AS “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM) has signed a contract with the University of Latvia (LU) on carrying out monitoring in five peatland areas where LVM will undertake management measures for protected habitats during the company's project “Restoration of peatland ecosystems in specially protected nature territories”. The data obtained through the monitoring will make it possible to assess the effectiveness of the work carried out and to develop the most suitable methodology for similar nature conservation work in the future.
Under the contract, LU researchers will carry out continuous monitoring of water level changes and of peatland habitat vegetation in the five areas throughout the project's implementation period, until the autumn of 2029. Monitoring sample plots will be established in each of the specially protected nature territories where LVM will restore peatland habitats in the course of the project. The data obtained will make it possible to keep track of and measure the impact of the work carried out on an ongoing basis — for example, the extent to which it has contributed to a rise in the water level in the areas concerned. The researchers plan to begin monitoring as early as this spring.
Helmuts Hofmanis, environmental project manager at LVM, explains:
“Monitoring is an integral part of the project, because it will provide science-based data on the impact of the work we do. The monitoring will be carried out using a single methodological approach that has already been tested in other similar ecosystem restoration projects in Latvia. What is more, the project stipulates that we will have to maintain the restored areas over the long term, so the monitoring results will allow us to choose the most effective working methods.”
Vegetation monitoring is based on recording the number of species and the projective cover of plants in permanent sample plots of equal size. All species found in a plot are recorded, and the projective cover of each species — made up of living plant parts — is assessed as a percentage. Hydrological monitoring, in turn, involves observations of the water regime using a defined programme and an established network of observation plots.
Andis Kalvāns, Dr. geol., leading researcher at LU, points out:
"Working at a research university, this is a good opportunity for us to obtain and analyse data on the water regime in peatlands from every region of Latvia. Through this monitoring we hope to deepen our understanding of climate change, in particular how it affects the hydrological regime and the development of a dynamic balance between forest and peatland ecosystems, as well as how quickly an ecosystem adapts once the natural hydrological regime has been restored."
In order to assess fully how successful the peatland ecosystem restoration activities have been, the monitoring will cover the entire cycle of the work: determining the vegetation and hydrological condition of the areas before the practical activities are carried out, during their implementation and after they have been completed.
During the project, protected peatland habitats will be improved using forestry methods in a total of seven specially protected nature territories. The project's lead partner, LVM, will carry out the work in the “Raķupes ieleja”, “Kārķu purvs”, “Paņemūnes meži”, “Palšu purvs” and “Supes purvs” nature reserves, covering a total area of at least 1,125 ha, while the project partner, the Nature Conservation Agency, will work in Ķemeri National Park and Gauja National Park, covering a total area of at least 375 hectares.
Project No. 6.1.1.7/1/24/I/001 "Restoration of peatland ecosystems in specially protected nature territories" is being implemented under specific support objective 6.1.1. "Mitigating the economic, social and environmental consequences of the transition to climate neutrality in the most affected regions" of the EU cohesion policy programme for 2021–2027. The total funding for the project is 7,058,824 euro, including 6,000,000 euro from the Just Transition Fund and 1,058,824 euro in co-financing from the state budget.