LIFE Open Woods

The focus of LIFE Open Woods in 2020 was on planning and preparatory work that needed to be completed before the practical conservation activities in the forests could be initiated in the following years.

Selected activities in 2020 included:

• Establishing the project organisation and the formal framework for project governance and management.

• Initiating the development of a catalogue of best management practices for the specific activities included in LIFE Open Woods, including the veteranisation of individual trees, haloing and selective opening around particularly valuable trees, the promotion of structurally diverse forest stands, and enrichment planting to introduce missing seed sources, particularly flowering trees and shrubs.

• Preparing technical monitoring manuals to assess the effects of the project activities on forest structures, target forest habitat types and focal species.

• Planning and preparing applications for the necessary permits and approvals for relevant activities in the individual project forests.

The preparatory activities will be completed in 2021. As soon as the final management plans for the forests managed by the Danish Nature Agency have been approved, implementation of the practical conservation measures will begin. For the project’s other partners, significant LIFE Open Woods activities are already planned for implementation during 2021.

Selected activities in 2021 include:

• Implementation of the first large-scale grazing projects.

• Initiation of veteranisation and haloing measures in several LIFE Open Woods forests.

• Completion of the installation of wood mould boxes for the hermit beetle (Osmoderma eremita).

• Launch of an impact monitoring programme in selected LIFE Open Woods forests.

• Development of an extensive continuing professional development programme at the University of Copenhagen (Forest and Landscape College).

Catalogue of best management practices:
Preliminary compilation of knowledge and experience on best management practices for forest biodiversity management (danish)

LIFE Open Woods is now operating at full capacity across all project activities. The majority of the practical conservation measures are expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

Selected focus activities include:

• Completion of targeted continuing professional training for approximately 100 Danish Nature Agency employees in the management of biodiversity-rich forests. The training was tailored to three staff categories: administrative and professional staff, forest and nature technicians, and machine operators. The technical content developed through the LIFE Open Woods training courses has subsequently been integrated into the Forest and Landscape College’s regular course programme and established continuing professional development activities.

• Development of a catalogue of management measures for general use in forest biodiversity management.

• Completion of all planned conservation measures, including the veteranisation of thousands of trees aged approximately 80–150 years, the reintroduction of European bison to Tofte Forest, habitat improvements for the hermit beetle (Osmoderma eremita) and Bechstein’s bat (Myotis bechsteinii), restoration of natural hydrological conditions across up to 100 hectares of forest, and enrichment planting with missing native flowering shrubs and tree species, among other measures.

• Installation of information boards, organisation of guided forest excursions for interested visitors, and production of public information leaflets for all LIFE Open Woods forests.

• Submission of both the mid-term report and the final reports for the LIFE project.

• And much more.