ESTONIAN ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW 2009

More documents

Recommendations

Info

8. Biological diversity Considering Estonia’s small human population, the amount of land under nature conservation – over 18% of the country’s territory – is relatively high and it might be presumed that Estonia’s natural environments are in good condition. An objective for the year 2010 is to halt the loss of biological diversity. This objective has thus far not been fulfilled. In the interests of sustainable development of the balance of ecosystems A and the natural resources within the ecosystems (timber, game animals, water) the ecosystem must be viewed as a whole, as the aggregate of all of the values contained in it, not just as a source of natural resources. Ecosystem services must also be taken into account. These are services that benefit all of humanity which are offered by ecosystems, including clean drinking water and food production, decomposition of waste, preservation of the balance between climate and disease agents, preservation of food webs and preservation of food stocks through maintenance of pollinators, and provision of aesthetic pleasure and recreational opportunities. All of these services have a real price that has thus far not been taken into account. The general risks to marine and freshwater ecosystems can be characterized by the latest findings about climate change. Species living in reedbeds B that are in the process of expanding their habitat are a sign of eutrophication of the aquatic environment. For a short period of time, this might even be considered a positive development with regard to biological diversity, but certainly not over a longer period, nor is this characteristic of the aquatic ecosystems of Estonia’s biogeographic zone. 8.1. Legal background Both internationally and domestically, a number of strategic objectives have been set and directives, regulations, strategies and action plans have been compiled along with other legal documents in order to ensure preservation of the biota. One of the most important international legal documents for Estonia is the Convention on Biological Diversity signed in 1992 and ratified in 1994. The parties to the convention decided in 2002 in The Hague to bring the decrease in biological diversity to an end by the year 2010. Achieving this aim will mean the following for Estonia: • halting the increase in the number of species at risk; • halting the decrease in the abundance of (individual plants and animals) of already endangered species; • halting the decrease in the habitat area and quality of endangered species; • elimination of (or significant reduction in) the primary risk factors to species; • planning and building human living environments and activities so that the previous four requirements would be ensured. The primary objective of the European Union habitat directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) and the bird directive (Council Directive 79/409/ EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds) is to introduce a coherent network of protected areas (Natura 2000). The network must ensure that the species and habitats listed in the annexes to the directives are protected and remain vital. Compliance with these directives directly supports bringing the decrease in biological diversity to an end. Domestic objectives are set forth by the national strategy for the sustainable development of Estonia (“Säästev Eesti 21” in Estonian; up to 2030) and the Estonian Environmental Strategy 2030. The former sets the aim of applying reserve status for 5% of Estonia’s territory not used for economic purposes C by 2010 in order to preserve the ecological balance. The environmental strategy sets the goal of maintaining the percentage of nature reserves in Estonian territory at around 18%; besides this, the objective is to increase the abundance of animal species under stricter protection. The Estonian Rural Development Plan 2007–2013 also sets forth nature conservation objectives. The nature conservation development plan 2020 is being prepared, which develops the general objectives of the environmental strategy on a more detailed level. The most important Estonian legislative acts that govern protection of biodiversity or impact it relatively directly are the Nature Conservation Act, the Planning Act and the Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management System Act. The obligations and objectives for assessing the status of aquatic biota is set forth in the European Union Water Framework Directive, which entered into force in 2000 (2000/60/EU), which stipulates that assessment of the status of rivers, lakes and coastal waters should be based mainly on biological quality elements. The Water Framework Directive sets the objective of bringing all bodies of water into good ecological and chemical condition. 124 A An ecosystem is a self-regulating and developing integral whole comprising organisms interdependent through food webs along with their abiotic surroundings. The constituent elements of an ecosystem are the biocoenosis – i.e., the biotic communities (plant communities, fungal communities, animal communities, microorganisms) and the ecotope or living environment (air, water and soil environments). B Elts, J. (<strong>2009</strong>). Linnuatlase viimane spurt. (Finishing spurt for the bird atlas.) – Linnuhuvilise teabeleht Tiirutaja, (nr 5). C Territory not used for economic purposes – an area preserved completely inviolate or where only activities necessary for preserving the (semi-)natural state are permitted.
8.2. Land 8.2.1. Species and habitats Around 40,000 indigenous species of life are thought to be found in Estonia. By 2008, about 26,600 species had been identified – that is, about 67%. The remaining species are yet to be discovered, even though they are known elsewhere in the world and present in Estonia’s biogeographical region. The distribution of most species on Estonian territory has likewise not been ascertained. Only the range of birds, mammals and vascular plants is completely or partially known. Other groups of species have been studied less consistently. The situation is slightly better in the case of habitats. A number of classifications and inventories have been prepared, but there is as yet a lack of a comprehensive picture on the nationwide level with regard to distribution of habitats. Knowledge about the range of seminatural communities can be considered to be better. The extent to which forest habitat structure has been studied has improved in recent years thanks to the existence of the forest management database. Table 8.1. General facts and comparisons in Estonia and Europe. Data: European Environmental Agency and CORINE Land Cover database. Ecosystem distribution EU, Norway, Switzerland % of territory Estonia forest 30% 47% cropland 33% 28% pastureland 16% 7% manmade landscape 2% 2% other 19% 16% Top-predators The abundance of predator species at the top of the food chain — on land (brown bear, wolf, lynx), in freshwater (otter) and marine mammals (grey seal) has increased slightly in the last five years (figure 8.1). This indicates to favourable natural conditions in these years. At the same time, the efficacy of nature conservation in the area cannot be confirmed, as all of the species are extremely mobile and wide-ranging. However, the protection of these species can be said to have been successful on species level. The number of avian top-predators such as golden eagles, white-tailed eagles and ospreys has risen somewhat and the abundance of the lesser spotted eagle has remained stable, but the number of pairs of the greater spotted eagle and black stork has decreased. Target abundance levels have been established for all of the abovementioned species (table 8.2). In the case of terrestrial mammals, all of the toppredators listed are species that inhabit large forest massive areas. Changes in their abundance cannot be directly linked to any sort of habitat change. On the other hand, the trend in the abundance of the spotted eagles and black stork can be correlated to the average age and status of the older-category deciduous and mixed forests that are their habitats in Estonia. Species diversity Pan-European Estonia number of species mammals 250 64 fish 500 75 birds 700 372 reptiles 150 5 amphibians 70 11 vascular plants 31,000 1,500 800 lynx bear wolf 700 600 500 number of individual animals 400 300 200 100 0 70 515 640 90 500 700 90 515 700 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Figure 8.1. Abundance of predators at the top of the food chain (terrestrial mammals) in 2003–2008. Note: The number of animals shown on the figure expresses the minimum abundance of lynx and bear and the likely abundance of wolf before the reproduction period. Data: National Environmental Monitoring Programme. 110 525 715 110 580 740 135 620 760 125
Page 1:
Estonian Environment ESTONIAN ENVIR
Page 4 and 5:
Published in the “Estonian Enviro
Page 6 and 7:
Table of contents Foreword 3 Introd
Page 8 and 9:
10. The environment and health 162
Page 10 and 11:
Summary Socioeconomic background In
Page 12:
Part 1 Socioeconomic background 1.
Page 15 and 16:
1 600 000 1 550 000 1 500 000 popul
Page 17 and 18:
Sources: • Ainsaar, M., Maripuu L
Page 20 and 21:
2. The economy Estonia’s economy
Page 22 and 23:
Table 2.3. GDP per capita as measur
Page 24 and 25:
agriculture and fishery 3%, 3859 pr
Page 26 and 27:
2.4. Transport Transport gives peop
Page 28 and 29:
2.5. Tourism After independence was
Page 30 and 31:
2.6. Agriculture The relative impor
Page 32 and 33:
Fertilizer use With regard to inorg
Page 34 and 35:
Agri-environmental support monitori
Page 36:
3. Natural resources
Page 39 and 40:
Construction mineral resources were
Page 41 and 42:
10000 thousands of cubic metres 800
Page 43 and 44:
Status of fish stocks in inland bod
Page 45 and 46:
3.2.3. Restocking As a consequence
Page 47 and 48:
Map 3.2. Average volume per hectare
Page 49 and 50:
15 increment felling volume optimum
Page 51 and 52:
3.3.5. Forest fires One of the exte
Page 53 and 54:
3.4. Hunting Hunting is closely rel
Page 55 and 56:
20 000 population size hunting bag
Page 58 and 59:
4. Weather patterns and causes of c
Page 60 and 61:
o C Ristna -22.9/-28.4 Vilsandi -21
Page 62 and 63:
4.2. Greenhouse gas emissions and o
Page 64 and 65:
agriculture 6% waste 3% industrial
Page 66 and 67:
According to Statistics Estonia, CF
Page 68:
5. Ambient air
Page 71 and 72:
5.2. Emissions 5.2.1. Emissions of
Page 73 and 74:
5.2.2. Tropospheric ozone precursor
Page 75 and 76: Finland Bulgaria Spain Latvia tropo
Page 77 and 78: 40 35 fine particulate matter (PM 2
Page 79 and 80: other mobile pollution sources 0.04
Page 81 and 82: 6 5 4 3 2 tonnes 1 0 5.66 5.41 4.30
Page 83 and 84: Compared to years past, the number
Page 85 and 86: Hiiumaa 100 89 Saaremaa Läänemaa
Page 88 and 89: 6. Water The existence of clean fre
Page 90 and 91: 300 250 30 agriculture 200 13 manuf
Page 92 and 93: 6.2.2. Mining and cooling water In
Page 94 and 95: 250 wastewater volume total phospho
Page 96 and 97: Tallinn Kohtla-Järve Rakvere Tartu
Page 98 and 99: 6.4. Status of water 6.4.1. Groundw
Page 100 and 101: 6.4.2. Evaluating the status of sur
Page 102 and 103: 6.4.4. Status of rivers Proceeding
Page 104 and 105: Hirve Imsi Pale Uia Keila_1 Neeva S
Page 106 and 107: 6.4.5. Status of lakes The ecologic
Page 108: 7. Soil and land use
Page 111 and 112: 7.1.2. Soil formation Soil is creat
Page 113 and 114: 7.1.4. Soil status The status of so
Page 115 and 116: 7.2. Changes in land use 7.2.1. Cha
Page 117 and 118: 7.2.2. Changes in land use as refle
Page 119 and 120: partly attributable to unrealized p
Page 121 and 122: 7.3. Urban sprawl Suburban sprawl i
Page 123 and 124: green network core areas and corrid
Page 128 and 129: Table 8.2 Abundance and trends for
Page 130 and 131: Species habitats The status of habi
Page 132 and 133: non-initiation of Natura environmen
Page 134 and 135: 8.2.3. Achieving protection of biol
Page 136 and 137: Management plans Currently there ar
Page 138 and 139: 8.3. Inland water bodies The divers
Page 140 and 141: Small lakes The equilibrium of smal
Page 142 and 143: 8.4.2. Species: seals With the mild
Page 144 and 145: Proliferation of macroalgae Costal
Page 146: 9. Waste
Page 149 and 150: 20 total waste generated hazardous
Page 151 and 152: 9.4. Municipal waste generation and
Page 153 and 154: The primary reasons for the delay a
Page 155 and 156: 2004 2006 80 2005 2007 target of 15
Page 157 and 158: 9.8. Recovery of waste Recovery of
Page 159 and 160: deposition in landfills other dispo
Page 161 and 162: Table 9.2. Number of landfills in 2
Page 164 and 165: 10. The environment and health The
Page 166 and 167: a deficiency in the technical condi
Page 168: 11. Economic instruments for enviro
Page 171 and 172: and payment, rates and use of the s
Page 173 and 174: tion, environmental educational ini
Page 176 and 177:
12. Environmental management tools
Page 178 and 179:
12.3. Environmental labels Consumer
Page 180:
Appendix
Page 183 and 184:
year month, day place event indicat
Page 185 and 186:
Abbreviations used ARC - Agricultur
show all

ESTONIAN ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW 2009

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?