Διαδικτυακή Πύλη Συνεργασίας Για Τα Δάση

The need and will to mitigate and adapt to climate change and its threats to biodiversity have risen. Nevertheless, the acting for the conservation of biodiversity remains hampered by knowledge gaps. E.g., for habitat types (in the sense of biotopes) the impact of climate change has been scarcely researched. There are many “species distribution models” (SDMs) that can project species distributions under climate change, but their application to contemporary habitat types poses considerable methodological problems. Here we show the viability of the uncommon method of “climate analogues” to provide data to assess the potential impact of future climate change on habitat types for chosen regions, and the usability of the method compared to SDMs. We assume climate analogues can reflect the potential future habitat data in the study regions when (1) plausibly located future climate analogues are found with relevant climate variables for the studied habitat types, and (2) habitat occurrences relate with their frequency and area to the climate reflected in the climate analogues. We tested the method for three landscapes in Germany using European Natura 2000 habitat data, analyzing five future climate conditions until 2100. Future climate analogues were found southwest of the study regions, primarily in France. They progressed further southwest and from higher to lower elevations with increasing climate change. Ecologically sound habitat types remained stable, increased, and decreased in frequency and area parallel to the magnitude of climate change in the climate analogues. Thus, we regard climate analogues as a viable method to estimate potential climate change induced changes of Natura 2000 habitat types at the regional scale. Nature conservation benefits from climate analogues as they are efficient, data-robust, and promote the implementation of actions, the exchange of conservation experiences, and international collaboration. They are an easy and powerful method to tackle the looming losses of habitat diversity from climate change.

Conservation Plan of Pinus heldreichii is one of plans which is necessary to develop in order to complete Transnational Joint Strategy for the management of priority species in Natura 2000 sites in 3 countries. Good practice developed using modern conservation methods of particular species and habitats of national importance developed in the practice of EU countries will be developed jointly through cross-border cooperation between partners with the aim of piloting conservation activities in 3 countries. The priority of biodiversity conservation is not always only a national and European issue, but in cases where the natural communities are located on the cross-border zones of the two countries are a matter of importance for cross-border cooperation in conservation. All three countries face similar (sometimes the same) problems in biodiversity conservation; the LASPEH project is intended to transfer good practices in biodiversity conservation between partners like pilot action, to strengthen conservation and capacity-building through data sharing and measures. This type of pilot activity will strengthen communication between partner institutions and establish long-term cooperation with the aim of establishing cross-border practices in strategic planning of conservation measures of importance for the three countries.

The Southeastern Europe, which is usually known as Balkan Peninsula, harbours a vast number of plant species among which a great number of relict and endemic ones. This region was one of the main areas in Europe where plant species found shelter in refugia and survived during the last glaciation. These refugia were the source areas for the postglacial colonization of many forest tree species. Human impact has been reported in the region since antiquity resulting in deforestation and fragmentation of forests. Marginal/peripheral (MaP) populations could be identified for many forest tree species occurring in the region. However, detailed information about MaP populations is restricted to few cases. Most of the MaP populations identified by FP1202 experts are not located in protected areas. Thus, approximately 27 % of the MaP populations are included in Natura 2000 sites, and only one out of the four reported populations is included in a genetic conservation unit. Many MaP populations (40%) are registered as seed stands and only 14% are included in EUFGIS database. Conservation of forest genetic resources, including MaP populations, is a component of sustainable management of forests in many countries of the region.

Η παρούσα εργασία αφορά στην ανάλυση των πρακτικών συμμετοχής που σχετίζονται με τις διαδικασίες εφαρμογής του Natura 2000 σε έξι κράτη μέλη της ΕΕ.