White-Backed Woodpecker Established Following SCA's conservation efforts

“This is an area where we have implemented many measures to benefit the white-backed woodpecker, and for the past couple of years, we know it is thriving here,” says Anna Cabrajic, Forest ecologist at SCA.

ÅGP species are endangered species for which the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management have developed specific action programs (ÅGP). Forest-dwelling ÅGP species often depend on disturbances, such as fire, to survive.

“Therefore, these species do not primarily need protected areas; instead, they require active measures to survive. In recent years, SCA has created ten ÅGP landscapes—areas where there are concentrations of ÅGP species and where we take various actions to benefit them,” says Anna Cabrajic.

Five of these areas focus on species that depend on pine, while five focus on species that depend on deciduous trees. Now, a sixth ÅGP landscape is being created, focusing on deciduous trees with a special emphasis on benefiting the white-backed woodpecker.

Large areas are needed

The white-backed woodpecker is a rare bird with high habitat requirements. It thrives in light forests with a high proportion of deciduous trees and many dead or dying deciduous trees, which provide its food source – wood-living insects. However, such forests are now rare. The woodpecker also requires large areas of high-quality habitat to survive. During the breeding season, a territory must be at least 100 hectares.

“Therefore, it is important to both create more of the habitats it depends on and to connect them into larger areas,” says Anna Cabrajic.

Actions have been underway for several years

The new ÅGP landscape is located in Västerbotten, in northern Sweden. Although it has not previously been designated as an ÅGP landscape, SCA has implemented numerous measures in the area to benefit the white-backed woodpecker. The work has been ongoing for several years and has been carried out in close collaboration with the County Administrative Board of Västerbotten, which has also taken measures in nearby reserves.
“From SCA's side, we have primarily restored deciduous forests by removing spruces and some pines in deciduous-rich forests, making them brighter and dominated by deciduous trees after the intervention. In most of these forests, there are many dead and dying deciduous trees, which provide habitat for the insect larvae that are the white-backed woodpecker's favorite food. The brighter and warmer climate created when the spruces are removed increases the production of such larvae,” explains Ulf Hallin, one of SCA's nature conservation specialists.

Starting in young forests

In some areas where it has been difficult to operate machinery to remove spruce timber, SCA has instead girdled spruces to benefit the deciduous trees. Girdling causes the spruces to die within a few years, allowing the deciduous trees to spread.

“We have also worked on restoring younger forests in the thinning stage by extensively removing conifers to promote deciduous trees. In this way, younger deciduous-dominated forests are created that will hopefully develop into ideal breeding habitats for the white-backed woodpecker in the future,” says Ulf Hallin.

The work delivered results

In 2022, SCA received confirmation that the work had paid off. It was discovered that the white-backed woodpecker was present in the area.

“It’s fantastic that they seem to thrive in the area where we and the County Administrative Board have taken action. They likely flew in from Finland, where the white-backed woodpecker is more common,” says Ulf Hallin.

The area’s designation as an ÅGP landscape now formally confirms that SCA will continue to implement various measures to promote deciduous trees there. Although the main focus is on the white-backed woodpecker, many other species also benefit from these actions.

“The white-backed woodpecker is known as an umbrella species. This means that if we succeed in benefiting it, we also benefit many other species. There are approximately 200 other red-listed plant and animal species that depend on the same type of habitat as the woodpecker,” says Ulf Hallin.

Effective nature conservation work

Working with ÅGP landscapes is an important way to make nature conservation efforts more effective.

“We target actions where they have the greatest impact. We take measures both in older forests with existing natural values where the species are already present and in adjacent younger production forests to improve conditions for the species in the long term. By helping the most demanding species, we also benefit many species with lower habitat requirements,” says Anna Cabrajic.