Alexandr Kozulin

Dmitry Grumo

Natallia Zeliankevich

V.F. Kuprevich Institute of Experimental Botany of National Academy of Science of Belarus

The International Workshop

“HARVESTED AND DAMAGED PEATLANDS:

PROSPECTS OF RESTORATION AND CONSERVATION”

20-22 September, 2016, Ventė, Šilutė region, Lithuania

The Republic of Belarus is situated in the geographical centre of Europe covering the area of about 207600 km2.

It extends 560 km from north to south and 650 km from west to east.

In general the relief is low here with a highest place of 346 meters above the sea level.

General Information

Belarus is one of the most important countries of the world peat (Joosten, 2011):

15 place in the world – on the total area of peatlands

20 place in the world – by the percentage of area of peatlands to the rest of the country

21 place in the world – on the actual carbon stock

General Peatlands Information

Peatland zones in Belarus and distribution of large peatlands before 1950

- raised bogs - transitional peatlands - fens

- borders of peatland regions-geomoprhological zones

MIRE TYPES • The central part is largely represented by the intensively cultivated open landscapes.

• In the southern part

(Polesye) fens and transitional bogs and broad-leaved forests being crossed by rivers with large highly water-logged floodplaines are widely distributed.

• The northern part of Belarus (Poozerye) is characterised by presence of large coniferous forests and numerous lakes, bogs and rivers.

Change of natural peatlands area due to melioration and peat extraction in Belarus

Former extent of peatlands:

2 560 500 ha

(or 12,3% of the country)

Present area of natural peatlands:

863 000 ha (4,2%)

Area of drained peatlands:

1 697 500 ha

(66,3% of peatlands area)

Total amount of peatlands –

9192 depleted peatlands

partially drained peatlands

natural peatlands

Total area – 530,100 ha

255,600 ha (48.2%) – peatlands after peat extraction

250 500 ha (47.3%) – degradated peat soils ineffectively used for agriculture with organic matter less than 50 %, including deeply disturbed soils – 27,3 ha with organic matter less than 5 %

24,000 га (4.5%) – degraded peatlands ineffectively used for forestry

Capacity for renaturalization of mires

++++

Near 300,000 ha – natural mire with disruption of hydrological regime

530

000

ha

255, 600 ha – peatlands after peat extraction

Capacity for renaturalization of degraded peatlands

24, 000 ha – degraded peatlands ineffectively used for forestry

Capacity for renaturalization of degraded peatlands

250 500 ha – degradated peat soils ineffectively used for agriculture with organic matter less than 50 %, including deeply disturbed soils – 27,3 ha with organic matter less than 5 %

Capacity for renaturalization of degraded peatlands

Capacity for renaturalization of degraded peatlands

Near 300,000 ha – natural mire with disruption of hydrological regime

Emissions of carbon dioxide as a result of peat mineralization

Peat fires

Reduction of biological diversity

Regional violation of the hydrological situation

Problems associated with degraded wetlands

Emissions of carbon dioxide

By the volume of emissions from peatlands (Joosten, 2011): 8 place in the world – on the total CO2 emissions from degraded peatlands 3 place in the world – for CO2 emissions volume per unit area

500

139

77

67

50

48

45

41

32

24

22

20

20

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Индонезия

Россия (европейская часть)

Китая

США (менее 48)

Финляндия

Малайзия

Монголия

Беларусь

Германия

Польша

Россия (азиатская часть)

Уганда

Папуя Новая Гвинея

Эмиссии с деградированных торфяников в 2008 г.

(Мт СО2 в год)

Indonesia

Russia (European part)

China

United States (<48)

Finland

Malaysia

Mongolia

Belarus

Germany

Poland

Russia (Asian part)

Uganda

Papua New Guinea

Emissions from degraded peatlands

in 2008 (Mt CO2 her year)

2,63

2,11

1,99

1,7

1,48

1,46

1,39

1,17

1,09

0,93

0,9

0,4

0 1 2 3

Индонезия

Эстония

Беларусь

Исландия

Финляндия

Малайзия

Нидерланды

Ирландия

Бруней

Литва

Германия

Россия …

CO2 emissions from peatlands in 2008 (t/ha)

Indonesia

Estonia

Belarus

Iceland

Finland

Malaysia

Netherlands

Ireland

Brunei

Lithuania

Germany

Russia

3890

5782

2951

8088

1908

45054045

25392991

5512

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Количество пожаров на торфяниках в 1993-2002 гг.

6210

8120

4562

12181

2587

67556005

3276 3643

7119

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Площадь торфяников пострадавших от пожаров в 1993-2002 гг.

1.3

1.7

1.0

2.6

0.5

1.4

1.3

0.7

0.8

1.5

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

млн $

Экономические масштабы ущерба от пожаров на

торфяниках в 1993-2002 г.

Peat fire

The number of fires in peatlands in 1993-2002

The area of peatland affected by fire

The economic scale of the damage

caused by the fires in peatlands

Peat fire

Reconstruction of peat fire 1975-2015 (north-west of Belarus)

Square of peat fire 1975-2015 (north-west of Belarus)

Conservation of globally significant biodiversity (the third part of the species from the Red Book inhabit the wetlands)

Number of species On the wetlands %

Birds 72 23 32

Insects 70 21 30

Plants 173 47 27

Mosses 27 9 33

Biological diversity

Distribution of nesting sites occupied by the Aquatic Warbler in Europe (Malashevich 2011)

Almost 40% of the global population of Aquatic Warbler inhabits two large swamps of Belarus: Sporovskoe and Zvanets

Reduction of biological diversity

Guessing of changes in the wetland areas occupied by the Aquatic Warbler (2009 - 2020)

in the case of non-acceptance of administrative decisions on the maintenance of the wetland in the state of not overgrown with

bushes

Reduction of biological diversity

Since 2006, 24 project areas is restored, the total area of 51 486 ha (10% of the area of degraded peatlands)

Areas for rewetting are distributed throughout the territory of Belarus equally with low concentrations in the northern part

Square project sites - are from 200 to 7,200 hectares

Peatland restoration

New normative documents

ТКП 17.12-01-2008 (02120) «Protection of the environment and natural resources. Territory. The rules and procedure for determining and changing uses of worked out peat deposits and other degraded peatlands»;

ТКП 17.12-02-2008 (02120) «Protection of the environment and natural resources. Territory. The procedure and rules for work on environmental rehabilitation of worked out peat deposits and other disturbed wetlands and prevent violations of the hydrological regime of the natural ecological systems during the land reclamation works»;

Guidelines for the prevention of violations of the hydrological regime of adjacent wetlands in the extraction of peat and environmental rehabilitation of worked out peat deposits.

Basic principles and methods of restoration of hydrological regime

Water levels should be near soil surface

Antifiltration dam

Morochno

Dokudovskoye

Sealed dam

Sealed dam

Overflow dam

Other types of constructions on the big canals

Dams in the bog Elnya 2015 (UNDP-GEF project)

Restoration of raised bogs, drained forest reclamation - by overlapping cascade drainage channels

Galoe, Cherven district

Recovery phase

5 years

>10 years, Bartenikha

Fens GWL – 0 ± 10 cm

>10 years, Miranka

1-5 years

0-5 years

3-10 years

>40 years

>20 years GWL >50 sm

Fens

Recovery phase

1. Object selection

1. A layer of peat at least 30 cm 2. Sufficiently dry peat (average water level should be at least 20

cm, preferably more than 40 cm below the surface) 3. The peat bog can be swamped to the level of the soil surface 4. The area should be withdrawn from economic circulation 5. The area is preferred without shrubs and forest plantations

Selecting an object, the system of pre-screening of the problem areas of peat bogs develop with the use of remote sensing data

1. Object selection

Map ecosystems moisture conditions

changes of wetland “Dikoe" induced by

vegetation succession

The justification should answer the questions : What is type of wetland can be restored? What should be the level of standing water? Is it enough water to achieve the objectives? What are the general requirements for fire

prevention? What is recovery strategy of hydroregime? What are the positive and negative effects of

the hydrological regime change? What are the expected benefits for

biodiversity?

2. Development of scientific justification (2-4 months)

3. Coordination with local authorities, the execution of an act of site selection (1-2 months)

4. The development of environmental impact assessment (for protected areas)

Development of the environmental impact assessment report includes the following issues

Assessment of the current state of the environment (climate, air, surface water, geological environment, relief, land resources, soil cover, flora and fauna, the most valuable objects, natural-resource potential, conservation and other restrictions)

The impact of a proposed activity on the environment

Guessing and assessment of possible changes in the environment

Measures to prevent, minimize, and (or) compensation of exposure

Alternative technology and occupancy of the proposed activity

Local monitoring program

5. Public hearings on the environmental impact assessment report (2 months)

6. Development of construction projects (4-6 months)

7. Environmental impact assessment of the construction project (2-4 months)

8. State expertise of the construction project (2-4 months)

9. Construction work on the basis of the developed construction project (4-6 months)

Post-project activities

1. Assessment of biodiversity (flora and fauna) before and after rewetting

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

10 72 225 512 1050

м

г/м

2 В

СВ

Andromeda polifolia Calluna vulgaris

Empetrum nigrum Eriophorum vaginatum

Ledum palustre Oxycoccus palustris

Vaccinium myrtillus Vaccinium uliginosum

Vaccinium vitis-idaea Зеленые мхи

Сфагновые мхи

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

10 72 225 512 1050

м

г/м

2 В

СВ

Andromeda polifolia Calluna vulgaris

Empetrum nigrum Eriophorum vaginatum

Ledum palustre Oxycoccus palustris

Vaccinium myrtillus Vaccinium uliginosum

Vaccinium vitis-idaea Зеленые мхи

Сфагновые мхи

до восстановления 1-й год после восстановлеия

Phyto-indicative estimate moisture habitat of project area "Zhada"

Examples of thematic maps for ecosystem status assessment of project area "Horevskoe" (2013)

Direction successional processes map in the

ecosystems of project area "Horevskoe"

Changes in moisture conditions in natural

ecosystems of project area "Horevskoe" by indicated on

vegetation succession

The level of bog water standing, calculated on the

phytoindicator data

Assessment of the environmental effects for the project area Yelnya as a result of the restore the hydrological regime

Effect The estimated rate with

respect to 2015

With

rehabilitation

Increased fire stability Class of fire stability +0,8

Improving the condition of the vegetation cover The index of disturbance -0,9

Reducing the space occupied by heavily disturbed

and completely destroyed vegetation

The proportion of secondary

vegetation,%

-46,0

Reduction of areas with very low species richness The proportion of the area, % -9,7

Slowing down the degradation of habitats important

for biodiversity

The proportion of degraded

habitats NATURA 2000, %

-30,4

Saving water in the raised bog (excluding the reserves

of water in the lakes)

The volume of water

accumulated in the wetland,

thousand m3

458 352

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions The volume of greenhouse gas

emissions, tCO2-eq. per year

-9266

Note: – positive effect

2. Vegetation dynamics guessing after waterlogging

А. до реабилитации (2010 г.) Б. с реабилитацией (2031)

В. без реабилитации 2031 г. (вариант А) Г. без реабилитации 2031 г. (вариант Б)

Current and forecasted vegetation map with

various embodiments of the situation

3. Estimation of greenhouse gas emissions before and after rewetting with vegetation indicators (GEST-analysis)

The volume of emissions and sinks of greenhouse gases within the project area and the forecast of their dynamics after the implementation of measures to restore the hydrological regime of the project area

2,6

6,5

9,1

4,2

3,6

7,8

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

CH4 CO2 ПГП

Чи

сты

й п

ото

к п

ар

ни

ко

вы

х г

азо

в,

т C

O2-э

кв

в

го

д / г

а

2015 2035

19,44

49,541

68,982

32,26

27,456

59,716

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

CH4 CO2 ПГП

Об

ъе

мы

вы

бр

ос

ов

и с

то

ко

в п

ар

ни

ко

вы

х

га

зо

в, т

ыс

.т C

O2-э

кв

. в

го

д

2015 2035

The average biological reserves, and the yield of

wild berries in the territory of bog Yelnya

Generalized information about the berries of cranberry reserves and forecast the dynamics (in the territory of Yelnya bog)

Year

The average

biological

stock, t

Productivity, t

The average

annual value of

the crop,

th. USD/year

+ in relation

to 2006

2006 95,1 78,9 217,8

2015

(evaluation) 107,5 86,2 246,2 +28,4

2035

(guessing) 134,3 104,1 307,5 +89,7

Cranberry yield maps

Gathering cranberries in the wetland Morochno

Summary of the monetization of environmental services and the effects obtained with the implementation of the project to restore the

hydrological regime of bogs Yelnya

Index Unit of

measurement

Value

Score of ecosystem services of the territory USD/year 34 975 985

including

integrated assessment of wetland ecosystems services –«– 20 440 985

integrated assessment of ecological services of aquatic systems –«– 14 535 000

Valuation of sorption (water treatment) wetlands function USD/year

9 126 027

The cost of fresh water accumulated in the bog (excluding reserves

in lakes)

USD 247 510 080

Cost of cranberries harvest (2015) USD/year 246 200

The forecast cost of the cranberry harvest in 2035 –«– 307 500

± the cost of the cranberry harvest for the period 2015-2035 –«– +89 700

The cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (2035) USD/year 85155 USD/год

1. Creation of protected areas

In 2013-2015 at the restored wetlands created 3 specially protected natural territories of republican importance: reserves "Janka", "Zhada", "Morochno" a total area of 20 thousand hectares.

2. Use as a training and educational and scientific facilities as well as for tourism and recreation

3. Annual reproduction of energy and organic material in the form of biomass of marsh plants, which can be processed into solid, liquid or gaseous fuel, compost, cardboard, paper, packaging materials

4. Production yields of wild and cultivated varieties of bog berries, medicinal and nectariferous plants

Didelis ačiū