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The last of the last: the old-growth forest of boreal Europeкнига
- Авторы: Aksenov D., Karpachevskiy M., Lloyd S., Yaroshenko A.
- Год издания: 1999
- Место издания: Taiga Rescue Network
- Объём: 67 страниц
- ISBN: 5-88587-144-2
- Аннотация: The boreal forest, or taiga, stretches around the Northern hemisphere of the earth across Alaska, Canada, Scotland, Fennoscandia, and Russia. The European boreal region is a specific subset of the taiga found in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Northern European Russia and historically found in Scotland. This report investigates the status of the boreal forests in Fennoscandia and the Karelia Republic, Murmansk Oblast, Arkhangelsk Oblast, and the Komi Republic in Northern European Russia. This report is a complement to maps of the last remaining old-growth forests of this region. The maps and this report serve as an alert to the urgency needed in ensuring the protection of the last remaining oldgrowth areas of boreal Europe. Natural boreal forests in Europe are conifer-dominated forests. The structure of the boreal forest is determined by disturbance regimes, such as wildfire, insect infestation, and fallen trees creating local gaps in the canopy. This disturbance regime forms the important structural components of a thriving boreal forest ecosystem. These components, such as very old coniferous and deciduous trees, trees with a heavy load of epiphytic lichens, broken top, stag-headed, and leaning trees, trees with holes and cavities, snags, fire-scarred trees, snags and stumps, stumps with uneven surfaces, and large-sized logs in various stages of decomposition create ecological niches essential for the survival of a range of boreal species. Modern forestry methods as practiced in the region has removed natural disturbances and many of the natural structural components from the forest. This has resulted in a biodiversity crisis in Fennoscandia with large numbers of forestdwelling species on the national red data lists for threatened and endangered species. Use of timber resources is not a problem for ecological viability in itself. It is the level, type, and intensity of use, which matters. The region has experienced several phases of forest use and exploitation. Hunter-gatherers used forests for subsistence for thousands of years. Forest use has evolved throughout the last three centuries with increasing industrialization. The stage most detrimental to biodiversity and ecosystems is the phase of large scale rotation forestry, as witnessed in Fennoscandia, which basically converts the forest from natural diversity to a high-yield mono-crop of export timber. Fennoscandian forests have been almost totally affected by large scale industrial rotation forestry leading to the almost complete conversion of natural ecosystems with only small areas of old-growth forest remaining. Although Northern European Russian forests have been heavily exploited, they have not experienced the systematic intensity of modern forestry practices. Relative to the forests of Fennoscandia, the forests of Northern European Russia are considered more viable from an ecological perspective. It is because of this relative ecological viability that Russian old-growth forests are of great international concern. These forests represent the largest remaining areas of intact natural forest in all of Europe. Other threats to the forests of the European boreal include pollution, illegal logging, mining and mineral prospecting, and climate change. The last remaining old-growth forest areas in Fennoscandia are few in number, small in area, and threatened. In Northern European Russia these old-growth forests, although relatively large when compared to Fennoscandia, are also threatened. Some valuable areas remaining are protected by national governmental initiatives and protection regimes. Industry and private forest owners also have protected some old-growth forest areas. But it must be noted that many areas are still not under any form of protection. In Norway only 0.84% of forests are protected legally. In Sweden only 3.7% is protected and only 0.8% of the productive forests below the montane regions are protected. And in Finland the level of protected productive forests is 3.6% although this is concentrated in the north of the country. The system of protection mechanisms in Russia is extremely complex. The economic and political uncertainties affecting the region currently add to this complexity and make it difficult to ensure the security of old-growth forests currently under protection. Presently, the share of the remaining old-growth forests in European Russia in general can be estimated to 5-7% of all forests, with most of them having a large proportion of bogs and being located in the very north. Only 3-4% of all forests are protected against forest operations, and the protected areas are very unevenly distributed. Old-growth areas are also under threat from logging by Russian and foreign enterprises wishing to cash in on the relatively large volumes of timber still available. In both Fennoscandia and Northern European Russia there are many key biotope types, which are underrepresented in the current protection systems. In all areas of boreal Europe there is a lack of inventory data available on the qualities, quantities, and locations of old-growth and high conservation value forests remaining. There is also no comprehensive plan nor the means available for strategic old-growth protection in the individual countries and the region as a whole. Scientists from the region have made statements on how much should be protected; however, there is currently an alarming gap between the scientific view on what must be protected to ensure biodiversity and the actions governments and industry have actually taken in the name of ecosystem viability. The maps presented with this report are by no means complete. The maps attempt to fill a void of information about the valuable forest areas of boreal Europe. Protection is not the end of the story. Maintenance of biodiversity also depends on the kind of forest management present in those areas, which are in use and not set aside in protection schemes. Until forest management truly reaches ecologically sustainable forest management the overall importance of protection of these last areas and other forests of high conservation value is tantamount. The urgent need for wide reaching and efficiently implemented protection and sustainable management plans is at the heart of NGO demands for the protection of the oldgrowth forests of the European boreal region
- Добавил в систему: Карпачевский Михаил Львович