Restoring forest habitats Forest Habitat Restoration within Gauja National Park (Acronym – FOR-REST) LIFE10 NAT/LV/000159
Habitats suited to the particular needs of the different species living there. The changing human agricultural activities could result in loss of suitable habitats for many forest species. The project covers a wide range of forest habitats – bog woodlands, western taiga and mixed broad-leaved forests, thereby insuring and effective protection of the endangered species. Remote sensing capabilities allowed us to use innovative habitat inventory methods to acquire and analyse the necessary data. The method allows to acquire more comprehensive and detailed data on a larger scale at a faster rate.
1.image. Hydrology restoration for swamp forests. Digital Terrain Model of the Gulbjusala Bog within the Gauja National Park.
The Aims
- To elaborate a long-term forest habitat restoration and management programme for selected priority species and habitat types.
- To adapt airborne remote sensing technologies for forest habitat management, restoration planning, distribution evaluation and conservation status assessment
- To improve knowledge and awareness of restoration and management measures of forest habitats of EU importance.
Our role
We combined airborne remote sensing data and forest inventories to fully map and assess protected forest habitats of EU importance. The latest remote sensing technologies were used to gather and analyse the most detailed data possible. Ground-truthing verified LiDAR laser scanner and hyperspectral sensors’ data which allowed to develop high quality maps and models. Evaluation of complex forest habitat distribution enabled us to develop recommendations for sustainable forest habitat management.
3D digital terain model of the Gulbjusala bog
Results
The presence of data that were acquired by a state-of-the-art remote sensing technologies, resulted in the creation a digital terrain model (DTM) and a digital surface model (DSM). By obtaining objective information, the project team was able to develop a long-term restoration and management strategy, which could help to prevent unorganized forest habitat management in the future.
3.image. A part of the Gauja River ancient valley. Digital Terrain Model of the valley, aside ditches and EU protected forests of slopes, screes and ravines (9180*) in the Gauja National Park.
Project brochure
Co-funding: Latvian Environment Protection Fund Administration
Project duration: 01.09.2011 – 31.08.2015
Project Leader: Mārtiņš Zīverts, Nature Conservation Agency
IES project coordinator: Rūta Abaja, ruta.abaja@videsinstituts.lv, Mob.tel. +371 27818676
Project financed by: European Union LIFE+ Nature and Biodiversity Programme
Co-funding: Latvian Environment Protection Fund Administration
Beneficiaries:
Coordinating Beneficiary: Nature Conservation Agency
Associated Beneficiary: Latvian Fund of Nature, ELM MEDIA
More about the project
