The protected area coverage of the study area (i.e. the Barents Euro-Arctic Region excl. Norway, North Karelia in Finland, Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land) has increased since 2013, when the most recent overview was presented. However, the 17% threshold as defined in the Aichi Target 11 has not yet been reached as a whole. Although improvements in the protected area coverage is to be expected in the years to come, and especially in the Russian part of the study area, considerable and increased efforts are still needed if the target is to be achieved. The protection of forests will also continue in the next few years. Nevertheless, many of the high conservation value forests (HCVFs), and especially in northwest Russia, are not yet protected. Also in the Finnish and Swedish parts of the Barents Region there are many HCVFs that would need to be taken into account in nature conservation planning and forestry operations.
Climate change and changes in the land use surrounding protected areas influence the long-term viability of the protected area systems of the Barents Region. Therefore, it is crucial that these systems are strengthened. By
implementing the existing plans for protection fully, and by efficient management of the protected area network, the possibility of the protected area systems to adapt to changes would be enhanced. Furthermore, it is important that the whole forest landscape is included in an integrated planning of the protection and use of forest, included different aspects of ecological connectivity. The HCVFs identified by this study should be taken into account when applying this type of integrated views in future conservation planning. This study has provided extensive new data compilations on valuable nature areas in the Barents Region, and especially on forests. In addition, potential paths forward have been indicated with regard to drafting of long-term strategies for protection and sustainable use of forests in the Barents Region.
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Web pages
https://www.bpan.fi
https://www.cbd.int/decisions/cop/?m=cop-13 http://dopa.jrc.ec.europa.eu.
https://dvinaland.ru/-k888b8aj https://www.google.fi/maps/
www.hcvnetwork.org
http://jounikitti.fi/suomi/porot/norjaruotsi.html http://jounikitti.fi/suomi/porot/porotalous.html http://www.metsonpolku.fi/en-US/METSO_Programme
http://minprirody.karelia.ru/ohrana-okruzhajucshej-sredy/osobo-ohranjaemye-prirodnye-territorii/
http://www.nordregio.se/Global/Publications/Publications%202015/Teksti_finnish.pdf, p.8 https://old.dvinaland.ru/region/map/
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https://www.skogsstyrelsen.se/miljo-och-klimat/biologisk-mangfald/nyckelbiotoper/
Appendix 1/1
Appendix 1. Expert participants in the project work
Editors
Anna Kuhmonen, Jyri Mikkola, Bo Storrank and Tapio Lindholm Authors
Dmitry Aksenov, Transparent World
Susanna Anttila, Finnish Environment Institute Denis Dobrynin, WWF-Russia
Elena Esipova, Transparent World
Frédéric Forsmark, County Administrative Board of Norrbotten Jevgeni Jakovlev, Finnish Environment Institute
Dmitry Koltsov, Transparent World
Anna Kuhmonen, Finnish Environment Institute Niko Leikola, Finnish Environment Institute Tapio Lindholm, Finnish Environment Institute Olli Manninen, Finnish Environment Institute Jyri Mikkola, Finnish Environment Institute
Carlos Paz von Friesen, County Administrative Board of Västerbotten Tiina Salminen, Finnish Environment Institute
Bo Storrank, Finnish Environment Institute Mai Suominen, Finnish Environment Institute Kimmo Syrjänen, Finnish Environment Institute Maps and GIS analyses
Niko Leikola, Finnish Environment Institute Dmitry Aksenov, Transparent World Elena Esipova, Transparent World Preparation of GIS data on HCV forests Susanna Anttila, Finnish Environment Institute Olli Manninen, Finnish Environment Institute Jyri Mikkola, Finnish Environment Institute Tiina Salminen, Finnish Environment Institute Dmitry Aksenov, Transparent World (Russia) Elena Esipova, Transparent World (Russia) Dmitry Koltsov, Transparent World (Russia)
Nikolay Shuktomov, Silver Taiga Foundation (Russia) Project coordination
Anna Kuhmonen, Project Manager (2015- 2017), Finnish Environment Institute Bo Storrank, Project Manager (2017), Finnish Environment Institute
Tiina Salminen, Project Assistant (2015-2016), Finnish Environment Institute Mai Suominen, Researcher (2016-2017), Finnish Environment Institute
Appendix 1/2
BPAN Steering Committee
Aimo Saano, Metsähallitus Parks & Wildlife Finland (Chair) Finn Katerås, Norwegian Environment Agency (2016) Bente Christiansen, Finnmark County Governor
Maria Dronova, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation
Olle Höjer, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
Maano Aunapuu, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (2017) Tatiana Tiupenko, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Komi
Several people provided valuable input to the project work, including Henna Haapala, Ministry of the Environment of Finland
Minna Hartikainen
Saija Kuusela, Finnish Environment Institute
Kristiina Niikkonen, Ministry of the Environment of Finland Yuri Pautov, Silver Taiga
Jussi Päivinen, Metsähallitus Parks & Wildlife Finland Keijo Savola, Finnish Association for Nature Conservation
The project would also like to thank all other contributors not mentioned here including all the participants of workshops and seminars arranged by BPAN in 2015-2017.
Appendix 2/1
Appendix 2. HCVF mapping intensity in the Finnish study area
30°0'0"E
30°0'0"E 20°0'0"E
70°0'0"N
65°0'0"N 65°0'0"N
0 62,5 125 250Kilometers
Not very comprehensive Relatively comprehensive
© Transparent World, SYKE/ BPAN project
© Maanmittauslaitos
© Lantmäteriet
© Norwegian Mapping Authority
© ESRI
The ecosystems of the Barents Region are diverse and include vast areas of boreal forests or taiga.
National and regional authorities, scientific institutes and non-governmental organizations from Norway, Finland, Sweden and Russia implemented the project Barents Protected Area Network (BPAN) in 2011-2014 and the BPAN II phase projects on forests and coastal areas in 2015-2017. The projects have produced detailed information on the characteristics and representativeness of the protected area network in the region.
Building on previous achievements and recommendations of the Environment Ministers of the Barents Region, a project-specific concept of high conservation value forests (HCVFs) was applied in 2015-2017. The aim was to identify, describe and visualize the distribution of forests that are especially important for biodiversity. On the basis of existing data gained in field inventories, remote sensing data, national forest inventories as well as studies of aerial photographs a total of close to 325 000 km² were identified as verified or potential HCVFs. Data on land cover, and in particular regarding HCVFs and protected areas, was analyzed and displayed on comprehensive maps using geographical information systems.
In addition, in the study area, which covered a large part of the Barents Region, however excluding the Norwegian part of the region, North Karelia in Finland, as well as the Russian archipelagos of Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land, the project included updates on the protected area coverage.
As stated by the Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity at least 17%
of the terrestrial and inland water areas should be conserved through ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas. By the end of 2015, the protected areas covered almost 200 000 km² or 12,7% of the study area. In order to fulfil the Aichi Target 11 by 2020, the work needs to be reinforced and directed to areas where the benefits from the biodiversity point of view are the greatest. The project also highlighted the need to enhance ecological connectivity between protected areas and to improve the stakeholder dialogue regarding sustainable management of forest resources in the Barents Region.
PROTECTED AREAS AND HIGH CONSERVATION VALUE FORESTS IN THE BARENTS EURO-ARCTIC REGION – SWEDEN, FINLAND AND RUSSIA