Objective Western taiga is a complex forest habitat type, ranging from dry pine Pinus slyvestris to damp spruce forest Picea abies. Much of its composition is dependent upon its history, some stands may be quite young, having regenerated after a forest fire that would have occurred over a hundred years ago whilst others will be significantly more mature. In all cases, natural undisturbed western taiga - i.e. those not subjected to commercial forestry - are extremely rich, providing habitats for many threatened species of lichens, bryophytes, insects and birds amongst others. The dead wood, in particular, plays a central role in maintaining this high conservation value and its scarcity is one of the most serious threats to biodiversity in Swedish forests. With 60% of the European Union's western taiga, Sweden has a particular responsibility for protecting this priority habitat type.What remains of the virgin western taiga forests in Sweden (that is less than 3% of the total forest area) is under constant risk of being turned into commercial plantations. This makes their conservation also particularly expensive as the owner needs to be compensated for the potential economic loss of production. The present project focuses on twelve sites throughout Sweden that have been identified as holding a particularly high level of biodiversity and conservation value. Most are dominated by western taiga, but some include other habitats worthy of conservation such as bogs. In order to protect the sites as proposed SCIs, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency intends to purchase them or pay economic compensation to the owners in exchange for a prohibition on forestry. This activity will be carried out in conjunction with the County Administrative Boards who will be responsible for the demarcation, valuation and negotiations. Once declared a nature reserve each site will be managed according to the prescriptions laid down its management plan. Programme(s) ENV-LIFE 2 - Financial instrument for the environment (LIFE), 1996-1999 Topic(s) Data not available Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) EU contribution No data Address 10648 Stockholm Sweden See on map Total cost No data
