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40 new permanent habitats of orchids to be placed under protection

On Saturday, 12 February, a regulation of the Minister of the Environment will enter into force, placing under protection four permanent habitats of orchids of protected category I and 36 protected category II habitats of orchids that are located outside protected areas. In total, 40 permanent habitats on 850.74 hectares will be placed under protection.


“According to the Nature Protection Act, the protection of all known habitats of species in the protected category I shall be ensured by formation of protected areas and special conservation areas or determination of species protection sites,” Kadri Alasi, specialist at the Nature Conservation Department of the Ministry of the Environment, said. ”So far, four sites of protected category I orchids remained outside the borders of a protected area and permanent habitats were formed to protect them,” she specified.


The protection of at least 50 per cent of known habitats of the protected category II entered in the environmental register shall be ensured by formation of protected areas and special conservation areas or determination of species protection sites based on the representativity of the areas and sites, taking into consideration the geographical distribution of the sites, number of protected species in the site, vitality of the population, etc. In addition to protection of protected category I and II orchids, protection of other species under protection will be ensured by establishing permanent habitats, including protection of several protected category III orchids.
 

“It is very important that in addition to the species, permanent habitats would also protect sites,” Alasi noted. For example, from the habitat types of Annex I of the Habitats Directive, the new permanent habitats will involve alvars, juniper thickets, transition mire and bog forests, spring marshes, old nature forests and broad-leaved forests, also coastal meadows, wooded meadows, wooded pastures, etc.


Four permanent habitats (3 in Saaremaa and 1 in Valga County) have been added to the Natura 2000 network.
 

Orchids are one of the largest families of flowering plants in the world. According to different estimations, it includes 20,000–35,000 species, most of which grow in tropical areas. There are more than 100 species of orchids in Europe and 36 of them grow in Estonia, all of them placed under protection (4 under protected category I and 18 under the protected category II).