Crop Wild Relatives - Inventories in Oulanka and Nuuksio National Parks, Finland 2022

Introduction: The CWR inventory in Nuuksio and Oulanka National Parks in Finland was carried out as a part of the Nordic project ‘Conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources in the Nordic countries’. During the project, CWR inventories were conducted in each Nordic country’s pilot areas. 

Aim:  The aim of the inventories was to investigate distribution and status of CWR populations in target protected areas, which could in the future form a CWR conservation network. The goal was to learn from these experiences for the implementation of such tasks in the future and at the same time improve the quality of CWR conservation. The main aim was to promote CWR conservation, test inventory and in situ site selection methods and to eventually identify populations which would be suitable for long-term conservation.   

Method: The presence and status of CWR populations in Nuuksio and Oulanka were determined based on FAO CWR descriptors (Alercia et al. 2022). The inventory was based on a revised Nordic CWR priority list (Fitzgerald et al. 2021). Nuuksio and Oulanka areas were selected as target areas based on an earlier conservation gap analysis, which identified the most CWR species rich complementary conservation areas within Finland (Fitzgerald et al. 2020). The inventory was carried out on 100x100 m Finnish uniform grid system (YKJ-grid) squares.

Results:  Altogether 19 sites and 116 populations were inventoried and data on taxon names, population size, count of individuals, potential threat and management needs were recorded. The report summarises the results and the full taxon observation and population data results can be accessed through Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility (FinBIF, 2023).