important plant areas in central and eastern europe - hirc.botanic.hr ...

MethodologyLichensThere were 34 lichen species included in the IPA species list for the seven partnercountries and they are qualifying features on 24 IPAs. The 1989 European Red List forMacro-lichens was used in this project, however this red list is now quite old and anupdated European red list would certainly help to identify priority lichen species andsites. Lichens were also included in this project in some countries under Criterion Band under certain habitats in Criterion C. The availability of data was often a problemfor this group.FungiThe list of 33 fungi species prepared by the European Committee for the Conservationof Fungi (ECCF) were included in the list for Criterion A. Fungi are recorded asqualifying features in 20 IPAs under Criterion A. There are significant differences in thespecialist disciplines and in the conservation needs of plants and fungi, so in eachcountry the mycologists made the decision on whether there was sufficient data and if itwas appropriate to identify priority plant and fungi sites together or separately. Again itwas also possible to identify sites for fungi conservation using Criterion B and CriterionC. In Estonia several sites were identified primarily for the importance of their fungi.Lack of data was a significant problem for fungi in this project.A European red list forfungi would help to identify priority species for conservation, and specific recognition forfungi in European legislation and policies would also help in their conservation.AlgaeAlgae are poorly represented in the project, primarily because of the lack of data andthe under-representation of algal species on national and regional conservation lists.TheBern Convention lists 12 algae species, although none of these occurred in the partnercountries, and none are recognised in the EU Habitats Directive. However in Estonia,three sites have been proposed as IPAs entirely for their marine algae species, underCriterion B.A European red list for algae would also help to prioritise conservationaction for this group.Methodology challenges:Putting theory into practice is always a challenging experience and much valuableinformation has been gained in the process of implementing the seven national projectsand in other pilot projects.These experiences will be used to refine the methodologyand prepare guidance information for new countries. The most common methodologicalchallenges are:• Lack of recent and accessible data for species and habitats• Lack of red lists at the national and regional level• Deciding on the number and area of IPAs in each country• Defining practical boundariesOpen methodological discussions among specialists, and transparency in site selectionhave been strong points of this project.The reasons for identifying sites as IPAs aremade available to all, and with the rigorous selection of species and habitats under thecriteria there can be no doubt about the importance of these sites.ReferencesAnderson, 2002 Identifying ImportantPlant Areas in Europe: A Site SelectionManual and a Guide to developing criteria inother parts of the world.Evans, S., Marren, P. & Harper, M., 2002,Important Fungus Areas: a provisionalassessment of the best sites for fungi in theUnited Kingdom. Plantlife,Association ofBritish Fungus Groups, British MycologicalSociety.Palmer, M., & Smart, J., 2001, ImportantPlant Areas in Europe: Guidelines for theSelection of Important Plant Areas in Europe.Planta Europa & Plantlife.Parmasto, E., Perini, C., & Rahko,T., 2004,Attempts to introduce fungi into natureconservation activities (Presentation:Planta Europa IV Conference,Valencia(www.nerium.net))Plantlife International, 2003 TechnicalReport from 7 national IPA workshops inCentral and Eastern Europe.(www.plantlife.org.uk)Plantlife International, 2003 Report fromIPA CEE Regional Workshop in Bratislava,November 2003 (www.plantlife.org.uk)Planta Europa 1995, Proceedings of the FirstEuropean Conference on the Conservation ofWild Plants, Hyères, France, 2-8 September1995 (Ed. John Newton). PlantlifePlanta Europa 1998, Second EuropeanConference on the Conservation of WildPlants, 9-14th June 1998, Uppsala, Sweden.(Ed. Hugh Synge & John Akeroyd) SwedishThreatened Species Unit & PlantlifePlanta Europa 2001, Third EuropeanConference on the Conservation of WildPlants, 23-28 June 2001, Pruhonice, theCzech Republic: Developing a PlantConservation Strategy for Europe. CzechAgency for Nature Conservation &Landscape Protection, Planta Europa, theCouncil of Europe.Stewart, N. F. 2004, Important StonewortAreas, An assessment of the best areas forstoneworts in the United Kingdom. PlantlifeInternational, Salisbury, U.K.19