The project sites comprise valuable moist and wetland environments with a fantastic biodiversity.
Photo by Lars Rigbäck
On Öland there are large areas of semi-natural grassland which have been used for hay-making or grazing for several thousand years. Since man began keeping domestic animals they have provided fodder and wood and have never been cultivated or fertilised. This is one reason why Öland provides the conditions for great biodiversity. Öland’s grazed coastal land is an important resting place for many migrating birds. A large number of bird species are dependent on the open well-maintained land, which is damp and moist throughout the year.
Extensive draining of wetlands and lowering of lakes was carried out during the second half of the 19th century and well into the 20th century. Negative consequences, such as erosion of the soil, lowering of the level of the sub-soil water, an increase of nutrients in the coastal waters and a loss of biodiversity, have been noticed, particularly during the last 50 years. The rationalisation of agriculture and the changed energy supply since the 1950s have meant that large areas of moist and wet land have been abandoned. Agri-environmental support, which has been paid since 1996 for the maintenance of semi-natural grasslands, has had a positive effect of Öland. However, no agri-environmental support is payable for land which has become overgrown because of lack of use. Restoration of overgrown areas and new enclosure are very expensive.
More than 16,000 hectares in 18 different Natura 2000-sites are affected by this Life Nature project. This land contains great biodiversity whose preservation status today is uncertain. 21 species on the habitat and bird directive lists are the target groups for this project, and many other species will also benefit. The over-arching aim of the project is to increase the area of well-maintained, moist and wet habitats on Öland so that these habitats, as well as the plant and animal species dependent on them, are given a favourable preservation status. In order to reach these goals the following measures have been drawn up:
- At least eight nature reserves will be set aside during the project period.
- The area of well grazed or mown calcareous moist meadows, alkaline fens and Boreal Baltic coastal meadows will increase with at least 20 per cent.
- Clearance of land that is covered in bushes and felling of small isolated woods will be carried out in around 1000 hectares of coastal land, 500 hectares of moist and wet habitats on the Great Alvar and 500 hectares alkaline fen and calcareous moist grassland within other wetlands on Öland.
- Open water will be recreated in coastal lands and on the Great Alvar by removal of the sediment layers and/or peat, removal of islands with bushes, cutting of tall reeds and filling in of ditches.
Species like ruff Philomachus pugnax, avocet Recurvirostra avosetta, little tern Sterna albifrons, sandwich tern Sterna sandvicensis, black tern Chlidonias niger, slavonian grebe Podiceps auritus, Vertigo geyeri and Tristurus cristatus will occur in viable populations