English Summary

The Supra-regional (=National) TSES consists of the components (core areas, biological corridors) of at least national importance. The Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection of the Czech Republic (ANCLP CR) has been in charge with updating the Supra-regional TSES by the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic. During the first phase, Supra-regional TSES core areas and axes of Supra-regional TSES biological corridors are being delineated. Updated methodology is provided by the Manual for designers of the Local Territorial System of Ecological Stability. Methods for elaboration of the documentation. Background documents, according to which the Supra-regional TSES has been delineated, clearly differ in quality. The core areas are delineated by the individual land plots, in some justifiable cases, by landscape structures, e.g. by a forest edge. For each TSES component, digital and map data as well as tables and detailed descriptions are provided. Staff members from the ANCLPs regional branches and Headquarters and National Park Administration reviewed the proposal. The updated GIS layer of the Supra-regional TSES will become, together with Regional (=Sub-national) and Local TSES layers, a part of the Nature Conservancy Information System run by the ANCLP CR. In 2011, the activities shall be followed by delineation of the Supra-regional TSES biological corridors into the individual components. It is supposed that the activity will be finished by June 30, 2013.

With respect to its current distribution, there are only three isolated sites in Bohemia (the Elbe River Basin) and a single site in Silesia (the Odra River Basin). The small planorbid gastropod is also confirmed to Central Moravia (the Morava River Basin), where two isolated sites of its occurrence are located. In southern Moravia, more sites can be found in extensive area in the Morava and Dyje/Thaya River floodplain upstream of their confluence. The author also summarizes management measures to be taken to maintain the species population in the Czech Republic.

Extensive hewed material deposits originating from breaking through rock walls are undesirable consequences of making a cave accessible for the public and related survey activities. The Zbrašov Aragonite Caves Administration has been removing the deposits since 1996. During recovery of the cave trail carried out in 2003-2005 approx. 850 m³ of old deposits with the exception of ru-bble were removed from the space around a cave trail. In the following parts of the caves, namely in the “At the Back of the Waterfall” Corridor, measures were also taken to clean up the underground space in 2009. Along both sides of the corridors, there were stone blocks and clay sediments from the survey carried out in the early 1930s by persons who had discovered the caves. The measures were funded by 170,000 CZK from the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic scheme entitled as the National Perpetuity Management in Specially Protected Areas. After removing 40 m³ of rock deposits the appearance of the cave corridor which is not accessible for the public has been very similar to that before the survey was carried out and a space of surprising dimensions appeared. Revealed rock walls are locally covered by classic sinter decoration, which is not common in the hydrothermal karst of the Zbrašov Aragonite Caves.

The process has substantially negatively affected not only birds, but also the ecosystem as a whole. Therefore, special fishpond management has been proposed and tested to reverse the unfavourable trend and to restore the reed beds. Following issues were studied: (1) decreasing water level effects – during the first year of a two year commercial management cycle, water level was decreased to make a bottom strip along the fishpond shore; alternative fish stock effects – a fish stock without the Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) or a reduced fish stock were introduced into a shallow bay separated by a wire fence preventing carps from entering the bay. Since 1998, the condition of reed beds (moving of the edge line close to water level, changes in the total area) and total plant species diversity along the fishpond shore in the separated bay and outside it have been compared. Moving of the edge reed bed line was monitored at fenced permanent plots in 1998–2004 and on permanent transects from water level to the shore through the reed beds (since 1998). The experiment revealed (1) a negative effect of numerous fish stock on submersed and littoral vegetation (mechanical damage and increase in water turbidity); a positive effect of regular decreasing in water level during the first year of the commercial management cycle (soil aeration and seed recovery); a negative effect of high water level in the summer season (limited vegetative and seed reproduction in plants, plants with flooded tops die, spring floods caused by snow-melt do not matter, but floods resulted from summer heavy rainfall do); a negative effect of increasing habitat eutrophication (increase in water turbidity, algal and cyanobacterial bloom); a negative effect of the overpopulated Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) causing damages to young reed rhizomes. For restoring the reed beds, reduction in fish stock numbers combined with regular water level decreasing seems to be an optimal way of fishpond management in the above Specially Protected Area.

In line with the document “Improving and optimising national subvention programmes/subsidiary schemes in nature conservation and landscape protection”, which was approved by the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic (MoE) in mid-2008, two national subsidiary schemes, namely the Urban Area Management Programme and the Programme for the Stabilization of the Forests in the Jizera Mts. and Mt. Ještěd, were discontinued by the MoE. Receiving applications for subsidiary support from the River System Restoration Programme was stopped in 2009 and only proposals which had been received before will be implemented in upcoming years. In relation to floods which affected the Ústí, South Bohemian, Olomouc and South Moravian Regions in 2009, within the River System Restoration Programme, the new sub-programme entitled Support of the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic in Restoration of the Areas Suffering from Floods in 2009 was prepared at the end of 2009. The sub-programme was launched in the first quarter of 2010. In July 2009 the MoE launched a new subsidiary scheme, the Landscape Natural Function Restoration Programme and allocated 34.17 million CZK (1.3 million euros) for it in 2009. The sub-programme State Property Management in the Czech Republics Specially Protected Areas has been continuing almost unchanged with 94.3 million CZK (3.7 million euros) in 2009 as well as the Landscape Management Programme, having 175 million CZK (6.9. million euros) available for applicants at the same period. In autumn 2008, the Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection of the Czech Republic launched a web guide aiming at financial instruments in nature conservation and landscape protection (www.dotace.nature.cz). Consequently, printed information materials on the above topic have been produced.