Project ENABLElocal investigates the use of biodiversity data in local land-use and conservation management decisions. By implementing case studies in each of the partner countries Germany, Czechia and Sweden, we aim to cover a range of terrestrial habitat types and management practices.
What the case study regions have in common is their high value for biodiversity. The selected habitat types are home to many species, including species endemic to the region or endangered, while being extensively or even intensively used for production. The case study regions also harbour local socio-cultural practices that support the maintenance of a natural state of the specific habitat types. All case studies provide a network of stakeholders involved in nature conservation and land-use, that is already established to some degree.
However, the degree to which biodiversity monitoring data are assessed and employed in decisions differs across the case study sites. The local and state-level conservation authorities differ in their scope and responsibilities, and national institutions for biodiversity monitoring are at different stages of development. Similarly, decision-making processes in the scope of the project range from implementations on-the-ground management measures to large scale landscape planning. The project aims to explore the reasons of using or not using biodiversity monitoring data for decision-making in these different settings.
Also, the case studies differ in terms of their effective conservation status: The habitats in question cover protected areas by national law or under EU Natura 2000, as well as private land with no formal conservation status. For example, the Czech case study is an UNESCO biosphere reserve, debated for conversion into a national park, whereas in the German case study, the habitat type itself receives protection by state level and national level law. In Sweden, the degree of protection varies; it includes EU Natura 2000 protection as well as unprotected land, where parts of the study site are being considered for a new UNESCO biosphere reserve. Accordingly, the intensity of land-use and the objectives of the practitioners differ widely across the individual case studies. These different practitioner scopes and governance frameworks offer an opportunity to draw general conclusions on decision-making based on biodiversity monitoring data across the EU – and to develop recommendations for transnational monitoring infrastructures.
In each of the case study regions, we engage with stakeholders involved in decision-making for local land-use and conservation management. The participants have been invited via established networks to participate in a series of workshops and interviews (so called ‘living labs’). This participatory research aims at immediate transformative effects in the local case study settings by developing shared visions and strategies for better informed decision-making based on biodiversity data. The living labs will help to identify and mobilise relevant data for the local questions and objectives in a co-productive process.
Towards the end of the project, lessons learned in the case study settings will be disseminated to the national level and beyond. By comparing the three case studies, we aim to develop recommendations for policy and research at national and transnational level, to increase the local relevance of biodiversity monitoring data.
This case study has its focus on the landscape type of “Streuobstwiesen”, an extensive orchard meadow practice typical in the Rhine-Main area. Streuobstwiesen are listed as UNESCO immaterial cultural heritage and support high levels of biodiversity and multiple types of land use. Data collection of authorities so far is rarely focused on this landscape type. The case study may include sites from cities (Frankfurt am Main, Darmstadt) and districts (Darmstadt-Dieburg, Offenbach, Main-Kinzig Kreis) in the federal state of Hesse. The integration with regional, state level and national biodiversity monitoring infrastructures, which are currently under development, is warranted by involving relevant national and state authorities and institutions as stakeholders into the local dialogues.
ISOE – Institute for Social-Ecological Research
Florian D. Schneider
+49 69 707 6 919 71
florian.schneider@isoe.de
www.isoe.de
The case study focuses on the Křivoklátsko protected landscape area (PLA), most of which lies in Central Bohemian Region. This is a landscape largely covered by forest and steppe ecosystems, and it has been a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1977. For 10+ years, there have been controversial discussions about converting the area to a national park. The area includes habitats of a great many diverse species of plants and animals – there are 610 protected trees and more than 150 bird species. The predominant land-use types in the Křivoklátsko PLA are forestry and agriculture (both small-scale and intensive) and a small amount of industry (historic glass works). The PLA is close to Prague, which makes it an important area for recreation, and this can sometimes be in conflict with local conservation efforts. There is also impact to land use from inmigration from the city and second-home owners; land abandonment, as local people leave for work or affordable land, also plays a role. The case works with practice partners who must incorporate such social and cultural challenges in ecological decision-making.
CzechGlobe – Global Change Research Institute
of the Czech Academy of Sciences
David Stella
+420 704 672 946
Stella.d@czechglobe.cz
The case study focuses on a network of southern Swedish grasslands on sandy soils with a high diversity of plants and insects. These areas have diverse uses and cultural values such as extensive meadow and grazing practices, sand extraction, military training grounds and outdoor recreation, with variation in formal protection including nature reserves, Natura 2000 and no protection. Restoration actions have been done in these areas in several forms, for example through the Life project SandLife, and the Swedish EPA’s species action programs targeting threatened species and their environments. The habitat network has also been targeted by the Swedish Government during 2020-2022 to improve habitat quality for the most threatened wild bee species nationally. This work involves the Swedish EPA, the eight county boards that harbour the areas as well as other partners relevant for the case.
ULUND – Lund University, Biological Institution,
Division of Biodiversity & Evolution
Maria von Post
+46708 419 517
maria.von_post@biol.lu.se