Estonia: harnessing habitat conservation as a economic driver in the Räpina polder

Estonian environmental authorities have used LIFE Nature funds to help improve habitats for priority bird species on the Räpina polder and also harness this nature conservation work to produce sustainable benefits for the local tourist economy.

Estonia’s Räpina polder is an internationally recognised and important bird area, where many endangered and protected species nest and rest during migration periods. Over 1.5 million birds pass through during migration and 28 protected species have been recorded in the area. The polder is a NATURA 2000 site with Special Protection Area (SPA) status and has been classified as an Important Bird Area (IBA).

Located along the western shores of Lake Peipsi, beside the country’s south eastern border with Russia, the polder covers some 1 550 ha and supports habitats for bird species such as corn crake (Crex crex), great bittern (Botaurus stellaris ), lesser spotted eagle (Aquila pomarina), black tern (Chlidonias niger), common crane (Grus grus) and great white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons).

Agricultural practices had previous maintained the polder’s grassland habitat features, but much of the area’s farmland became abandoned following a collapse of Soviet style agricultural cooperatives during the 1990s. These changing land use patterns led to large parts of the polder becoming overgrown or drying out, and the result deteriorated both quantity and quality of traditional birdlife habitats.

Estonian LIFE endeavours

A LIFE Nature project grant of €205 846 was awarded to the regional environment authorities to help them restore the polder habitat and also develop new opportunities for green tourism in the area. The project activities were implemented between August 2003 and October 2006. A vital early output was a new management strategy that set out conservation actions involving re-establishing mowing and grazing regimes over much of the Räpina. Some 90% of the polder’s agricultural area was restored and/or managed during the LIFE project, which had a beneficial impact on local birdlife and also led to the creation of new visitor facilities.

LIFE monitoring team experts confirm that EU inputs have improved the conservation status of lowland hay meadows on the polder and results already note an increase in local corncrake numbers, while bittern populations have stabilised. Other impacts from the project’s habitat restoration work are anticipated to improve as the management plan continues to roll-out new wetland rehabilitation works, and these are due to continue until 2014.

Visitor facilities

A new ‘Räpina beach’ recreation area was developed through LIFE assistance and this output formed a key part of the project’s strategic sustainable tourism aims. The recreation area was carefully designed to manage visitor numbers and minimise wildlife disturbance on the polder. A site was selected that had appropriate public access and also offered an appropriate carrying capacity for regular tourist visits.

Birdwatchers have benefitted from a large wildlife observation tower on the site that was built to provide clear views across the polder habitat. Footpath networks around the site were also designed to steer tourists away from sensitive areas and new interpretation boards were constructed which provided reader-friendly tourist information about local nature on the Räpina. In addition, reed beds, cane and brushwood were cleared on the lakeside in order to further improve its function as a recreational facility, and toilets and dressing cabins were provided to boost the new beach area’s attraction for visiting bathers.

These new tourist facilities are being actively promoted locally, regionally and internationally, via several Estonian tourist websites, and the project’s Layman report states that, “Thanks to the LIFE project, the conservation area of the Räpina polder has become popular among the local people, tourists and birdwatchers.”

LIFE funding has helped to guarantee tourist visitors for the local economy and manage the impact of these visitors on the local environment. Such win-win benefits offer good demonstration value for other LIFE proposals and more information about the Räpina polder project’s sustainable development activities can be viewed on the project website.

Conservation of NATURA 2000 biotopes in Räpina polder
LIFE03 NAT/EE/000180