Conservation, monitoring and management of threatened vascular plants and their habitats. Presentations from an Estonian and Finnish natur conservation seminar in Helsinki 17th – 18th April, 1996

In 1996 nature conservation cooperation between Estonia and Finland was extended to monitoring, management and research of threatened plants. Five Estonian and eight Finnish scientists attended a seminar held in Helsinki in April 1996. In the seminar the following items were discussed: conservation status of threatened vascular plants, monitoring methods and recent results of some research projects. The Finnish database of threatened species (UHEX) was also presented. This publication is based on the presentations given in the seminar.

Systematic work with the conservation of threatened plants started in the 1980s in Estonia and in Finland. According to the new Finnish Nature Conservation Legislation (1997), conservation shall focus on monitoring and maintaining the favourable conservation status of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. The work is mainly carried out by the national and regional environmental authorities. However, the contribution of amateur botanists has been considerable for example in inventories.

Monitoring and management methods of threatened vascular plants are under development in both countries. Permanent monitoring plots have been established at the sites of several threatened species, for example in Viidumäe Nature Reserve in Saaremaa and Oulanka National Park in Kuusamo. Some research on the taxonomy, biology and ecology of rare and threatened plants is carried out in Estonia and in Finland, but more information is still needed especially on the ecological demands of threatened species.