Preserving and promoting raised bog ecosystems in Soomaa, Estonia

The management method applied in Soomaa provides a great example of how zonation, as a management tool, helps avoid conflict between intervention and non-intervention management. Their combined use makes it possible to simultaneously serve two purposes: organising public access to the park and sensitive area conservation. This, along with Soomaa management’s ways to control visitor impact have created a good balance between their two-fold aim of preservation and promotion.

Bog wilderness for visitors
Soomaa NP has established a specially designated infrastructure for the general public to visit and experience wilderness. Boardwalks of different lengths have been installed, leading to various parts of the bogs and forests of the national park. However, as many tour operators realized, it is relatively hard to experience wilderness by walking in line on a boardwalk, a new and inventive way of getting into closer contact with nature has been developed. Some operators organise tours off the designated routes and into the bogs using snowshoes. Snowshoes are a perfect solution as they make it possible to walk over the bog hollows that otherwise would swallow anyone daring to step on them but at the same time they do not damage the fragile vegetation of the bogs.

Negative impact of visitors on bog ecosystem reduced
The management’s efforts provide a great example of finding innovative ways to reduce negative visitor impact. They have observed that bog waders will tolerate the boardwalk and continue to breed about 500 m away, so as long as visitors stay on the boardwalks, their presence does not interfere with the life of bog waders. Experience has also shown that waders prefer to breed in pools and hollow rich areas where they are safely hidden from their natural predators. The management system of Soomaa NP reduces human disturbance by  controlling access to such areas during the breeding season, when the breeding success of waders could be in danger. Snowshoe tours in Soomaa are strictly controlled and are only provided by a  limited number of local tour operators, all working in cooperation with the National Environmental Board, keeping preservation of Soomaa’s wilderness values in the focus of their attention. What this means in practice is that even without any written regulations, business partners offering these tours have developed alternate snowshoeing routes for May and June, the bog waders’ breeding time, thus avoiding sensitive territories where they may disturb the breeding process.