Landscape Approach towards Integrated Conservation and Use of Primeval Forests: The Transboundary Kovda River Catchment in Russia and Finland

Svetlana Kondrateva (Stepanova),Ole Sørensen,Per Angelstam,Taras Yamelynets,Michael Manton

doi:10.3390/land9050144

Abstract

Regional clear-felling of naturally dynamic boreal forests has left remote forest landscapes in northern Europe with challenges regarding rural development based on wood mining. However, biodiversity conservation with higher levels of ambition than what is possible in regions with a long forest history, and cultural heritage, offer opportunities for developing new value chains that support rural development. We explored the opportunities for pro-active integrated spatial planning based on: (i) landscapes’ natural and cultural heritage values in the transboundary Kovda River catchment in Russia and Finland; (ii) forest canopy loss as a threat; and (iii) private, public and civil sector stakeholders’ views on the use and non-use values at local to international levels. After a 50-year history of wood mining in Russia, the remaining primeval forest and cultural heritage remnants are located along the pre-1940 Finnish-Russian border. Forest canopy loss was higher in Finland (0.42%/year) than in Russia (0.09%/year), and decreased from the south to the north in both countries. The spatial scales of stakeholders’ use of forest landscapes ranged from stand-scale to the entire catchment of Kovda River in Russia and Finland (~2,600,000 ha). We stress the need to develop an integrated landscape approach that includes: (i) forest landscape goods; (ii) other ecosystem services and values found in intact forest landscapes; and (iii) adaptive local and regional forest landscape governance. Transboundary collaboration offers opportunities for effective knowledge production and learning.

Highlights

The circumboreal forest biome provides natural resources in terms of wood, minerals, oil, gas and hydroelectric energy that support human welfare and quality of life
Following the Soviet era of wood mining, the remaining primeval forest and cultural heritage remnants are located along the Russian side of Finnish-Russian border
That the recent forest canopy loss is higher in Finland (0.42%/year) than in Russia (0.09%/year) is advantageous for primeval forest conservation in Russia

Summary

Introduction

The circumboreal forest biome provides natural resources in terms of wood, minerals, oil, gas and hydroelectric energy that support human welfare and quality of life. Land 2020, 9, 144 have been relatively little impacted by anthropogenic change [3], and provide a unique opportunity for biodiversity conservation with high levels of ambition that include securing viable populations of species with large area demands [4], ecological integrity of entire catchments [5] and resilience of forest ecosystems [6] This is in stark contrast to landscapes with a long and intensive use of forests for industrial wood production, such as in most parts of Fennoscandia [7], where even the maintenance of species populations with small area requirements requires active rehabilitation and restoration efforts [8,9]. Such forests constitute an important reference for the natural range of variability [22], and the base for developing principles for forest landscape restoration for biodiversity conservation and human well-being [23]

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