Nicola Arndt und Matthias Pohl - Neobiota

Foreword
An International Workshop entitled “Application and Analysis of the Map of the Natural Vegetation
of Europe” was organised by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and was held at the
International Academy for Nature Conservation on the Island of Vilm from 7 -10 May 2001.
The aim of this workshop was to present the digitised and printed pan-European vegetation map and to
examine its possible application and use for vegetation science, nature conservation, landscape
ecology and sustainable use on a European, national and regional scale.
Forty-four invited experts from 18 European countries took part. The participants had either co-
operated in the mapping project or had already used the results. In total, 34 examples of its application
and analysis were presented and discussed.
There is a large variety of possibilities how to use the printed and digital data (now also available on
an interactive CD-ROM) of the 1:2.5 million scale Map of the Natural Vegetation of Europe.
Examples include linking and overlaying the vegetation data with other spatial data on landscape and
ecosystem functions, such as land use, forest cover, stands of near-natural vegetation, protected areas,
species distribution, bioproductivity, and climatic data.
At the international workshop itself, mainly the following topics were treated: Ecological
classification, natural biodiversity and its anthropogenic modification/change, conservation status and
restoration of natural vegetation, establishment of a representative network of protected areas (e.g., in
the framework of NATURA 2000), comparison of current and potential bioproductivity, applications
for landscape planning, for silviculture and ecosystem-based forest management, as well as effects of
climate change.
After publishing the three-part printed work “Map of the Natural Vegetation of Europe” with a
comprehensive explanatory text, legend and maps (in 2003), and the Interactive CD-ROM (in 2004),
which contains all map and text information in digital format – in a German and English version – the
proceedings of this workshop complete the entire mapping project. The contributions contained
therein offer important suggestions and practical advice on how to use this comprehensive dataset,
which is unique at the European level, for the benefit of nature and landscape, and for an ecologically
safe and sustainable use of natural resources.
Prof. Dr. Hartmut Vogtmann
President of the German Federal Agency
for Nature Conservation
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