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The International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) is an international network of specialists concerned particularly with the conservation of mire systems around the world. For its 8th International Field Symposium, held during early July of this year, the IMCG visited Latvia at the invitation of the University of Riga and the Latvian Fund for Nature to see for itself the range of mire ecosystems found in Latvia, and the variety of issues concerned with their conservation.
The IMCG was extremely impressed with what it saw in a number of ways.
FIRSTLY, it is clear that Latvia plays a significant part in displaying a key component of regional variation found in mire ecosystems, both within the Baltic States, and indeed across Europe as a whole.
SECONDLY, it is particularly striking that, whereas the majority of countries in western Europe lying within the same biogeographic region as Latvia have lost most or all of their mires, Latvia still possesses near-natural sites of very considerable size. This is rare and extremely valuable within the European context.
THIRDLY, the IMCG was impressed with the extent of mire inventory and evaluation in Latvia, particularly given the limited funding provided for these programmes. It is clear that those involved have devoted considerable time and professional expertise to ensure that the greatest amount of high-quality information would be obtained from the funds available.
FINALLY, the IMCG was very pleased to see that the Latvian Government has established some extremely impressive mire nature reserves. Indeed the Group was delighted to find that Teici Nature Reserve has recently been celebrated by an issue of a postage stamp which captures the special character of the mire - a character which will be long remembered by the Group members, who were fortunate to visit the site.
However, having met with a range of people involved in the implementation of mire conservation in Latvia, and having seen what is happening on the ground at a number of sites, the IMCG is acutely conscious of several issues which would seem appropriate to bring to the attention of the Latvian Government. This is particularly so in the light of various commitments made by the Latvian Government, namely:
1. Survey
The present surveys of Latvian mires consist of a map of geological deposits, made in the 1970s, and a recently-completed survey of living mires. The geological survey indicates that a large number of mires occur throughout Latvia, but this survey only looked at sites larger than 5 hectares. Many fen mires are smaller than this threshold and thus went unrecorded. The information nevertheless represents a useful baseline dataset. The more recent survey, however, because of its limited funding, was only able to look at 160 sites from the 1,000 or so recognised by the geological survey.
Large areas of eastern Latvia have thus yet to be surveyed, and the smaller fens sites (which may be extremely rich and important for local groundwater quality), have been completely overlooked. The completed survey is an impressive piece of work, especially when one considers the resources available to it, and forms the basis of a first phase of conservation action, but it should only be seen as the first phase, not a completed programme. The current level of survey information would appear to be unable to deliver the necessary range of information which Latvia will need if it is to meet the requirements of its various international commitments.
2. Protected sites
The mires sites which are protected under various mechanisms represent a considerable achievement and an important contribution to Latvia's - and Europe's - protected area network. However, protection in name should not be confused with protection on the ground, and the IMCG members were disturbed to discover the limited extent of actual (and proposed) staff and support resourcing for these various protected areas.
Some sites have a considerable archive of data but no means of collating and analysing either these data or indeed new data. Other sites have relatively little background data, but no staff resources to complete further on-site survey. On other occasions, it was clear that no managment plan exists, and thus the objectives of protection could not, almost by definition, be achieved. Few, if any, sites had sufficient staff and support resources to establish or maintain monitoring programmes - yet such monitoring programmes are a fundamental requirement in judging whether the sites are being conserved successfully. There would also seem to be particular opportunities for developing management plans for cross-border wetland complexes with the aim of promoting sustanable regional development.
Furthermore, given the range of types which IMCG members saw during the symposium, it would seem that there is a strong argument for the designation of further mire systems as protected areas. All three international treaties - Ramsar, the Biodiversity Convention and Natura 2000 - recognise the importance of incorporating both the natural range of ecological variation and the regional pattern of distribution within the site-protection process. Given that parts of Latvia still await survey, and given the very high quality of the mires seen, there would appear to be a strong argument in favour of developing an on-going programme of site designation and protection.
3. Wider international issues
Despite the concerns expressed above, the IMCG is keen to emphasise that there is much in the way of mire conservation in Latvia which is good, and of major significance for the rest of Europe. Most particularly, it is evident that Latvia is one of the few nations outside the Boreal Zone (i.e. Fennoscandia and northern Russia) which has retained many of its mires in a near-natural state. This is an important issue for the whole of Europe, not just Latvia.
The extent to which Latvia itself should be expected to bear the burden of continuing to protect such important ecosystems on behalf of the rest of Europe is open to discussion. However, there is no denying that if only a relatively small proportion of the money currently spent on rehabilitating severely damaged mires in western Europe was instead diverted to Latvia and her Baltic neighbours, a great deal more would be achieved in terms of protecting Europe's mire ecosystems in a natural state.
IMCG Recommendations for Latvia and her European partners
Having regard to the issues raised above, the IMCG recommends the following to the Latvian Government:
1. A Mire Conservation Resource Inventory be established, adequately resourced and responsible for completion of the Latvian Mire Inventory programme, but also then of co-ordinating and managing a rolling programme of survey, site-evaluation and monitoring which is capable of reporting the state of mire conservation in Latvia on a regular basis for the purposes of Ramsar, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and Natura 2000.
2. The current level of resourcing provided to existing protected sites be reviewed, and consideration be given to increased funding in order to improve delivery of conservation within and around these sites.
3. The network of protected mire sites in Latvia be subject to a rolling programme of review, assisted where appropriate by international input, with a view to establishing the optimal pattern of regional and ecological variation within a protected areas network.
The IMCG also recommends to Latvia's international partners that consideration be given to ways in which Latvia (and the other Baltic states) can be assisted in protecting mire sites which are of major significance on a European scale - perhaps by establishment of a «Baltic dividend» within rehabilitation programme budgets for damaged mires in western Europe.
The IMCG also undertakes to:
1. Provide Latvia with all assistance possible in the provision of specialist advice and international support for mire conservation programmes;
2. Seek to work with IMCG's international partners in establishing support-mechanisms in aid of Latvian mire conservation actions and programmes.
Riga
July 1998