In this paper we aim to define whether fish farms or stocked trout streams substantially contribute to the diet of otters Lutra lutra living in freshwater habitats of Mid‐Finland. Diet was assessed using spraint analysis. We especially focused on areas with fish farms and stocked trout Salmo trutta streams (salmonid‐rich habitat) and used ‘normal’ (salmonid‐poor) habitats as control. Frequency of salmonid remains in spraints was significantly higher in salmonid‐rich habitats than elsewhere in all seasons, the difference increasing from summer to winter. In salmonid‐rich habitats, however, salmonid consumption was not strongly seasonal. Data from spraint collection indicated a shift in activity towards salmonid‐rich habitats in winter. Otters therefore seem to switch prey seasonally, due to seasonal variation in the availability of other prey categories, by choosing to forage in particular, predictable habitats. Furthermore, our results suggest that, in salmonid‐rich habitats, the increase in salmonid frequency is to a larger extent due to the presence of fish farms than that of trout streams. Fish farms, and to a lesser extent stocked streams, may therefore constitute seasonally important feeding grounds for otters.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the prospects of integrated planning and management of the environment in the context of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and river basin planning.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyses the legal framework of the WFD and other related water and environmental legislation as well as the provisions for integrative practice in the WFD. Moreover it analyses the potential for integration with issues that are not provided for in the WFD, such as land use. The procedural elements of the WFD and other EU legislation are analysed for identifying common elements within a modern consensus and efficiency based planning mode.FindingsThree aspects of the integrated management framework for water and other environmental resources are highlighted. The first concerns the need for interaction between spatial land use planning and the integrated river basin management plans of the WFD, in order to ensure that land‐use plans do not contradict water goals and that water planning also takes into account broader landscape related aspects. This demands the establishment of platforms for institutional interplay. The second is the need to integrate water goals into sectoral policies. This may be ensured by activating the impact assessment procedures for projects, plans and programmes which may have an impact on water resources and quality. The third concerns elements and procedures which are common to several pieces of legislations (e.g. management plans, monitoring, public participation), and which could benefit from the establishment of common databases, spatial information systems, and methods of communication.Originality/valueThe paper aims to identify key issues related to integration of the WFD with other environmental EU legislation, the associated challenges posed to water management and other environmental management institutions and procedures, and the information systems and methods which may facilitate the integration.

Land use planning was modernised in Finland at the turn of the millennium. Simultaneously, river basin planning based on the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) markedly changed the environmental goals for water bodies. The WFD's main objective is to achieve good ecological status in all water bodies by the year 2015. To meet this objective, traditional water protection measures are planned for preventing and reducing eutrophication in water bodies suffering from diffuse pollution, which is the major obstacle reaching a good ecological status in Finnish waterbodies. The need for an alternative and broader selection of water protection methods is nevertheless evident due to the low efficiency and high costs of traditional means. We have studied the potential to integrate water protection objectives into land use planning and found several interfaces between river basin planning and land use planning in Finland. The emphasis is on the prevention of diffuse pollution originating from different land use practices. Our study highlights the linkages between the two planning processes and proposes ideas for further integration by drawing on the experiences gained from two pilot studies focusing mainly on water protection measures, which provide support to achieving the ecological objectives of WFD.