Kulér-Summary

Ochrana přírody 1/2024 — 28. 2. 2024 — Kulér-Summary — Tištěná verze článku v pdf

SUMMARY – OCHRANA PŘÍRODY 1/2024

Hubený P.: Decaying Wood – The World of Wilderness

In the Holocene, nature in the Šumava/Bohemian Forest Mts. has been mostly woody. Whole generations of trees grow and die there. Therefore, without fungi and some insect species which can break up cellulose, within the Šumava/Bohemian Forest Mts. there would be a layer of dead tree trunks, being some meters thick. In dried-up wood which is not influenced by rainfall for a long time, water accounts for approx. 12% of its weight. Moreover, in still compact wood of recently dead Norway spruces (Picea abies) average proportion of water is 39%. Already at the next stage when wood has been partially decayed there is 58% of water. Ten-year measurements on permanent monitoring plots in a part of the Šumava/Bohemian Forest Mts. National Park, which has not been managed and forest has been left to spontaneous development, show that there is as an average 82 cubic meters of died tree trunks of various dimensions per hectare. Approx. 60% of their volume consist of water making almost 50 cubic meters of water per hectare. In an area left to spontaneous development after the European spruce bark beetle (Ips typograhus) plague for 15 to 25 years, there currently are as an average 420 pieces of aboveground wood biomass thicker than 7 centimetres including bark in various stages of decaying per hectare. About 150 pieces per hectare create barrier against draining off surface water. Blow downs also gather water, accumulating it and allow it to infiltrate into bared soil or scree. Dead trees finally become a part of soil environment. The process usually lasts dozens of years according to size and species of trees and the character of the environment. Forest full of decaying wood also displays high species richness, particularly in fungi and wood-decaying insects.

Zajíček P.: The Most Recent Knowledge about Findings in the Kateřinská jeskyně/Catherine’s Cave

At present, in total 13 prehistoric carbon drawing traces are registered at various sites within the Old Kateřinská jeskyně/Catherine’s Cave (the Moravský kras/Moravian Karst, South Moravia). In 2016, detail research on rock walls had begun there. In 2019 a series of samples was taken and it was found that three of them are about 6,500 years old: they became the oldest cave charcoal drawing traces on the Czech Republic’ territory. In 2023, other drawings from the Ledová chodba/Ice Corridor were successfully dated back. One of them is located between previously dated prehistoric drawings. The other two are situated in a more remote part of the corridor where there have been hundreds of inscriptions, signatures and years of modern times since the late 18th century. All the drawings are 5,200 to 6,500 years old. According to the past findings, a massive and spacious portal of the Kateřinská jeskyně/Catherine’s Cave and at the same time also space in the near Suchý žleb/Dry Canyon were for a long time inhabited by prehistoric humans in the Late Neolithic Period as well as in younger periods. Inner space of the Kateřinská jeskyně/ Catherine’s Cave behind a narrow corridor 60 meters long was definitely not permanently inhabited because there was no permanent fire. The most probable explanation why the inner part of the cave was repeatedly visited by humans is that the space was considered to be a shrine. Finding of the oldest prehistoric charcoal graffiti in the Czech Republic had opened other possibilities of a comprehensive research at the unique site carried out in 2021 and 2023. The most important findings are from sediments in the non-named corridor. Prehistory was represented by shards from ceramic containers 3,000 to 4,000 years old, i.e. from the Bronze Age. Discovering a secret money counterfeiting workshop from the Middle Ages, the very first in the whole Moravský kras/Moravian Karst, was the most surprising discovery there. Finding a prehistoric stone arrow from light Scandinavian chert and particularly of two slate fragments where a procession of figures is depicted is also unique. It resembles a procession of Hittite gods of the Underworld known from a rock relief in the Yazilikaya Shrine in Hattusa in Turkey. Age and origin of the former discovery has been still examined as well as the fact how the fragments arrived into the Moravský kras/Moravian Karst.

Hošek M., Bartaloš T, Kadlubiec R., Kešner M., Pavka P., Pavková K. & Trojáček P.: Delineation and Conservation of the Floodplain Significant Landscape Element

Among Significant Landscape Elements (SLEs), sometimes called also Significant Landscape Features (SLFs), floodplains display the greatest difficulty both in delineation and conservation. In addition to long-term needs, the importance of floodplains has been newly highlighted in the currently debated European Union’s Nature Conservation Law. One of its key targets is in fact principal restoration of watercourses which only hardly can be implemented without whole areas of their floodplains. In 2020–2023, the authors tried to solve the problem of missing methodically unified approach by project entitled Practical tools for floodplain significant landscape feature protection and planning and funded by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic. The process was divided into two steps. Framework delineation of floodplains along significant watercourses in the Czech Republic is based on automated source data processing and is characterized by lower precision and accuracy (scale 1 : 25,000). The above outputs of the project dealt with more than 16,000 kilometres of significant watercourses, totally covering approx. 6,550 km². Detailed floodplain delineation uses mostly manual delineation in maximally feasible precision and accuracy, i.e. on minimal scale 1 : 10,000, on significant as well as small watercourses in the extent of municipality with extended powers (MEP) administrative district, applying also the framework delineation. The detailed floodplain delineation procedure was tested on territories of three MEPs. In addition to the delineation procedure, some other products were generated, namely Floodplain categorization, Catalogue of floodplain functions and Manual for using the data of delineated and categorised floodplains in planning documentation. The methodology for floodplain delineation has an ambition to become the principal expert/technical background for delineating floodplains of watercourses in the Czech Republic, potentially unifying floodplain delineation and categorisation by State/Public Administration authorities, including land-use/territorial planning.

Ouhrabka V.: Using Georadar in Karst Areas and for Cave Surveys

Caves defined as underground holes of natural character are the main subject of speleological surveys. The first systematic speleological surveys had been conducted on what is now the Czech Republic as early as 300 years ago aiming mainly at passing through freely accessible, mostly known caves, their description and at basic documentation (maps and drawings). Only later, during the 19th century speleological survey intentionally began to deal with finding and discovering new caves. Modern technology allowed to penetrate to new caves by digging through massive cavings, corridors filled by sediments, rock narrows and water siphons/sumps or to climb up through high colouirs. Georadar, a device allowing to determine interfaces between the individual materials in the bedrock provides a new method to looking under the Earth’s surface. According to technology applied and character of the bedrock it is able to look hundreds of meters under the ground because it operates on the principle of transmitting and reflecting short duration electromagnetic pulses from a transmitter. A reflected wave is composed of received impulses. A special software can display the wave at any point of measuring and to assemble a whole radargram from the individual waves. The first remarkable success related to testing the georadar in seeking for yet unknown cave corridors was made by Slovenian speleologists in early 2019. Based on measuring in the vicinity of the Škocjan Caves possible directions and depths of further continuation of known cave spaces had been identified. Consequently, by digging to the depth of about 90 meters under the surface the speleologists really entered in new caves. Thus, georadar survey helped to made the first great discovery in the Škocjan Caves after almost one hundred years.

Chobot K.: Project Mapping and Inventorying (Monitoring 2) Finished

The Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic (NCA CR) has been charged to monitor the state of habitats and species: the activity can be considered in a wide sense to be a biodiversity monitoring scheme. In 2010–2015 the first project Monitoring and area-wide mapping of species of European importance for finishing the proposal for Natura 2000 network in the Czech Republic focusing on detailed and aerial mapping of selected wild animal species across the whole Czech Republic’s territory. At the same, similarly extensive project Implementing the Natura 2000 network in the Czech Republic was carried out also aiming at data gathering by inventorying small-size Specially Protected Areas of the national importance. After finishing both projects, it was clear that further extensive gathering of species data is required. Therefore, in 2015 the NCA CR’s Department of Biodiversity Monitoring developed a project’s proposal merging both the above topics under the title Monitoring and mapping selected wild plan and animal species and inventorying small-size Specially Protected Areas in areas of national importance in the Czech Republic. It planned to carry out monitoring of 14,790 sites and to conduct 5,070 inventorying surveys. Combining both the activities resulted in higher effectivity of the surveys. If inventorying survey of a certain wildlife group at a site was carried out the locality was excluded from the mapping. Thus, mapping complemented inventorying surveys in grids not covered by the respective Specially Protected Area. All data gathered were stored and made accessible at the Nature Conservancy Species Occurrence Finding Data Database where they are available, inter alia, for the State Nature Conservancy authorities. The data sets reached in total 925,000 records. Due to the project surveys, wildlife species state and distribution in the Czech Republic were again substantially strengthened and our knowledge necessary for effective Specially Protected Areas management unarguably significantly improved.

Jelínková J.: Reducing Competence and Powers of the Czech Environmental Inspectorate

By the 15th subsection of Act No. 465/2023 Gazette changing Act No. 416/2009 Gazette on Accelerating Building of Transport, Water and Energy Production and Consumption Infrastructure and Infrastructure of Electronic Communication (Linear Infrastructure Act), as amended later, and other related laws, Act No. 114/1992 Gazette on Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection (ANCLP) was amended. The changes mainly deal with competences and powers of the Czech Environmental Inspectorate (CEI) that shall not deal with natural persons not doing business anymore. The reduction of CEI’s powers was done through a Members of Parliament amendment not related to the Linear Infrastructure Act topic. Thus, comments of other State Nature Conservancy authorities including those of municipalities and Regions or environmental citizens’ associations were excluded. The reduction is caused by changes in the first sentence of Article 80 of the ANCLP pursuant to it the CEI lost competence for checking and consequently pursuant to Article 80 paragraph 4 of the ANCLP for dealing with natural persons’ offences. There is no transitional regulation/temporary provision within the amendment, i.e. the CEI has to hand over proceedings on an offence, which had begun before the amendment entered into force, to other State Nature Conservancy authority having been continuing to be authorised to deal with them, most often to municipality with extended powers (MEP), alternatively to the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic. Therefore, workload will increase in Municipal Offices of MEP and other State Nature Conservancy authorities, although they have been dealing with supervising agenda rather optionally. Due to their heavy overloading with permission activities under pressure of the very strict deadlines which shall even increase by issuing the Unified Environmental Opinion pursuant to the New Building Act it is not realistic that they will be able to provide more capacities for checking, preventive and sanctioning activities than they have to date done. Thus, rights for nature conservation and landscape protection shall probably be reduced by revocation of natural persons not doing business from the competence of the CEI, a specialized checking and enforcement authority with more than thirty-year experience and tradition in the Czech Republic.

Plesník J.: On IUCN Lists. This Time on Green Ones

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is sometime accused that through well-known Red Lists it excessively highlights unfavourable status of global nature. Therefore, an idea to award from a point of view of nature conservation important and well protected, conserved and managed protected areas has resulted in the idea of the IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas. A protected or conserved area or Other effective area-based conservation measures (OECM) that reaches the IUCN Green List Standard is certified and recognised as achieving ongoing results for people and nature in a fair and effective way. Any site can join, and work its way towards achieving verified success, and then maintain the Standard or further improve. More than 600 individual protected areas or OECMs have been involved in the IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas campaign. Moreover, not all have been obtained the certificate of inscription on the Green List. As of 1 January 2024, there were 61 protected areas or OEMs on the list: in total, they cover 735,551 km², i.e. 0.4% of the Earth’s surface. An intention to present to the professional and general public species or other taxa, due to effective conservation measures saved from extinction, has not been quite new. For elaborating Red Lists and Red Data Books IUCN used also the category Saved in 1987 to 1994. After the 5th World Conservation Congress IUCN begun to develop the IUCN Greem List of Species. After a series of consultations conducted in 2012–2018 the conceptual framework of the IUCN Green List of Species was proposed and it was decided to call the new measuring species recovery the IUCN Green Status of Species to avoid confusion with the above IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas. Species is fully recovered if it is present in all parts of its range, even those that are no longer occupied but were occupied prior to major human impacts/disruption, it is viable (i.e. not threatened with extinction) in all parts of the range and it is performing its ecological functions in all parts of the range. The IUCN Green Status of Species, a set of metrics designed to characterize the past and potential future recovery of each species on the Red List, was festively launched at the opening of the 7th World Conservation Congress held in Marseille, France in September 2021.

Jongepierová I. & Říhová J.: The White Carpathian House of Nature

At the end of 2023, the Bílé Karpaty/White Carpathian Mts. Protected Landscape Area Visitor Centre – The White Carpathian House of Nature (BK- WCHN) in Bartolomějské náměstí/Bartholomew Square in the historic quarter of the town of Veselí nad Moravou (South Moravia) was completed. Investor and operator of the BK-WCHN is the Czech Union for Nature Conservation, local branch Bílé Karpaty The site was selected also due to the good connection by public transport to the PLA’s southern part as well as the fact that lively tourism on Baťa Canal and on adjacent bicycle trails bring plenty of visitors there. The design of the facility began as early as 2016. In 2020–2021 three tenders for BK-WCHN’s building equipment and furnishing were held,: some of them had to be repeated. Finances were provided by the South Moravian Regional Office and the Town of Veselí nad Moravou, and small contributions were donated by some municipalities. The original building in Bartolomějské náměstí/Bartholomew Square was completely restored. On the ground floor, there are a reception and exposition, while on the 1st and 2nd floors a lecture theatre, a library and offices for operating the BK-WCHN can be found. The other building is a new passive one, where a part of the exhibition is located on two floors. An atelier is available not only for activities with children but also for various workshops and training courses. The whole BK-WCHN’s exhibition is based on playfulness and creativity. Zoya Volkova’s drawings on blueprint background are complemented by photos and movies as well as a series of animations. All texts have been translated into English and German. The adjacent outdoor space can be used for various purposes, too. A water element, the Morava River with meanders, shows illustratively how water can be retained within the landscape, and aims at children. The BK-WCHN will be festively opened in March 2024.

Zajíček P.: Karel Absolon’s Expedition to the Macocha/Stepmother Abyss Bottom in 1903

Until 1914 the bottom of the Macocha/Stepmother Abyss in the Moravský kras/Moravian Karst (South Moravia) was available only from above using ropes or ladders. From the first climbing down the abyss conducted in 1723 there were many other adventurous expeditions or scientific surveys in the otherwise inaccessible sites. At the beginning of the 20th century Karel Absolon organized in total five climbing down the Macocha/Stepmother Abyss. One of the most important expeditions was conducted in 1903. The participants, six explorers and six workers, had a bivouc with all equipment at the bottom and spent in total four days and three nights there, raising a lot of new knowledge and discoveries. The main reason for organising the expeditions were possible discoveries of new spaces between the Macocha/Stepmother Abyss bottom and the Pustý žleb/Desolate Canyon that had been expected there.. During the expedition, temperature, humidity and pressure were measured at the abyss’ bottom. Nevertheless, a publication presenting the measurements has not been found yet. Although the expedition did not reach the current Punkevní jeskyně/Punkva Caves, new small caves, inter alia, the Pasovsky’s Cave, were discovered. František Straňák, a botanist, also participated in the expedition: he in detail analysed vegetation cover over the bottom and on accessible parts of walls. Two years later, Absolon organized a five-day expedition even with more participants. Consequently, he systematically planned a strategy for further speleological surveys there that resulted in discovering the first part of the Punkevní jeskyně/Punkva Caves underground system in 1909.

Bobek M.: Conservation of Pangolins Requires a Broader Approach

Until recently pangolins (Pholidota) have been known only to those interested in tropical fauna or professional zoologists. With the exception of the abdomen, the body of these medium-sized mammals is covered by relatively large protective keratin scales: they are the only mammals having scales. Just an enormous demand for scales, meat and other body parts caused intensive poaching of pangolins at first in South and Southeast Asia and consequently also in tropical Africa. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has been trying to control international trade with all pangolin species, but with varying results. The scales are used in traditional medicine in East Asia as well as in Africa. In China the price of pangolin scales can reach USD 3,000 per kilogram. Pangolin meat is prized as a delicacy in parts of China and Vietnam: the consumption evidences wealth and social status there. Extensive demand for skin manufactured for exotic cowboy boots, wallets and belts has also contributed to a sharp decline in pangolins’ number. Pangolins occur or occurred in 53 countries: in almost all of them they are officially protected, often strictly. Cameroon has been an important centre in pangolin trafficking. Effective measures to save pangolins in the wild should cover the whole chain of poaching, trading and consumption: first of all, the demand should be reduced. The efforts should include not only restrictions, but also communication with, education of and raising awareness among the general public and the respective target groups. Captive breeding of pangolins has been extremely difficult because the animals do not adapt well to alternative or artificial foods and suffer stress, depression and malnutrition, leading to significantly shortened lifespans. In addition, they are extraordinarily susceptible to various infection diseases. Pangolins also lack some genes important for skin and mucosal immunity and for reducing vulnerability to stress. Therefore, rearing the female Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) called Šiška (Conex), the very first pangolin bred in Europe, in Prague Zoo in 2023 is really a great success on a global scale.

Urban P. & Miňová L.: Are UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in Slovakia Caught in Vicious Circle?

In 2021 the 50th anniversary of one of the most important intergovernmental programmes, the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) was celebrated. The programme aims at harmonious relationship between people and their environments. In practice it is implemented by the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR): as of 1 January 2024, there were 738 biosphere reserves (BR) in 134 countries including 22 transboundary sites, presenting a rich mosaic of ecosystems, cultures and nations and covering in total 5% of the Earth’s surface. Each biosphere reserve has three mutually reinforcing functions: conservation, sustainable development and logistic support for scientific research and education, Thus, they reserves are traditionally organized into three interrelated zones, known as the core area, the buffer zone, and a transition area or ’area of cooperation. In Slovakia the following areas were awarded as biosphere reserve: the Slovenský kras/Slovakian Karst (1977), Poľana Mts. (1990), Východné Karpaty/East Carpathians (1992) and the Tatry/Tatras Mts. (1992). The latter was declared as bilateral while the Východné Karpaty/East Carpathians BR became the first trilateral biosphere reserve in the world in 1998. All four BRs overlap with Specially Protected Areas (three National Parks and one Protected Landscape Area). Since the beginning, attention has been paid to the BR’s conservation function while other two, particularly sustainable development one, lagged behind not only in monitoring, but also in communication, education and public awareness. Due to the ignorance of the mission and importance of biosphere reserves, the general public has been often considering them as further Specially Protected Area category with related restrictions. At present a comprehensive support from the State has been missing in implementing the UNESCO MAB Programme in Slovakia. The BRs’ management is coordinated by the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic Banská Bystrica. Elaborating and approving a national biosphere reserves development strategy should significantly enhance unifying targets and goals for future running them. Moreover, due to positive development in the Poľana Mts. Biosphere Reserve Vladimíra Fabriciusová, Chair of Slovak MAB Committee and Director of the Poľana Mts. Protected Landscape Area Administration was awarded by the international prize for the best management of a biosphere reserve in the world – the Michel Batisse Award for Biosphere Reserve Management in 2017.    ■

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Úvodní foto: Křinice v národním parku České Švýcarsko Foto archiv AOPK ČR