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Project name:
MAN AND NATURE AT BIEBRZA;
INTEGRATION AND DISSEMINATION OF KNOWLEDGE FOR
SUSTAINABLE NATURE MANAGEMENT
Introduction
The Biebrza Wetlands covers almost 100 000 ha of vast
plains of wet fen meadows with scattered birches, reed-beds and stands of
willow bushes and diverse forests. They are the largest and one of the
best-preserved wetland habitats in Europe. To protect the most valuable
part of the Biebrza Valley the national park was established with
financial support of the Dutch Government and WWF in 1993. Evolving
meanders, oxbow lakes and springtime floods are unique features that make
the waters of Biebrza a "living river". The Biebrza river
maintains its natural character along the entire length, resulting in a
rich plant and animal world. Due to the uniqueness of the valley, the
Biebrza National Park was added to the RAMSAR Convention list as one of
the most important worldwide wetland sites. It is also an Important Bird
Area (IBA) of European importance. The whole Biebrza Valley has been
included in the Polish proposition to the Pan-European Network of
Protected Areas Natura 2000 under the EU Bird and Habitat Directives.
Numerous species of Biebrza Wetlands are also protected under the Bern
Convention. The Biebrza National Park is a candidate to the European
network of the best-managed national parks with outstanding nature value
(PAN Parks).
The Biebrza National Park covers almost 60 000 ha, and is the largest
national park in Poland. About 270 species of birds were recorded there,
among them 180 breed in the Biebrza Wetlands. Such species as spotted
eagle, white-winged black tern, great snipe, aquatic warbler which are
extinct or very rare in other parts of Europe, have become great
attractions for visitors of the Biebrza National Park. For aquatic warbler
which is globally threatened with extinction due to wetland drainage, the
Biebrza National Park with its 2000 breeding pairs, provides the most
important refuge in the world. Of 48 species of mammals living in the
Biebrza National Park, special attention deserve about 500 elks (the
largest refuge of this spectacular animal in Poland), 4 wolf packs,
numerous beavers and otters. Seventeen species of amphibians and reptiles
occur here, among them, threatened in Europe but numerous here
fire-bellied toads.
More information at www.biebrza.org.pl
Sustainable relationship between man and nature
The Biebrza Wetlands became famous mostly because of
vast area of open fens. For centuries the richness of this habitat has
been shaped by extensive agriculture - cattle and horses grazing in
floodplain and fen mowing for hay and barn litter in the peat zone. The
predominant livestock was a dairy cattle. The herds grazed freely in the
valley during daylight. Both mentioned practices helped to keep openness
of those meadows against the shrub encroachment. The open fen meadows in
Biebrza Valley are unique on the European scale because of its high degree
of biological diversity, especially as a breeding habitat of waders.
Although Biebrza river together with its wetlands is considered as one of
the most natural rivers in Europe and hence, the reference for restoration
projects in Western Europe, it still faces serious problems in the field
of water management and management of the open fen areas.
Construction of the two big drainage channels in the last century caused
deterioration of the hydrology of the middle section of the valley. The
good news is, that the deterioration can still be stopped and the
restoration of the Ełk and Jegrznia rivers is possible according to
the feasibility study financed by WWF. However, this kind of large scale
restoration projects with big influence on water management, require the
implementation of the Integrated River Basin Management approach to foster
co-operation of the stakeholders. At the moment, working on the river
Biebrza one has to deal with sectoral approach bound to the
territories/borders, for example borders between a National Park and
outside of the Park, borders between communities etc., with little
understanding and interest for the consequences on the other side of the
"border". Development of understanding for Water Framework
Directive and building of the Biebrza Basin Working Group is of high
importance for future water management and nature protection issues.
As mentioned above, the open fen landscape of Biebrza Marshes was shaped
by extensive mowing and grazing in the passed centuries. In the last
decades however, farmers drastically reduced their activities in the
Biebrza valley. The area of shrubs and trees has substantially increased
during last decades and nowadays it covers the area of more that 20 000
ha. Openness and low vegetation are crucial for breeding waders, as well
as for migratory birds. Such species as ruff, black-tailed godwit and
lapwing disappeared after the invasion of tall sedges. Snipe, corncrake
and aquatic warbler strongly declined after shrub encroachment. The
authorities of the Biebrza National Park and nature conservation
organisations are therefore facing a problem, how to stop and reverse the
plant succession at least on part of peatlands. Support and promotion of
mowing and grazing became one of the highest priority issues in the
Biebrza region.
Fragmented knowledge and weak communication
Although much knowledge is available in Poland and in
the Netherlands about important aspects related to nature protection at
Biebrza this knowledge is fragmented over several governmental
organizations, NGO's, research institutes and universities. Communication
of the park with local stakeholders for agriculture, recreation and
inhabitants is weak. This hampers public support for the park's aims and
awareness among farmers of consequences of their management for
biodiversity and nature. The present project aims at bringing knowledge
together at the National Park and aims to encourage communication about
conflicting demands on land and water in the area.
:: Management Support System (MSS) ::
The project brings together existing knowledge (Poland
and the Netherlands) and practical experience in a framework leading to
the development of a Management Support System and a network of
scientists, nature managers and local stakeholders. This leads to a better
communication and cooperation between nature management, agriculture and
tourist organizations in land use planning within the present
socio-economic context. An integral (different sectors and different
disciplines) and area specific approach is followed, focused on the
Biebrza Wetlands, a large pristine area and hotspot for biodiversity.
The MSS should be a enabling the BNP to evaluate on forehand the
ecological effects of changes in water regimes, nature management and land
use. Thus, this system should be flexible to be helpful in the decision
making process. It should enable the users to estimate the effects of
scenarios and to search for optimisation of scenarios given certain
defined targets.
The MSS is a flexible tool in which models are connected in a
GIS-environment. Amongst others the MSS will contain a hydrological and an
ecological module, consisting of geographical data and models.
The envisaged Management Support System is in fact a computer aided
integration of these sources. This MSS enables the Biebrza National Park
board to evaluate the spatial effects of nature management, land use
changes and water control on ecosystems development and biodiversity. The
MSS will include spatial data (GIS) of the entire Biebrza basin and its
direct surroundings, and model (results) of predefined scenarios to be
used for knowledge dissemination onto local and regional policy makers,
water boards, farmers, land owners and NGO's.
For these scenarios current tendencies will be established concerning land
use changes and meadow pasture management in the valley and quantification
of the different forms of succession following these tendencies. The
cause-effect modules will be combined with the scenario analyses to
handles for decision rules implemented for the BNP.
The MSS can be applied for the setting up of effective monitoring programs
in order to establish the results of management measures in ecosystems
development related to target qualities. Results of such monitor programs
can improve the MSS by later (after the project cessation) implementation.
The MSS will be a dynamic system. New data and knowledge can be added any
time.
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