During the past few days, members of Protect the Forest, together with Ornö residents, have inventoried threatened forest on the island of Ornö in the Stockholm archipelago. A road has been built into unprotected forest, which most likely means that the landowner intends to do logging there. The entire forest is worth protecting: It harbours red-listed species such as the black woodpecker (NT), willot tit (NT) and red-listed wood fungi and lichens.
The forest is located between Kyrkviken and Lervassaträsk on central Ornö. The area is varied with rocky parts with old pines, in between there are small marshes and there is moist, mossy spruce forest with hanging lichens. Clear-cuttings and severe thinning out are continuously being carried out on the island. That is why we are examining this intact forest before the landowner destroys it as well.
Letter to the County Administrative Board
Residents of Ornö have recently sent in a letter to the County Administrative Board about the natural values, hoping the authority will act for protection. The landowner has received information about natural values and protected species in the forest and has previously also been invited to participate in inventories.
Some red-listed species that we encountered in the forest
The black woodpecker is red-listed as near threatened (NT) and protected according to the Species Protection Ordinance §4. Forestry is the biggest threat, according to SLU’s Artfakta. We saw tracks where the black woodpecker had pecked, it has also been heard and seen several times in the area.
Irpicodon pendulus is a red-listed wood fungus that is near threatened (NT) and a signal species, i.e. it indicates high nature values. It emerges in winter and grows on old pines that are often over 250 years old. Irpicodon pendulus thrives in coniferous forests that have been left alone forestry.
Porodaedalea pini – a wood fungus that grows on several old pine trees in the forest. It is a red-listed wood fungus that is near threatened (NT) and only grows on pines that are at least 100 years old. The biggest threat to the fungus is felling, according to Artfakta.
Chaetodermella luna – a wood fungus red-listed as near threatened (NT). We found it on the underside of dead pine branches that had fallen to the ground. According to SLU’s Artfakta, the biggest threat to Chaetodermella luna is felling, and that there is a lack of suitable habitat for it in southern Sweden. The fungi “can no longer spread outside its few known habitats.”
The willow tit (Poecile montanus) is a bird that lives in coniferous forests and is red-listed as Near Threatened. The willow tit is also protected according to the Species Protection Ordinance §4. There are several studies showing that willow tit is sensitive to forestry and does not survive when its habitat is cleared. Making clear-cuts in the forest where it lives means that the bird abandons its territory, according to Artfakta.
Hertelidea botryosa is a lichen which is red-listed as near threatened. We encountered it in several places in the forest on dead wood. SLU’s Artfakta writes: “Dead wood in large quantities should be left and trees allowed to age and die to create a continuous supply of habitats”.
For more information about this forest and previous inventory, please read: Unprotected forest on the island of Ornö is being felled
