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LIFE-Nature project "Protection of Triturus Cristatus in the Eastern Baltic Region"

Great crested newt (Triturus cristatus)

Project background

As the great crested newt has become rare in several Baltic Sea countries, Estonian, Finnish and Danish herpetologists decided in 2002 to initiate cooperation in investigating this species and in its protection management. To this end and also to determine common problems and possible solutions, a project proposal was submitted to the EU LIFE-Nature Fund, requesting financing for a starter project. The starter project was approved and thereafter implemented in 2003 by the Estonian Ministry of Environment. The project resulted in a LIFE-Nature project proposal for a five-year transnational cooperation in great crested newt protection management in Estonia, Finland and Denmark. The project proposal was approved by the European Commission and the project was launched on 1 June 2004.

 

Project objective

The objective of the project is to guarantee favourable conditions for the great crested newt, in other words to create an environment necessary for the great crested newt´s survival in the form of viable populations both in the shorter and longer term in the Eastern Baltic region and in Danish localities selected specifically for this project. This can be achieved by preserving and protecting existing great crested newt living and breeding sites and by restoring the network of breeding ponds and terrestrial habitats in view of a wider distribution of the species. As great crested newt breeding ponds are often situated in close proximity to farmhouses and as the main threats to the species include the destruction of breeding ponds or populating them with fish, it is of utmost importance to incorporate local people into protection management activities. Only in cooperation with landowners can the preservation of restored water bodies be secured in a way that prevents them from being populated with fish or growing over. The future of the great crested newt and the results of this project thus largely depend on local people.

 

Project participants

Countries involved in the project

The project is implemented by the Estonian Ministry of Environment. Project partners are the State Nature Conservation Centre and Haanja and Rõuge rural municipalities in Estonia, the North Karelia Regional Environment Centre in Finland and Environmental Centre of Århus in Denmark. Other participants include the environmental authorities of Võru and Põlva counties in Estonia and the Danish private company Amphi Consult dealing with amphibian protection. The project also cooperates with Latvian and Lithuanian amphibian experts.
The project runs for four and a half years. Its budget is 11,5 million Estonian kroons, half of which is provided by the EU LIFE fund and another half is contributed by the participants. The project is also partially financed by the Estonian Environmental Investment Centre.

 

Project activities

The project includes numerous activities that cover all aspects concerning the great crested newt � these aspects are interconnected and intertwined into one whole. Thus the restoration of great crested newt breeding ponds and management plan compilation are largely based on the inventory of breeding ponds, elaboration of monitoring methods, selection of breeding pond locations and many other activities, which provide the necessary background information. Study tours and workshops discuss all project activities with the emphasis on finding the most appropriate solutions. Seminars include practical fieldwork along with amphibian monitoring. The majority of project activities take place in all three participant countries: in Estonia, Finland and Denmark; the activities are conducted in the form of cooperation among amphibian specialists from different countries.

Monitoring a small water body

 

Short overview of project activities

Inventory of small water bodies

The inventory determines which water bodies the great crested newt prefers for breeding and why.

Denmark, Estonia and Finland employ different monitoring methods none of which provides a complete overview of the population�s condition, and the results are difficult to compare. This project should result in the elaboration of a common monitoring methodology applicable in other countries as well.

The criteria must allow for the assessment of the population�s condition in terms of its viability.

Great crested newt – a protected species

Estonia and Finland will compile national management plans for the coming 5-10 years, discussing the species condition and providing the measures necessary for the origination and survival of viable populations. As Denmark lacks the tradition of preparing and implementing national plans of this type, an exemplary management plan will be drafted for Vejle County.

In order to secure the network of suitable water bodies for the great crested newt, 240 small water bodies will be restored in Estonia, 28 in Finland and 12 in Denmark. Restoration activities in Estonia and Finland will take place under the supervision of Danish experts who will share their extensive experiences and give practical advice (thousands of water bodies for various amphibians have been created and restored in Denmark over the past decade). Estonian and Finnish experts will also have the opportunity to participate in the restoration of great crested newt breeding ponds in Denmark. The restoration of breeding ponds is preceded by a thorough inventory of project areas in order to determine suitable pond locations; negotiations with local landowners also take place.

Extracting fish from a breeding pond

Cleaning a breeding pond

In order to secure habitats suitable for the great crested newt and to prevent breeding ponds and their surroundings from becoming covered with brushwood and growing over, a total of more than 600 ha of seminatural communities will be managed. To that end, purchasing a tractor and mowing equipment has been included in the project.

As many breeding ponds to be restored have grown over with brushwood, they must be cleaned before the bull-dozer takes over. This is usually done in the form of work camps with the participation of local people and anyone else who is interested.

Three international workshops will take place in order to introduce the great crested newt and other amphibians and to distribute knowledge and practical experiences to amphibian experts, nature conservation specialists, protected area employees, university students, local people and others interested. Two of the workshops will take place in Estonia and one in Finland. Project results will be summed up by the final seminar to take place in 2008, welcoming participants from the countries involved in the project as well as from other EU countries.

The general issues of water biota are discussed at seminars

The international nature of the project conveniently enables nature conservation specialists from different countries to share experiences. The project includes two study tours to Denmark and one to Finland, bringing together Estonian, Danish and Finnish amphibian experts and employees of local environmental authorities and nature reserves. Due to the fact that most of the international seminars take place in Estonia, no separate study tours have been scheduled here.

Each year local people, school children and others in Haanja, Otepää and Setumaa will be offered a couple of guided tours. During these tours the participants learn about amphibians and water biota in general, with emphasis on the protection of the biota of small water bodies and the role of local people in it. Guided tours are lead by experts from Tartu University, protected areas, environmental authorities and the Ministry of Environment. These events will be publicised in local newspapers, schools and on the project homepage.

Dissemination of information

Several meetings and discussions and various publications included in the project are designed to inform people of who the great crested newt is, why this animal is necessary, what the project activities are about and to generally answer a frequently asked question as to why money should be spent on such creatures. We have already mentioned seminars where local people are welcome to participate, also guided tours, which have local people as the main target. Several posters and folders (in Estonian, Russian, Finnish, Danish and English languages) will be published, discussing the great crested newt and other amphibians as well as the diverse and exciting biota of small water bodies in general, which often goes unnoticed. Haanja Nature Park will be provided with a hiking trail along with the necessary information boards with special references to small water bodies and their biota.

In addition to our homepage, we try to publicise our activities as much as possible in local and national newspapers and in the Estonian Nature magazine. Local environmental authorities and employees of nature parks gladly give out information; their websites can be consulted as well. Whenever something needs to be done on somebody´s land, be it restoring a breeding pond or conducting inventory, we always contact the landowner, explain what is done and why, and naturally ask for the landowner�s permission to do these things.

At the end of the project a publication on the great crested newt, the common spadefoot and the gained knowledge and experiences will be compiled.

In the course of annual great crested newt monitoring we gather information on the condition and population status of restored breeding ponds and on other amphibians. The results of project activities are also monitored and assessed.

Assessing the condition of a breeding pond