EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - UNESCO World Heritage

Pre-proposal No 3 NATURE - BASED MANAGEMENT OF BIODIVERSITY,
WATER AND CARBON IN FORESTS ECOSYSTEMS OF THE CARPATHIANS
Description
The main project priority is the scientific research, testing and model implemetation of selected primeval forests dynamics components into
forestry toolbox with the aim to eliminate the risk of biodiversity loss, to avert the degradation and loss and elimination of biotopes in the carpathian
forest ecosystems. The project goal is to resolve the dual optimisation problem of the integrated forest ecosystems management in
compliance with two leading principles: stopping the biodiversity loss in accordance with the directive 92/43/CCE on biotopes and the convention
on biodiversity conservation CBD 1992, as well as assuring the highest possible provision of ecological and environmental functions
(The Framework UN Accord on Climate Change 1992, Kyoto Protocol 1997) on one hand; and economically viable production of quality wood,
according to Forests Based Sector Technological Platform (2005) on the other hand. Given the framework conditions, the problem can only
be resolved by the implementation of far more natural processes into every-day forestry than is the reality today. Within the project platform,
elements of primeval forests structure, texture and developmental dynamics in the Carpathians, and their interactions with the abiotic environment
and biodiversity will be analyzed in both qualitative and quantitative terms with an outlook on their potential transfer into forestry toolbox,
while considering the generally volatile economic environment. Ecological demands of floral and animal species bound to primeval
forests-type habitats will be throughly investigated. In-depth research will be conducted on the opportunities for reconstruction and sustainable
existence of habitats under forest management. Subsequently, selected elements of primeval forests patterns and dynamics will be screened
and tested by trees growth and economic models, in the assemblage of past research plots subject to low-intensity intervention. Subsequently,
successful models will be implemented into proposals of protected areas maintenance programs and forest management plans for
proposed ecological biocorridors connecting primeval forests into ecologically functional clusters, as well as for adjacent forest areas, in which
a substantial increase of reliance on the natural dynamics is possible.
Thus the project will achieve: (1) Definition of selected endangered primeval forests species ecological demands, development of methods
for ex-situ conservation of endangered tree species by micropropagation; (2) Validated models of retention, accumulation and filtration of
water in forest ecosystems, based on the exploitation of natural forest structure, texture, trees necromass dynamics and surface humus patterns;
(3) Validated models of increased organic carbon accumulation, based on the utilisation of surface humus and trees necromass spatial
distribution patterns and solute transport in soils; (4) Validated models and routines of harmonization of forestry interventions with the natural
dynamics in forest ecosystems, their maximum utilization for boosting the ecological and environmental functions of forests in a desired
composition; (5) Increased stability of forest ecosystems and adjacent landscapes, incl. slope stability and erosion, landslides, windthrow,
windbreak and forest fires suppresion. The project's added value also consists in the future direct transfer of knowledge into the management
of forests in the neigbouring Transcarpathioan Region (Ukraine) as agreed with the Ukrainian authorities (Ministry of Environment of Ukraine,
Carpathian Biosphere Reserve).
Multiple demands on forests are defined by both national law and international treaties and documents, mainly Act No. 543/2002 Coll. of the
Slovak National Council on Nature and Landscape Protection, Act of the Slovak National Council No. ã. 326/2005 Coll. on the forest management
and state administration of forest management, Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 may 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and
of wild fauna and flora, Resolution No. 2 of the Third Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe held in Lisbon in 1998, and
most recently by The Forests Based Sector Technological Platform and its Research Agenda (Beckmann et al. 2005). Such composition of
demands is currently not secured: under global change, one of the main sustainable forestry premises on a steady-state abiotic site conditions
is no longer valid (Wagonner 1994, Kauppi 1995). The wood market has become extremely volatile and the profit margins from wood and
its products frequently are not sufficient to cover the costs of silvicultural and regeneration measures (Commarmot et al. 2000). The only feasible
way out of this situation appears to be an increased reliance and controlled utilisation of nature forests dynamics for the purpose of securing
the forests ecosystems stability, value production and both ecological and environmental functions. The related scientific research is possible
owing to the combination of the existence of the most representative sample of nature forests in the Carpathians over a relatively small
territory of the Slovak Republic, high biodiversity including xylobiotic species, cavity-nesting birds and large carnivores, as well as the preceding,
50-year-long research of the primeval forests structure and textural patterns (Korpel 1995, Bublinec, Pichler 2001). All the three factors
taken together, they allow for overcoming the research fragmentation and reaching a critical capacity, when complemented by research on
primeval forests ecological and environmenmental functions, including water and carbon retention, accumulation and transformation.
The threat of biodiversity loss ensues mainly from the fragmentation of primeval forests remnants and the management of forests of all categories
(commercial, protective, special purposes). From the research conducted thus far it is known that the biodiversity loss can be countered
by the creation of ecological corridors connecting the primeval forests reserves. In order to secure the existence and abundance of the
corresponding habitats a possible migration, it is necessary to define far more precisely the ecological demands of species bound to primeval
forests, as well as the natural dynamics that creates them, so as to enable their incorporation into forest management toolbox, in compliance,
for instance, with the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (Connel 1978). To achieve the stated goal, it is equally necessary to identify
and investigate natural patterns, processes and dynamics components in primeval forests, which can be incorporated into forest management
theory and practice for the purpose of ensuring the stability of forests and their adjacent landscapes, provision of water, torrent control and
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