Ecological corridors that encompass riparian and forested corridors can have multiple benefits such as decreasing erosion and improving water quality.

Recent undesirable changes to the landscape of the Kostroma region in central European Russia revealed the need for a strong ecological network for conservation. The region is located in the watershed divide between the Caspian and the White seas. Here, Siberian species transition to European species, and taiga is replaced by broad-leaved forest. Landscape diversity is highest where depressions among morainic hills are combined with post- glacial lakes, fens, bogs, and old-growth and secondary forests that control water runoff and ensure valuable wetland habitats. In recent decades, vast forest areas decreased considerably due to timber harvesting. This harvesting expanded to remote catchment areas, which caused a decrease of runoff volume, loss of opportunities for navigation on rivers, and the degradation of fish resources, all with obvious negative economic consequences for local people. This resulted in the need to preserve the remnants of virgin southern taiga stands within an ecological network.

Kostroma Taiga, Russia © Adobe Stock

The mission of the Kostroma ECONET project, launched in 2003 with strong support of the regional government, was to ensure the protection and connectivity of the most ecologically valuable landscapes as well as to facilitate restoration of lost traditional economic opportunities for local people. The Kostroma ECONET project is based on the idea of critical significance of a connected landscape.

The core areas of the ecological network for conservation are composed of four types of landscapes: (1) intact landscapes representative of the European southern taiga, such as moraine plains with spruce and fir forests (e.g. Kologriv Forest Nature Reserve); (2) fluvioglacial terraces with pine forests, and mires; (3) rare and unique landscapes (e.g. larch forests on sandy terraces); and (4) landscapes with key habitats for migratory birds and mammals (e.g. floodplains used by geese on their spring migration from western Europe to northern Siberia). The full range of typical interfluvial and river valley landscapes is represented in the network (Figure 1), with a higher concentration of protected areas in the upper parts of the river basins that have a higher proportion of mires close to watershed divides. The legal regime of the ECONET prohibits clearcutting in key locations to ensure runoff formation in the interfluves and safeguards the necessary proportion of forests in a given basin. The process of planning protected areas included intensive consultations with local stakeholders.

The protected areas are connected by ecological corridors consisting either of riparian forests or of zonal coniferous forests embedded in a matrix of timber harvesting areas. The ecological network recognises the crucial contribution of the regional landscapes to the functioning of the larger watershed, the Volga River basin, because the three largest tributaries in its upper reaches come from the Kostroma region. The ecological corridors comprise hydrologically important zones along the slopes of river valleys, terraces and floodplains. Thus, in addition to connecting core protected areas, the ecological corridors decrease erosion, water eutrophication and undesirable surface runoff.

A scheme to develop an ecological network for conservation was adopted by the regional authorities in 2008. Fifty-nine protected areas are being established, with reasonable limitations on timber harvesting, human development, and, if necessary, hunting and fishing embedded in land-use plans. The scheme is now an obligatory part of territorial planning at both the regional and municipal levels.

The experience of the Kologriv Forest Nature Reserve provided evidence that prohibiting hunting in rather small areas can result in an increase of game species populations, their expansion to the adjacent non-protected landscapes and, therefore, an increase in game resources. Some of the established protected areas successfully combine nature protection, recreation and ecological tourism. This is of particular importance to communities in Kostroma’s remote districts who struggle with insufficient sources of income. The most serious current challenge to the ECONET project is the delayed designation of protected area borders by state authorities, which results in conflicts with the timber industry and agricultural producers.