Improving the nature protection on the Finnish Gulf valuable coastal areas

The increasing deforestation and human pressure badly effects the  biodiversity of the Finnish Gulf coastal areas. In Finland, the protected area regimes are not sufficiently strict and their management needs improvement. In Russia, many valuable coastal areas still do not have an official protection status, i.e. there is no restriction of their commercial use. There is an urgent need for forest data and proposals for the protection improvement.

Project Goal & Objectives:

• The project’s goal was to improve the nature protection level on the forested coastal areas of the Finnish Gulf between Helsinki and St. Petersburg. The project territory is studied and and the most threatened valuable coastal areas, including red-listed/rare species, are detected, analysed and inventoried. Both in Russia and Finland, it is forbidden by law to destroy the localities of the Red-listed species or EU Habitat Directive species.
• The strengthening of the co-operation between nature conservation NGOs, environmental authorities and other stakeholders on both sides of the border was another important project objective.

Effects:

• The project has strengthening the biodiversity protection and the protection of high conservation value coastal forests on the Gulf of Finland´s coastal areas
• Developing the protected area network and the environmental sustainability in the program area
• Enhanced cross-border nature conservation connections and understanding between nature conservation NGOs, scientists and the other stakeholders
• The interaction with authorities had made significant progress during the project. From written appeals at the beginning of the project it transgressed to face-to-face meetings where protection issues and future joint activities were discussed.
• Several Red-listed and rare species were found, and their localisation reported to the responsible authorities.

• Updating the data on rare species in the Luomus database of the Finnish Natural History Museum. The database is automatically shared with the authorities and public audience

  Outputs:

• Cross-border land use analysis 
• Cross-border inventories of natural values incl. Red List/rare species
• Proposals of 2 new protected areas in Russia: Kyuryonniemi (1.665 ha) and Primorski Bereg (936 ha) were created and promoted with the authorities

• Declared intention of Alexander Drozdenko, the Governor of the Leningrad region to establish the Kyuryonniemi protected area 

  The expansion of the Eastern Gulf of Finland National Park (1000 ha) was promoted with the authorities and received positive feedback

  Added 43 ha of new protected areas in the Regional zonation plan of Uusimaa 

• 30 ha of new habitats of Buxbaumia viridis found and put under permanent protection in Finland

  400 ha of habitats with Red-List species get put under protection by the Federal Law on Environmental Protection, Art. 60. in Russia

  Stakeholder events and working groups, incl. final seminar with participation of Metsähallitus (State Forest and Park Service) and ELY-Centre

• Beach cleaning with volunteers at Kyuryonniemi planned protected area in August 2019

• Presentation on the Natura 2000 Biogeographical Process in the Boreal region, organised by the Estonian Ministry of Environment and EU Commission in Tallinn, Estonia, 14.- 16.10.2019