Description

LIFE18 NAT/IT/001020 LIFE FORESTALL has received funding from the European Union's Programme for the Environment and Climate Change (LIFE).

Title

Restoration of Alluvial Forests and Cladium mariscus habitats in Ramsar and Natura 2000 sites

Acronym

LIFE FORESTALL

Duration

Start date – 01/10/2019

End date –  30/09/2023

Budget

Total project budget:                             1,809,697 Euro

Total eligible project budget:                1,800,547 Euro

EU financial contribution requested:  1,350,396 Euro (=75% of total eligible budget)

Objectives

LIFE FORESTALL has, as its main objective, the restoration and conservation of habitats 7210* Calcareous fens with Cladium mariscus and species of the Caricion davallianae and 91E0* Alluvial forests of Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior, both priority according to the "Habitat" Directive (1992/43/EEC).

The dredging of selected sectors of the existing channel network and the installation of new locks has been foreseen in order to improve the water quality and allow the regulation of the water levels, to guarantee the optimal conditions for resting and feeding of the birds during the winter and the migration period and to encourage the natural expansion of the project habitats. 

LIFE FORESTALL project also aims to contain some invasive exotic species such as tree and shrub plants Robinia pseudoacacia and Baccharis halimifolia and Silurus glanis (catfish). 

Project area

The project area is the WWF Oasis of Valle Averto, 78 ha. owned by the WWF Italy, in the southern part of the Venice Lagoon, an environment of extraordinary naturalistic interest. The WWF Oasis of Valle Averto is part of two Natura 2000 sites and it is included in the list of “Wetlands of International Importance” according to the Ramsar Convention.

Flora and fauna in Valle Averto well represent some peculiar features of the wetlands of the North Adriatic Sea. Anthropic pressures and climate changes put the specific biodiversity of this environment at risk and active protection actions are necessary to preserve it. 

 

Social inclusion

Some activities will be carried out by a social cooperative, demonstrating how environmental restoration can also promote the social and work integration.

Partners

The project beneficiaries are:

CORILA, Consorzio per il coordinamento delle ricerche inerenti al sistema lagunare di Venezia (Coordinatore)

SELC soc. coop.

WWF Oasi soc. Unipers. s.r.l.

Provveditorato Interregionale per le Opere Pubbliche per il Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia del Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti

Cooperativa Sociale Primavera Società Cooperativa Sociale ONLUS.

Actions

Preparatory actions

A1 PROJECT ACTION PLAN

A2 EXECUTIVE PLANS

• A2.1 Executive plans of habitat and species management works and permits
• A2.2 Executive plan of the hydraulic  management works

A3 APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT (VINCA)

A4 SUBCONTRACTING  AND GREEN PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES

A5 REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF EXISTING ENVIRONMENTAL DATA ON THE INTERVENTION SITES

A6 HYDRO-GEOLOGICAL, WATER AND SOIL CHARACTERIZATION OF INTERVENTION SITES

A7 VEGETATION AND HABITAT MAPS UPDATING

A8 BIRDS MONITORING IN WINTER AND BREEDING SEASON

A9 INVASIVE FISH SPECIES (Silurus glanis) DETECTION

Conservation Actions

C1 HYDRAULIC WORKS TO IMPROVE WATER CIRCULATION AND QUALITY

C2 PROTECTING AND INCREASING 7210* CLADIUM HABITAT

C3 RESTORING  AND INCREASING 91E0* ALLUVIAL FOREST HABITAT

C4 RAFT BUILDING FOR BREEDING WADERS AND TERNS

C5 REDUCTION OF PLANT INVASIVE SPECIES OCCURRENCE

C6 INVASIVE FISH SPECIES (Silurus glanis) CONTROL

C7 VISITOR EXPERIENCE ENHANCEMENT 

Monitoring of the impact of the project actions

D1 HYDROLOGICAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL MONITORING

D2 VEGETATION MONITORING

D3 EFFECTS OF PROJECT ACTONS ON WINTERING AND BREEDING BIRDS 

D4 INVASIVE FISH SPECIES (Silurus glanis) OCCURRENCE

D5 SOCIO ECONOMIC IMPACT

D6 PROJECT IMPACTS ON THE ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS 

D7 PROJECT PERFORMANCE INDICATORS MONITORING

Public awareness and dissemination of results

E1 DISSEMINATION PLANNING AND EXECUTION

• E1.1 Dissemination and communication plan
• E1.2 Networking with other projects 
• E1.3 Development of the dissemination pack 
• E1.4 Environmental education and awareness on Natura 2000 network
• E1.5 Effective dissemination to the general public

 

E2 ACTIVITIES TO ENSURE REPLICABILITY OR TRANSFERABILITY

• E2.1 Dissemination activities targeted to local eco-tourism-stakeholders group
• E2.2 Strategic Transferability Plan for Conservation Management and Habitat Restoration for Wetlands  

 

Project management

• F1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT BY CORILA
• F2 PROJECT MONITORING ACTIVITIES
• F3 PROJECT MEETINGS  AND CONFERENCES
• F4 AFTER LIFE PLAN

Watch the Concrete Conservation Actions video below