Restoration of thermophilous habitats in Moravian Karst. After LIFE-Nature conservation plan

Transcription

1 Restoration of thermophilous habitats in Moravian Karst After LIFE-Nature conservation plan 1

2 1. Preface Thermophilous vegetation of open grasslands and shrub lands on border zone of Pannonian region is in critical danger of natural aforestation by spontaneous succession. Many endangered species of vascular plants and insects have extincted during last decades and the restoration of the most important localities ran slowly. The realised project LIFE started restoration of non-forest vegetation on large areas of Moravian karst and allowed to make a large number of forest openings and grassland where these non-forest vegetation can restore. As we can see in the field, the diversity of managed area increased especially in entomofauna, which is more sensitive and mobile than vascular plants. However, the realized management of abandoned pastures and grasslands stabilised the vegetation microclimate and avoided vegetation cover against expansion of aliens, shrubs and trees. Many actions realised during the project preserve non-forest vegetation without the necessary next financial input. Deforested areas on southern slopes are too dry for high and fast biomass production. However, sustainable management requires as minimum as a randomly realized small budget of activities, which will be described in this document more in detail. 2. History of the management at project localities The area of Moravian karst is the major caving region in the Czech Republic and contains the largest cave system in Central Europe. However, not only the karstic phenomenon has a main importance for today s nature protection in this area. The Moravian Karst, especially its southern part lies at the border of Pannonian region. While the northern part of that area considers mesophilous forests and grasslands with only several thermophilous vegetation types, southern part of the landscape protected area considers many important habitats with thermophilous forest and nonforest vegetation. It is located in the northeast border of Brno, which is the second most populated city in the Czech Republic. There are two interesting landscape dominants the Hády plateau and Říčka river valley. Limestones of the Moravian Karst represent one of the most scientifically interesting areas of the whole region. The nature of this region, which is the southest spur of the Moravian Karst, is very abundant and protected and endangered plants and animals can usually be found here. Before the project started (2003) only about 5 % of the area was actively correctly managed with the expert environmental supervision. Several well known localities of heliophilous endangered plant species were nearly destroyed by faster and faster overgrowing of pioneer trees and entomologists warned against significant decrease of populations of butterflies and other insect groups aliving in the mozaic of coppice forests and forest openings. It was clear that the restoration program cannot be supported from limited sources of local administrations. The reconstruction of 2

3 vegetation and environmental processes has to be done during relatively short period, because many populations of endangered species critically decreased. The proposed LIFE project (2004) included activities at the area of about 75 ha of grassland habitats and about 70 ha of open forests and screes. The main aim of that project was to re-establish a traditional management of these areas (grazing, mowing, cutting of coppice forests) and protect these sensitive vegetation against fast natural succession. The most of planned activities were successfully realised, some of them on larger areas and with better success than we proposed in the project. As the main success we consider the purchase of significant natural value land in Hády quarry and its close surroundings from land owner mining company Českomoravský cement, a. s., succession company (member of Heidelberg Cement Group). We bought ca 11,9 ha of most nature valuable land with endangered Natura 2000 habitats and two species listed in Annex II of the Habitats Directive (Echium rubrum and Pulsatilla grandis), while the project expected to buy only 4 hectares of that area for the same price. The owned area represents part of the most important thermophilous locality, which was in a direct threat of industrial utilisation. LIFE project Rupicolous was finished Some actions had non-recurring character and they needn t be followed by other sustainable management. On the other hand several activities were started and were realised recursively and it is necessary to include them into the legal management frame of the state administration. 3. Current situation in management of nature protected areas in the Czech Republic (Southern Moravia) and general possibilities of funding The management of nature protected areas in the southern Moravian region is more or less realized from the end of eighties where several voluntary groups started to mow several the most interesting steppic grasslands in Brno and closed surroundings Kamenný vrch nature protected area (NPA), Obřanská stráň NPA. During the first half of nineties of the last century such field actions as mowing, grazing and cutting of Robinia forests near steppic grasslands started to be an important tool for official nature protection. The new law which was valid from 1992 determined that all nature protected area should have detailed management plans for the next 5-10 years. From that time some nature reserves have been managed professionally with the financial support of local authorities. The national law no. 114/92 Sb. about nature protection divided nature reserves into four different categories with 2 levels of nature protection. It delimited large, the most important localities as nationally important and its management and management plans are guided by Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection of the Czech Republic. The second, less important localities of smaller areas are operated by local authorities (regional authorities, administrations of Protected Landscape Area or National Park etc.). 3

4 Each authority (both national and local) has a special yearly budget of money for some management activities in nature protected areas. While in nineties the amount of money for planned actions was relatively small and only some management of few important localities was able to be realised, current situation in Southern Moravian district is relatively good. Prevailed part of non-forest nature reserves is yearly managed by professionals and the support is sufficient for the localities which were not too influenced by spontaneous succession in the past. However, some non-forest and the most of forest localities in Southern Moravian region, which are protected by law, still stand out of interest of responsible officers. Sustainable management of coppice forests and forest openings is in direct contradiction with forest law and it is not easy to find a common opinion on the management in forest nature protected areas. Our project was one of the first from this point of view. The management of nonforest areas (on forest land) in Moravian Karst started in 2003 at one small locality and till the project had started, only about 2 ha of steppic grasslands and forest openings had been managed at the future project area. The project enforced the interest about xerophilous vegetation at this region, helped to accept the validity of a special management on forest land in nature protected areas and allowed to invest not only some additional financial support, but also some scientific potential to naturally unique localities. Generally we can say, that it increased the acceptation of non-forest vegetation as an important part of Moravian Karst nature. The project also fundamentally helped to support restoration of several localities, which would not be able to restore in such a short period and their importance would be decreased by fast natural succession and biomass cumulating. 4. Problems that remain We can distinguish two main topics where the problems occurring during the project realization remain till now: 1. Elimination of Picea abies tree plantations in the northern part of Moravian Karst. The goal of the project expected restoration of Tilio-Acerion forests of slopes screes and ravines and Calcareous screes of hill and montane levels in bottom parts of valleys Suchý and Pustý žleb valleys. This activity was not able to be realized there due to disagreement of some foresters and biologists from Ministry of Environment, Administration of Protected Landscape Area Moravian Karst and universities. During the project time they enforced view to leave the localities to natural evolution without human intervention. Nevertheless, the discussion has not been finished yet. The Administration of Protected Landscape Area Moravian Karst decided to organise a workshop where this problem will be discussed as the main topic. They decided to organise field excursion and they hope to provide the most objective information to all participants. The workshop will be organised during the spring of the year 2008 and we expect the final solution of that problem. 4

5 2. The LIFE project was prepared at special conditions and therefore we had not avoid several problems which we were not able to influence. During the year 2003 the Czech Republic was not a valid member of EU and the NATURA 2000 network was prepared very slowly. When we have made a project, we had an agreement with the Ministry of Environment (signed paper form) that all localities which are included into the project area, will be considered as psci areas of NATURA 2000 network prepared in the Czech Republic. Also the first scientific proposal published in 2004 (when our project started) included all project localities. Therefore we were surprised when some parts of project area were rejected in 2006, when Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic through the Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection of the Czech Republic (ANCLP-CR) prepared a proposal for amending the National List of pscis in the Continental biogeographical region. After the intervention to the Ministry of Environment and European Commission we have got a second agreement (also a signed paper form) that remaining area which was not considered into actual pscis, will be considered after the Continental biogeographical seminar that was organised by the European Commission in April At the seminar, the European Commission stated that the proportion of some other natural habitat types within the National List is insufficient and asked the Czech Republic to add new pscis into the List or to improve the existing ones by September However, till now some part of the LIFE project area was not included into the new psci(!!!).we are in a paradox situation when the project allowed to spend money in NATURA 2000 areas, we have two official confirmations that these areas will be included into NATURA 2000 network, but the reality is different. In comparison with the original proposal the current psci Hády accepts only nature reserves Velká Klajdovka, Kavky and prevailed part of Hády quarry. Whole locality Pod Hády (ca. 8 ha of the project area) was not considered into psci again. As an NGO independent from the official process of psci ratification we have no tool to affect the decision of the Ministry of Environment and we can only inform the European Commission about this situation. 5. Proposed actions and future requirements of project localities The vegetation of project localities needs to continue the recurring management realised or started during the project time. We are able to analyse the current and near future situation of the most of localities: 5

6 Action D. 1: Sustainable mowing and cutting of pannonian grasslands and white oak woodlands Project results and the goal for the year 2008: Locality Project goal Hádecká planinka 6 ha 5 ha 0 ha 4 ha 0 ha 4 ha 0 ha 4 ha 0 ha Velká Klajdovka 4,5 ha 2 ha 3 ha 1 ha 3 ha 2 ha 3 ha 4 ha 0 ha Kavky 3 ha 3 ha 0 ha 4 ha 0 ha 3,5 ha 1 ha 4 ha 0 ha Pod Hády 0 ha 0 ha 0 ha 1 ha 6 ha 5 ha 2 ha 2 ha 0 ha Růženin lom 3 ha 3 ha 0 ha 3 ha 0 ha 3 ha 0 ha 0 ha 0 ha Údolí Říčky 6 ha 1 ha 0 ha 0 ha 0 ha 0 ha 0 ha 0 ha 0 ha Velký Hornek 3 ha 3 ha 0 ha 1 ha 2 ha 1 ha 0 ha 1 ha 0 ha Total 25,5 ha 17 ha 3 ha 14 ha 11 ha 18,5 ha 6 ha 15 ha 0 ha The similar management will be realised at project localities during the year 2008 and probably also in next years. We decided to change temporally the grazing back to moving, because we have at this year no connection to any owner of sheep who would help with this management. In addition, we should analyse the impact of grazing on the vegetation cover and decide which management would be better (or their combination) for the next proposal of management plans. In comparison with the year 2007 we must restrict the management at localities Růženin lom and Pod Hády. These localities are not still protected by law and there is no source for their management support. In addition, the locality Pod Hády was not included into any psci (see the chapter Problems that remain ). Other localities will be managed according to their needs and management plans. As we expect, the project area of about ha will also need to mow or graze during next years. Action D. 2 Seedling elimination of alien and expansive species in the herb layer of thermophilous oak forests, pannonian oak-hornbeam forests and screes forests This action was focused especially to seedlings of Fraxinus excelsior which expanded in surrounding of forest openings and inside the border zone between open forests and shrub lands. The action C.1 eliminated all fertile trees in closed surroundings of steppic remnants and during the action D.2 we were able to eliminate all seedling expansion of this species. Therefore, there is no actual need to continue with this action. However, during next years we will control the situation. 6

7 Action D. 3 Support of thermophilous species dispersal in the abandoned limestone quarry Hády Support of thermophilous species dispersal in the abandoned limestone quarry Hády ran according to the project timetable Originally the project started in 1998 and from that time we have been able to initiate the steppic vegetation cover at prevailed part of the quarry bottom. This year (2008) the action will continue in other part of the quarry as a small project supported by Ministry of Environment and the Municipality of Brno and we also expect to find small support of it during next years. Action D. 4 of species rich localities with mosaic of semi-natural dry grassland and scrubland facies on calcareous substrates and sub-pannonic stepic grasslands of species rich localities with mosaic of semi-natural dry grassland and scrubland facies on calcareous substrates and sub-pannonic stepic grasslands was realized near village Ostrov u Macochy and Vilémovice on area of about 55 ha. The flock of sheep involved about 150 animals. The extensive grazing of these localities will continue in years 2008 and 2009 according to management plans of the Administration of Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area. We expect that the total grazed area will additionally significantly increase, because many suitable localities in the Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area mustn t change the type of agriculture management till the year No other actions need to continue in a sense of the LIFE project goals. 6. Conclusion At the year 2008 (the next growing season after project was finished) we can see the situation relatively optimistically. Localities which are administrated by the Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area (about 90 % of the area) will be managed the same way as in previous seasons. The needed financial support will significantly decrease, because all non-recurring management was successfully finished. The Administration announced to us that they will have a sufficient budget for all necessary activities allocated from the government at this year. The management of the rest of project area, which is administrated by the Southern Moravian Regional Authority (localities at the southern slope of Hády hill), was partly supported by them also during the project and this authority is able to fully support the sustainable management during next years. All nature protected areas are managed according to official management plans, which were partly modified for project needs. We also expect that all localities which will be accepted as psci areas and they will have a maximum priority for nature conservation in the near future. All psci localities without official protection should be declared as nature reserves. Therefore general conditions for the sustainable management of all project localities are good at this moment. Therefore, we hope that the project started a new period and style of nature conservation at the Moravian Karst and its closed surroundings. 7