The Protected Landscape Approach - Centre for Mediterranean ...

10. Sustaining rural landscapes and building civil society
The orchid Dactylorhiza majalis, once
common in the White Carpathian
mountains (Czech Republic and
Slovakia), is still found in upland
meadows where traditional haymaking
regimes are maintained.
Veronica Archive
traditional land management practices such as caring for fruit orchards or mowing the area’s
flowering meadows (Beckmann, 2000).
The role of NGOs in nature conservation
Voluntary conservation organizations have a long history of working with natural resource
preservation and with introducing land stewardship to the White Carpathians. The NGO
Kosenka (a chapter of SOP, the Czech Union for Nature Conservation) was one of the first to
respond to regional challenges by becoming involved in maintaining the region’s meadow
ecosystems and orchids in the 1970s. The group gained national attention for organizing
brigades of volunteers each year to mow the area’s flowering meadows, a management practice
important to maintaining the biodiversity of the upland meadow ecosystems. The focus of
Kosenka and other organizations active in the region expanded, particularly following the
political changes of 1989, as they began to recognise the broader context for their conservation
work. Miroslav Janík, Director of Kosenka, explained that, “We gradually realized that our
efforts to save the orchids would be pointless over the long-term unless we took a more holistic
approach that involved the interests of the people living in the area.”
While continuing its efforts to maintain meadow ecosystems, Kosenka has begun to
implement a vision that sustains local culture, cultivates a sense of regional pride and identity,
and develops the community and region in a sustainable manner. For example, the traditional
St Nicholas Day Fair that the group reestablished in 1994 has grown into a major annual event,
attracting some 15,000 people from around the region and as far away as Prague or Vienna. In
addition to providing an important focus for regional pride and identity, the fair is beginning to
generate considerable economic benefits. Jobs and income-generation feature in a growing
number of Kosenka’s initiatives, including cooperation with local farmers to reintroduce
extensive sheep- and cattle-grazing to this traditional shepherding region. The NGO raises
start-up funds for establishing the herds, which help restore and maintain the meadow eco -
systems while generating income for area farmers.
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