EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - UNESCO World Heritage

Annex 3 to IMP
INTERREG IIIB CADSES – Project proposal (preliminary outline)
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH NATURE-BASED MANAGEMENT
OF FOREST RESOURCES AND HERITAGE-ORIENTED TOURISM IN THE
CARPATHIANS
Four priorities are covered by this project proposal. They are mutually interlinked by inputs
and outputs and contribute to solving the challenge of sustainable use of resources in the
Carpathians.
I. Protecting and developing natural heritage
The most important natural values in the concerned countries regions are represented by the
Carpathian primeval forests in particular. Regarding patterns such as tree species composition,
specific developmental cycles and the overall dynamics, no similar forests can be found in
other parts of the world. Beside pure beech primeval forests, currently extremely rare in
Europe, oak forests and renowned fir-beech primeval forests of the Carpathians reflect the
variability of climax forests that once covered the area extending from Central France to
Western Ukraine and from Southern Sweden to the mountainous part of Central Italy. They
are also home to populations of numerous endangered tree species, e. g. yew (Taxus baccata)
and elm (Ulmus glabra), xylobiont species and birds nesting in cavities or on broken trees.
The unique standing of the Carpathian primeval forests has been highlighted by the inclusion
of the Ecoregion No. 77, to which they belong, among the world’s most important ecoregions
known as “WWF Global 200”. Selected ecoregions cover the most outstanding examples of
each major habitat type from every continent. The primeval forests of the Carpathians also fall
under the EU Natura 2000 Habitats directive, mainly 9110 Luzulo-Fagetum beech forests,
Asperulo-Fagetum beech forests, Medio-European limestone beech forests of the
Cephalanthero-Fagion, Tilio-Acerion forests of slopes, screes and ravines and others. They
represent a source of knowledge for sustainable management of forest resources and risk
prevention.
To ensure the protection of this invaluable heritage, On 22 May 2003 in Kiyv, Ukraine, the
Ministers of the Environment of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia and
Montenegro, Slovak Republic and Ukraine signed the Framework Convention on the
Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians. The Carpathian Convention
provides the framework for cooperation and multi-sectoral policy coordination, a platform for
joint strategies for sustainable development, and a forum for dialogue between all
stakeholders involved. Natural heritage protection is facilitated by initiatives such as The
Carpathian Ecoregion Initiative, 'CERI' (formerly known as the 'CEI'), an international
network of NGOs and research institutes from seven Carpathian countries (Hungary,
Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Serbia & Montenegro) dedicated to
the protection of one of the most important natural areas of Europe, and of the world and
ACANAP. On the national level, it rests on national legislations, such
Currently, the integrity of Carpathian primeval forests is partly compromised due to
fragmentation. While the localities have sufficient size (Korpeľ 1995, Bücking 2003, Biris,
Veen 2005) and contain all mutually related and reciprocally dependent key components
interlinked by undisturbed biogeochemical cycles, the exchange of biological information
however is not sufficiently guaranteed, because the localities are from 3 to 80 km apart, partly
embedded in intensively managed forests and agricultural land. According to current
knowledge, genetic exchange and repopulation are possible when the virgin forest ecosystems
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