Project
The six-year LIFE Revives project started in September 2021 as a result of several years of background work and planning with 12 project partners. The aim of LIFE Revives is to improve the ecological conditions in 69 target rivers representing 7 % of freshwater pearl mussel (FPM, Margaritifera margaritifera) populations across Finland, Sweden and Estonia, and consequently to achieve favourable conservation status and adequate recruitment of FPM populations after the project in the project countries. This will be achieved by:
Restoring habitats of FPM and its host fishes
We aim to decrease the fine sediment and nutrient load from catchment to the rivers and to increase the ecological habitat quality, biodiversity and connectivity in the target FPM rivers. Especially we aim to improve the habitats of the juvenile FPM and strengthen the FPM host fish, Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (Salmo trutta), stocks. Removal of migration obstacles will multiply the available breeding areas for salmonid fish and help FPM populations by increasing fish host density.
Captive breeding of FPM
We will introduce captivity-bred juvenile mussels into their home rivers so, that 5 000鈥�20 000 artificially reared individuals reach maturity. Rearing of mussels will be carried out for the nine FPM populations in the project countries - in Finland at Konnevesi research station and in Estonia at P玫lula fishfarm. This will reinforce the target populations and will prevent them becoming extinct in the near future giving time to restore the rivers back to good ecological status.
Improving FPM conservation expertise and public awareness
Our aim is to transfer and share practical FPM and salmonid fish conservation expertise and good practice for replication in various ongoing and future stream water conservation and restoration projects. Informing and educating forestry planners, landowners and other stakeholders around FPM rivers is needed to ensure sustainability of the project results and increase overall impact of the project. General media work aims to increase stakeholder and public support and engagement in FPM conservation.
Developing innovative in-stream restoration techniques
Our methods will clean FPM habitats by transporting the existing fine sediments to the riverbanks during spring floods. We will also pilot 鈥渒indergartens鈥�, artificially maintained small-scale habitats suitable for juvenile FPM. We aim to demonstrate that our techniques can be applied to other FPM streams in Europe and watercourses suffering from input of fine sediments.
The goal of the project is to gather monitoring-based evidence of the restoration and captive breeding methods of FPM for later replication. Also, improvement and unification of FPM conservation methodologies in Europe is a further goal. We also tend to achieve an increased commitment of the forestry sector and landowners as well as increased capability among authorities in FPM conservation and management.