Svencelė Bog

Summary

Svencelė bog is the only not yet destroyed coastal raised-bog in Lithuania and among the last few in the eastern Baltic Sea region that still show natural or semi-natural features. Due to its size (more than 1,200 ha), it is important to protect the valuable ecosystem services it provides. Still, it has been severely affected by drainage in the 20th century, which led to the local extinction of different species and prevented excess water from being stored in the bog. The latter led to increased eutrophication of the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea.

The project - it's long title being "Improvement of Coastal Svencelė Bog Conservation Status through Restoration of its Hydrological Regime and Habitats" - aimed to restore ecological conditions of the bog. 11 dams were built in drainage channels, and a 1.5 km long dam was erected to prevent the outflow of water from the area. This helped to raise the water level in the much damaged northern part of the bog significantly. While the rewetting, strictly speaking, was done only on 100 hectares, it is expected to improve the ecological conditions in the entire Northwestern part of the bog.

Also, shrubs and trees were removed from an area of 150 ha. This reduces water evaporation and restores the typical flora of the raised bog, bringing back an important habitat for endangered species like the Golden Plover or the Greenshank. A monitoring system was installed to survey the long-term effects of the measures.