Comprehension of conservation costs in the context of wood economy: a case study on lesser spotted eagle protection on special protection areas

Modern forestry involves balancing multiple and often conflicting demands regarding the use and conservation of forest ecosystems. Protection of the Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina Brehm) and its nesting habitat in Natura 2000 sites is a good example of conservation solutions being directly connected to significant forest management restrictions. In Lithuania, the protection regime for the species in the Natura 2000 sites has been in place since 2004. However, neither the costs to the wood economy or the ecological benefits of the regime, or of alternative protection regimes, have been explored in detail. In this study, we aim to discuss a methodological framework to weigh up alternative regimes to protect the Lesser Spotted Eagle and its nesting habitat in the context of wood economy. We compared two approaches to protect the species and its habitat in three special protection areas (SPAs) designated for the Lesser Spotted Eagle. The current protection regime incorporates two types of measures: 1) for every estimated pair present in SPAs, two 3-5 ha mature forest stands are selected, along with protective zones 100 m wide around those stands. In the set-aside forest stands final felling is completely forbidden and other types of felling are restricted during the summer season. In the protective zones, all types of felling are restricted during the summer season, but permitted in other seasons; 2) For Lesser Spotted Eagle nests located outside the selected set-aside stands, final felling is restricted for a distance of 100 m around the nest throughout the year and other types of felling are also restricted during summer season. The Foundation for the Development of Nature Protection Projects has developed an alternative protection regime for this species in the SPAsGamtos tyrimų centro Ekologijos institutasVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij