Table of content:

Acknowledgements & Authors

Summary

List of abbreviations

Introduction

1. Ecological Network of Moldova

1.1. Components of Eco-Network

1.2. Geographical Aspects of NENM

1.3. Levels of Components of the Eco-Network

1.4. Eco-Network as Informational System

2. System of Criteria for Estimate of Value of Components of Ecological Network

2.1. Criteria for Attribution of Particular Status to Core Areas with Natural and Semi-Natural Ecosystem Cover

2.2. Criteria for Ranking Areas of the Eco-Network which are Not Core Areas

2.3. Principles for Designating Areas Intended for Ecological Restoration and for Establishing Biological Corridors in Conditions of Excessive Economic Land Use

2.4. Use of Lands for Establishing Biological Corridors and Restoration, which Not Meet Criteria of Areas Intended for Ecological Restoration

3. Operational Checklists

3.1. Operational Checklist of Vascular Plants

3.2. Operational Checklist List of Endemic Vegetation Associations

3.3. Operational List of Insects

3.4. Operational List of Terrestrial Vertebrates

4. Objects of Eco-Network

5. Main Actions Concerning National Eco-Network of Moldova

6. Estimation of Potential and Some Recommendations for Establishing National Ecological Network of Moldova

6.1. Main Conditions for Establishing NENM

6.1.1. Elaborating the Concept of Eco-Network in Moldova

6.1.2. Ecological and Socio-Economical Conditions of Forming Eco-Network

6.1.3. Analysis of Legal Framework for Establishing National Eco-Network

6.2. Comment on Results of Area Estimations, Based on Main Components of Ecological Network of Moldova (by Biological Indicators)

6.2.1. Estimation of Core Areas

6.2.2. Designated Components of Eco-Network in the Structure of the Country’s Area

6.3. Recommendations

6.3.1. Concerning the Development of a System of Management for Natural Protected Areas

6.3.2. Priorities of scientific estimation of core areas

6.3.3. Law on Modification and Completion of some Legislative Acts (Draft)

Conclusion

References

Map of the Ecological Network

Introduction

PEBLDS (the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy) is the European tool for implementing the 1992 Rio Convention, which declares national sovereignty over components of biological diversity and, on the basis of this sovereignty, sets a national responsibility for its maintenance. PEBLDS can also be regarded as an instrument for implementing the Bern Convention.

Establishing a Pan-European Ecological Network is the crucial issue within the 10 action themes of PEBLDS, related to the maintenance of species populations and communities. To this end, a prerequisite condition is conservation of landscapes and habitats. Ranking of objects of a different significance will result from a more complex approach to the protection of natural and cultural heritage.

The formulation of an eco-network at any level (European, regional, sub-regional, national or local) requires a procedure for identifying valuable plant and animal habitats of international, national and local importance. Before the ratification of the Ramsar Convention (1999), Moldova did not have internationally determined habitats and was on the list of countries least advanced in this respect.

Establishing an Eco-Network may require special legal framework, depending on specific national legal background. While it is not intended to replace existing legislation, it can be used for filling-ins gaps and correcting deficiencies.

The Council of Europe views the building of a Pan-European Ecological Network not only as one of 10 action themes in the PEBLDS framework, but also as an operational structure for other actions.

The Pan-European Ecological Network presents both a physical network (where ecosystems, habitats, species, landscapes and other natural objects are maintained) and a coordination mechanism, in which to develop and implement joint activities.

The Pan-European Ecological Network, built on the basis of other initiatives for developing national and regional networks, comprises:

1. Core areas, which are used for the conservation of ecosystems, habitats, species and landscapes;
2. Biological corridors, intended to improve connections between natural systems;
3. Restoration areas for the recovery of damaged elements of ecosystems, habitats and landscapes of European importance;
4. Buffer zones, to foster the strengthening of the ecological network and its protection from unfavorable external factors.

Eco-Networks goals, as well as their major components (core, buffer and restoration areas, biological corridors), are clearly set. However, approaches to building Eco-Networks differ both conceptually and methodologically according to the differences in the nature of human encroachment in various countries and regions, to social and economic conditions, levels of research and scale.

PROBLEMS RELATED TO LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF ECOLOGICAL NETWORK OF MOLDOVA

At present, legislation in Moldova secures the protection of areas valuable for the conservation of biodiversity only if they are listed in the Fund of the State Protected Natural Areas. In this respect, a serious drawback is the sole inclusion of publicly owned land. Privately owned land valuable to nature conservation also should be listed. Biological diversity cannot effectively be preserved in conditions of highly fragmented populations. Areas that are not included in the Fund, but act as corridors preventing fragmentation, should be subject to a special statute. The significance of privately owned land is quite obvious, but at present these are not subject to nature conservation statutes.

Moldavian legislation requires the introduction of the following acts and elements, which are already present in the legislation of neighbouring countries:

1. For valuable privately owned areas playing a significant role in biodiversity conservation, a tool should be developed to oblige their owners to implement management plans agreed with state nature conservation units, including the application of preferential taxation;

2. Mechanisms should be developed to permit the state and legal persons to buy out valuable areas for exclusive nature protection and conservation use;

3. Current legislation should be supplemented by provision of environment-friendly agricultural practices in the interests of conserving rare and threatened species and protecting migration pathways.

A special legal framework is required for the Ecological Network of Moldova because of the following:

1. The following components, which are not listed or cannot be listed in the FSPNA, are included into the Ecological Network of Moldova:

• areas of special importance for the conservation of biological diversity in the national and European contexts, which, if introduced in the FSPNA, would disrupt an already existent successful system of criteria, developed for such areas;

• areas of special importance for the conservation of biological diversity in the national and European contexts, which should retain predominant economic use;

• private areas can be listed among FSPNA (but urgently requiring a different status) provided this does not affect the main rights concerning land ownership and use;

• areas not directly related to FSPNA but which determine the maintenance of geo-systemic balance or having key importance for the transition to sustainable agriculture or forestry, or belonging to the area of recreation, culture and business in the context of sustainable development.

2. Not all objects listed in FSPNA are included or can be included in the Ecological Network;

3. The legal framework of the Eco-Network is based upon international legislation regulating nature protection both in the field of protected areas and outside of this field;

4. The legal framework of the Eco-Network tackles the field of the planning of urban and rural areas.

Legal framework is prerequisite for its effectiveness. It should foster the introduction of new environmental policy and provide the essential elements of sustainable development. It can be used for the implementation of new progressive ideas of economic regulation related to ensuring ecological security and economic development, which, if implemented in a different way, would require fundamental modification in the complex of recently developed legislative norms.

Definitions:

1. biological diversity – according to Article 2 of the Convention on Biological Diversity: the variability among living organisms including inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part, this includes diversity within species, between species and their ecosystems;
2. species diversity – totality of species as a whole or within an individual taxon occurring in a particular area. The main unit is the number of species;
3. species (relative) diversity – a function of species diversity and distribution of individuals among species reflecting the structure and state of an ecosystem or one of its parts;
4. natural habitat – natural or semi-natural, primary or secondary, whose floral and faunistic composition evolved or evolves naturally;
5. biogeographical area - geographically limited area representing a characteristic totality of biota that has evolved naturally under the effects of geological, climatic and other factors, which have determine the formation of biological complexes;
6. landscape (scientific definition) – a territorial complex relatively homogeneous in terms of its conditions of development, where natural complexes are inter-related, thus forming natural and/or artificial complexes;
7. landscape (international definition for end users and the Parties) – a zone or area, clearly delimited by the local populace or visitors, of which visual features and characteristics result from the effects of natural or cultural (i.e. human) factors;
8. landscape diversity – variety within a territorial system or natural complexes within a larger unit, measured by the number of and proportion between their types;
9. geo-system – a structural unit of geographical landscape, which unites geo-morphological and hydrological elements and ecosystems in terrestrial areas with inherent climatic features;
10. geo-system balance – proportion between self-regulated and regulated geo-systems, which ensure natural dynamic equilibrium at a particular level or forming a stable vector of development;
11. natural (ecological) framework – a system of natural areas, which, being inter-connected at the ecosystem level, sets a background for maintaining natural ecological equilibrium capable of counter-balancing human impacts. A natural framework is a prerequisite of complex integrated territorial schemes of nature protection, in which individual areas are ranked according to their significance for maintaining ecological equilibrium;
12. ecological network – a system of areas that are inter-connected physically and functionally, ranked according to their importance for maintaining biological and landscape biodiversity and maintaining ecological equilibrium.

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