DEMONSTRATION SITES

LIFE OrgBalt project is considered to have a demonstrative character. One of the key elements of the LIFE OrgBalt project is the demonstration of a new multilevel cooperation and climate-smart management approaches through joint planning and implementation of the sustainable and resilient climate change mitigation measures in nutrient-rich organic soils. The project actions (C1, C3 and D1) will demonstrate in practice the climate climate change mitigation potential of the managed nutrients-rich organic soils in Baltic States, Germany and Finland by demonstration of the climate change mitigation effect in already established research and demonstration sites, as well as by establishment of new demo sites, where the most effective climate change mitigation measures will be demonstrated, as well as by reference sites providing information on current GHG emissions from nutrient-rich organic soils and long-term impact of the climate change mitigation measures.

In total 16 demo and reference sites will be established in Baltic States and Finland, including new demo sites, which will be elaborated in Latvia located in the centre of Baltic States and representing climate conditions characteristic for the whole region; GHG fluxes will be monitored in 67 sites providing comprehensive data for the whole area of the Baltic States and comparable with data sets available in Finland and Germany.

The selected methodologies and approaches will be incorporated and tailored to specific conditions and objectives of the project, thus the proposed measures, which will be implemented within the demonstration and replicability activities of the project are innovative in the context of Baltic States, Finland and, to some extent, in Germany, which will share experience on management of paludicultures.

It is planned to develop quantitative assessment tools and activity datasets for GHG emissions and CO2 removals, to demonstrate, evaluate and implement climate change mitigation measures that are appropriate for the situation in the Baltic States, the effectiveness of which has been demonstrated in other countries with similar conditions (e.g. Finland or Germany). The methodological approach developed as a result of the project will be suitable for application outside Baltic States, Finland, Germany and in the whole cool & TCM climate zone.

There are 16 climate change mitigation measures’ demonstration sites of LIFE OrgBalt:

1. PALUDICULTURE – AFFORESTATION OF GRASSLAND WITH BLACK ALDER AND BIRCH (LVC303) ^[1]
2. CONVENTIONAL AFFORESTATION CONSIDERING SHORTER ROTATION (LVC302) ^[2]
3. CONTINUOUS FOREST COVER AS A FOREST REGENERATION METHOD IN SPRUCE STANDS (LVC308) ^[3]
4. APPLICATION OF WOOD ASH AFTER COMMERCIAL THINNING IN SPRUCE STANDS (LVC307) ^[4]
5. RIPARIAN BUFFER ZONE IN FOREST LAND PLANTED WITH BLACK ALDER (LVC311) ^[5]
6. SEMI-NATURAL REGENERATION OF CLEAR-FELLING SITES WITH BIRCH AND BLACK ALDER WITHOUT RECONSTRUCTION OF DRAINAGE SYSTEMS (LVC309) ^[6]
7. AGROFORESTRY – FAST GROWING TREES AND GRASS (LVC306) ^[7]
8. FAST GROWING SPECIES IN RIPARIAN BUFFER ZONES (LVC310) ^[8]
9. CONVERSION OF CROPLAND TO GRASSLAND CONSIDERING PERIODIC PLOUGHING (LVC301) ^[9]
10. CONTROLLED DRAINAGE OF GRASSLAND CONSIDERING EVEN GROUNDWATER LEVEL DURING THE WHOLE VEGETATION PERIOD (LVC305) ^[10]
11. INTRODUCTION OF LEGUMES IN CONVENTIONAL FARM CROP ROTATION (LVC304) ^[11]
12. STRIP HAREVESTING IN PINE STANDS (LVC313) ^[12]
13. FOREST REGENERATION (CONIFEROUS TREES) WITHOUT RECONSTRUCTION OF DRAINAGE SYSTEMS (LVC312) ^[13]
14. CONTINUOUS COVER FORESTRY IN DRAINED, NUTRIENT RICH PEATLAND SPRUCE FOREST (FIC101) ^[14]
15. SHIFTING TO CONTINUOUS COVER FORESTRY IN A DRAINED NUTRIENT RICH PEATLAND SITE (FIC102) ^[15]
16. SHIFTING TO CONTINUOUS COVER FORESTRY ON DRAINED, NUTRIENT RICH PEATLAND (FIC103) ^[16]