MadridTel: +34 91 5975559

3,500,000 (75%) 09/1993 –06/1996

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✔✔✔ Mire Protection Plan forSweden

Mrs. Jenny LonnstadSEPAS-106 48 StockholmTel: +46 8 698 15 92

2,254,100 (50%) 04/1995 –03/1999

✔✔ Restoring the biodiversity ofStora Alvaret

Mrs. Susanne R ForslundKalmar County Administration BoardS-391 86 KalmarTel: +46 480 822 27

881,909 (50%) 05/1996 –12/1999

✔✔ Protection of western taigain Sweden

See above (Mrs. Jenny Lonnstad) 3,367,072 (50%) 04/1996 –12/1998

✔✔ Protection of western taiga,Grossjöberget in Bollnäs

Mr. Ola GustafssonBollnäs KommunS- 821 80 BollnäsTel: +46 278 250 00

590,351 (50%) 02/1997 –12/1998

✔✔✔ Protecting forests and miresin Sweden


✔✔ Protecting of western taigain Bergslagen


✔✔ Protection of western taigain Norrland

See above (Mrs. Jenny Lonnstad) 526,963 (50%) 02/1998 –06/2002

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✔✔✔ Conservation of Scottishlowland raised bogs

Mr. Rob StonemanScottish Wildlife TrustKirk Crammond,Crammond Grebe RoadUK- Edinburgh EH4 6NSTel: +44 131 312 77 65

360,000 (75%) 01/1993 –09/1995

✔✔✔ Restoration of Redgrave andSouth Lopham Fen inNorfolk

Mr. Mike HardingSuffolk Wildlife TrustBrooke House, The GreenAshbocking,UK- Suffolk IP6 9JYTel: +44 1473 89 00 89

1,800,000 (50%) 01/1994 –03/1999

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✔✔✔ Conservation of activeblanket bogs in Scotland andNorthern Ireland

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Mr. Martin DaviesRSPBThe Lodge, Sandy,UK- Bedfordshire SG19 2DL��

Richard WatsonFermanagh District CouncilTown Hall EnniskillenUK- Co Fermanagh BT74 4BATel: 44 (1365) 32 50 50

1,525,000 (50%) 10/1994 –09/1998

✔ Grazing management plansfor upland SACs in Scotland

Dr James FentonThe National Trust for ScotlandThe Old Granery,West Mill StreetUK- Perth PH1 5QPTel: +44 1738 63 12 96

138,500 (50%) 08/1995 –03/1998

✔✔ Integrated management andconservation of the SouthPennine Moors

Mr. Les MorganStanding Conference of SouthPennine Authorities8th Floor, Jacob’s WellUK- Bradford BD1 54WTel: +44 1274 75 35 36

248,700 (30%) 01/1996 –03/1999

✔✔ Monitoring and managementplans for candidate SACs inWales

Dr. Terry RowellCountryside Council for WalesPlas Gogerddan AberystwythUK- Ceredigion SI23 3EETel: +44 1970 82 11 00

393,000 (50%) 09/1995 –03/1999

✔✔✔ The border mires – ActiveBlanket Bog Rehabilitationproject

Mr. David Stewart / Mr. Bill BurtonNorthumberland Wildlife TrustThe Garden House,St Nicholas ParkGosforth,UK- Newcastle-upon-TyneTel: +44 191 284 68 84

233,228 (50%) 08/1998 –09/2002

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CONCERVING MIRES IN THE EUROPEAN UNIONwith no intervention. This is especially true for climax...

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