PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The Natura 2000 network sites Beskid Śląski and Beskid Żywiecki host a high nature value mixture of meadows and pastures which emerged as a result of longstanding farming activity. The botanical composition comprises mainly of native plant species, usually light-loving. Recent changes in land use practices, however, have started to pose a risk to the conservation status of priority species that rely on the farm habitats. Hence, a need exists to establish long-term sustainable solutions to eradicate threats to important habitats and their species in these Natura 2000 network sites.
OBJECTIVES
The LIFE/BESKIDY "PL" project aimed to carry out actions that establish the right type of conditions for maintaining biodiversity by restoring and enhancing the quality of the Natura 2000 network sites. This would be achieved by project actions involving grazing, the removal of self-germinating trees and shrubs, and mowing, with the removal of the biomass.
Habitat types listed in Annex I of the Habitats Directive (southern Carpathian Nardetalia grassland and extensively used fresh mountain grasslands) would be the project’s main target for remedial action. This work aimed to benefit plant species listed in Annex II of the Habitats Directive (Campanula serrata serrata and Aconitum firmum moravicum) as well as animal species listed in Annex II to the Habitats Directive (Canis lupus, Ursus arctos, Microtus tatricus, Carabus variolosus). Bird species benefitting from the project would include those mentioned in Annex I to the Birds Directive (Aquila pomarina, Aquila chrysaetos, Bubo bubo, Tetrao urogallus).
The sustainability of the project actions would be assured by promoting the provision of long-term funding arrangements for habitat conservation within agri-environmental programmes. A communication campaign would also help to encourage long-term support for the project’s objectives and promote good management practices in Natura 2000 sites.
RESULTS
The key results achieved by the LIFE/BESKIDY "PL" project are as follows:
- Secondary succession was stopped on 120 hectares, contributing to the preservation of sites with Campanula serrata;
- Mowing was carried out on more than 550 hectares and grazing on almost 500 hectares, contributing to the restoration and better protection of species-rich grasslands and mountain hay meadows;
- The conservation status of species-rich grassland and mountain hay meadow habitats, as well as that of C. serrata, improved thanks to cutting of Rumex alpinus on 50 hectares and sowing seeds of native plant species on 3 hectares; and
- Threats to the target habitats and species caused by unauthorised tourism in the territory of Beskidy Landscape Parks decreased through the construction of pastoral and tourist infrastructure to channel tourist traffic.
The project improved enforcement of the EU’s Habitats Directive in Poland through implementation of conservation actions identified in the guidelines for the management plans of Beskid Śląski and Beskid Żywiecki Natura 2000 sites. The project’s activities also supported implementation of the EU biodiversity strategy (targets 1, 2 and 6) and the national policy on nature conservation. In addition, by participating in the creation of a uniform tourist infrastructure characteristic of the Beskid landscape (preservation of cultural and natural heritage and landscape), the project was in line with the objectives of the European Commission communication (COM(2010) 352 final) - Europe, the world’s No 1 tourist destination - a new political framework for tourism in Europe.
Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Conservation Plan (see "Read more" section).
