Natura 2000 Management

The paper presents phytosociological documentation and habitat conditions of Molinia meadows from the alliance Molinion Koch 1926 in the Kłodzko district (south-eastern central Sudetes Mts.). The Selino carvifoliae-Molinietum Kuhn 1937 association has been identified, and two local variants have been described. Molinia meadows in the Kłodzko district are important refuges for many plant species which are threatened in Poland and in the Lower Silesia and represents habitat type code 6410 from Appendix I of the EU Habitats Directive. The resources and conservation status of this habitat type have been evaluated using general monitoring guidelines and some protection actions have been proposed.

The single most important legal tool to stop the decline of biodiversity in the EU is Natura 2000, which aims at creating a coherent network to protect the most valuable nature areas in
the EU. Natura 2000 is, without doubt, one of the most ambitious supranational initiatives for nature conservation worldwide and forms the cornerstone of the EU nature conservation policies. However, the implementation of Natura 2000 is hampered by conflicting interests, by different types of knowledge and expertise, and by different perceptions or visions of nature. In this lecture, the focus will be on different and often diverging moral intuitions and ethical principles as source of possible conflicts over Natura 2000.

Der vorliegende Beitrag analysiert die Umsetzung der FFH-Richtlinie durch Landwirte in Sachsen. Seit 2002 hat der Freistaat Sachsen 270 FFH-Gebiete an die Europäische Kommis-sion gemeldet und führt in diesen Gebieten systematisch FFH-Managementplanungen durch mit dem Ziel, die Naturschutzpraktiken auf den FFH-Flächen zu optimieren. Im Zuge der FFH-Managementplanung werden die Landwirte kontaktiert, um sie mit Hilfe von Bera-tungsgesprächen zur Optimierung ihrer Bewirtschaftungspraktiken zu motivieren. Der vorlie-gende Beitrag fasst die bisherigen Erfahrungen aus 17 FFH-Managementplänen in Sachsen zwischen 2003 und 2011 zusammen. Der Datensatz wurde mit Hilfe von Beratungsgesprä-chen gewonnen und besteht aus betriebsstrukturellen Informationen von 131 Betrieben und ökologische Informationen von 333 FFH-Flächen. Die Statistik zeigt, dass 63 % aller Betriebe bereit sind die Maßnahmen optimal umzusetzen, weitere 20 % zeigen sich offen, leicht ange-passte Maßnahmen umzusetzen. Ein einfaches binäres Modell wird angewandt zur Bestim-mung möglicher Einflussgrößen auf die Entscheidungen der Betriebe. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die betriebliche Entscheidung für eine naturschutzfachliche Optimierung abhängig ist von der Viehbesatzdichte des Betriebes, jedoch nicht von Betriebsgröße oder dem Flächen-umfang der entsprechenden FFH-Flächen auf dem Betrieb. Eine Umsetzung von FFH-Maßnahmen ist auf Flächen mit speziellen Agrarumweltmaßnahmen wahrscheinlicher. Aller-dings deuten die Modellergebnisse darauf hin, dass einige Agrarumweltmaßnahmen nicht auf die Bedingungen von FFH-Flächen im höheren Erzgebirge passen. Insgesamt erscheint die Praxis der FFH-Managementpläne eine sinnvolle Ergänzung zu den Agrarumweltprogram-men, da dieser Planungsprozess, der in Sachsen von Betriebsbesuchen und Beratung begleitet wird, einen höheren Zielerreichungsgrad im Naturschutz ermöglicht und Landwirte zur Um-setzung von FFH-relevanten Naturschutzmaßnahmen motiviert.

The paper documents plant diversi-ty in the Regional Park of Gallipoli Cognato and Piccole Dolomiti Lucane (Basilicata), providing a comprehensive inventory of the native and alien vascular flora distributed in the four Natura 2000 sites concerned with the park. The checklist is based on the floristic reports and literature from 1947 to today, and on diversity-richness surveys conducted from 2011 to 2013 in the framework of the Europe-an project LIFE09 NAT/IT/000118 Ri.Co.Pr.I. "Restoration and conservation of arid grasslands of central-southern Italy". The research led to identification of 864 species and subspecies of vascular plants in an area of 270 km2, of which 828 native and 36 alien. Italian endemic taxa are 54 and 105 taxa are protected at various levels. These data provide a preliminary framework for future research and confirm the plant diversity of the Natura 2000 sites and the areas recognised for protec-tion as “Important Plant Areas (IPAs)” by the Italian Ministry of the Environment and Pro-tection of the Territory and the Sea.

Fact is that, by intensively exploiting natural resources for years, we have achieved to reproduce the urban ecological dead ends, that deteriorate the everyday living in the Greek cities, into the protected natural areas.
Two case-studies from Crete, Chrysi isle and Paligkremnos site, present the realization of this environmental degradation scenario.

Our paper presents a comparison of historical data concerning the distribution of forest communities in the Sowie Mountains in southwestern Poland in 1968-71 with material collected by the authors between 2009 and 2013. The analyses were performed using geographic information system software. The archival vegetation maps were digitized, and the layer of the current distribution of forest communities was applied afterward. Archival data indicated that, in the study area, spruce monocultures of anthropogenic character predominated, occupying 90% of forest area. The obtained results suggest that regular forest management conducted within the study area has surprisingly contributed to an increase in the area of forest communities of the Querco-Fagetea class from 766 to 1,579 ha (more than 100%) over the last 45 years. The largest rise in the area of studied communities was observed on meso-oligotrophic habitats, and was reflected in the increase of the area of acidophilous beech forests, representing Luzulo luzuloidis-Fagetum association
(habitat 9110 protected in the European Union), from 168 ha to1,064 ha. There was a minor decrease in the area of submontane riparian forests Carici remotae-Fraxinetum (habitat 91E0); the area of mesotrophic beech forests Galio odorati-Fagetum (habitat 9130) seems to be stable. Approximately 72% of deciduous forests in the study area have retained their spatial cover for 45 years. The newly created forest communities are deprived of a number of essential elements of the structure, primarily dead wood, including lying trunks and trees. The lack of these features does not allow us to assess
the status of these ecosystems as entirely satisfactory. However, the possibility of converting Picea abies monocultures in deciduous forests of the Querco-Fagetea class under regular forest management should be considered beneficial to the conservation status of forest ecosystems of mountain areas of Central Europe.

Ecosystem Services (ESs) are assuming a constantly increasing importance in management practices due to their key role in ensuring a sustainable future to fauna and flora on Earth. In addition, ES degradation and quality loss jeopardize current human activities. For this reason, it is essential to develop methodologies and practices able to efficiently assess environmental and socio-economic impacts in terms of ES deterioration, especially within protected areas. Norms and regulations have to be able to identify habitat and species categories to be preserved, and to determine the cost of their destruction and decline, according to a holistic vision, which includes social and economic impacts, besides the environmental ones. The paper illustrates the case study of the “Isola dell’Asinara” Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Sardinia, where an experimental methodology was developed with the aim to draw new regulations that integrate conservation measures of Natura 2000 sites included in it...

7.1. The study “The assessment of the significance of impacts of the proposed motorway D1 Turany - Hubová on the Natura 2000 sites” by PEŤKOVÁ & MIKA (2007) does not meet the requirements either for sufficient documentation in the screening, nor for appropriate assessment under the Article 6.3 of the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC.
7.2. The results of our work show that the approved variant of the motorway D1 section Turany - Hubová would have significant negative impacts on Natura 2000 sites. This variant poses the risk of serious damage and/or destruction of ecological characteristics of the habitats, ecosystems and landscape, especially in the area of Šútovo - Rojkov (SACs Malá Fatra, Veľká Fatra and Váh River). Particularly the habitats of Community importance 7230 Alkaline fens, 7140 Transition mires and quaking bogs, 3160 Natural dystrophic lakes and ponds, 91D0* Bog woodland and 9180* Tilio-Acerion forests on slopes, screes and ravines (with hard water springs), and species of Community importance Vertigo angustior (c. 50 % of population in SAC Veľká Fatra), Erysimum hungaricum (>50 % of population in SAC Malá Fatra), many breeding, migratory and wintering birds, bats, amphibians and large carnivores are at severe risk.
7.3. When analysing the decisions made by the relevant nature conservation and construction authorities, one can conclude that no compensation and only partial mitigation measures are imposed on the developer of the approved variant of D1 motorway. This is to say that hardly compensable or even non-compensable losses have been already taking place at the current stage of works (deforestation - Fig. 12, 13).
7.4. Taking into consideration the availability of alternatives to the approved variant of the motorway D1 (e.g. the already assessed variant B1 with the Korbeľka tunnel), we request a proper assessment of the alternative solutions to be urgently provided.

The intertidal areas of UK coasts are important habitats for shellfish species, such as cockles Cerastoderma edule and mussels Mytilus edulis. Commercial harvesting of shellfish is worth an annual £250 million to the UK economy, providing both food and employment (DEFRA, 2013). These shellfish are also the principal food resource for overwintering shorebirds such as oystercatchers Haematopus ostralegus and knots Calidris canutus. Shorebirds are key components of UK coastal biodiversity and are protected under the European Union Wild Birds Directive (2009/147/EEC), which legally obligates the UK government to maintain healthy shorebird populations.