Sustainable development of the Pechora region in a changing environment

Metla surveying the ecosystem in North-West Russia

In the EU-funded SPICE project alternative scenarios were created for the impact of human activities on the Pechora region in North-Western Russia. The area has vast renewable and non-renewable natural resources. Pechora comprises geographically unique areas of extensive lowland tundra and permafrost in the north, and the largest contiguous old growth taiga forest region in Europe confined to the Ural Mountains. Satellite images, field samples and digital map sources were collected from the research areas selected for the project into a geographical information system (GIS) database to describe forests and other land use in the areas.

The data was used to analyse the impact of human activities on landscape and through that, on biodiversity. The landscape comparisons of the taiga areas between human-impact and pristine areas showed some obvious differences, but not all of them were linked to logging. In tundra areas, the changes caused by human impact could be related to construction of oil and gas fields, but these areas represented only a few per cent of the total area.

Additional information on the project: www.metla.fi/hanke/830701/index-en.htm