IPP BENCHMARK REPORT V. 1.0 Except for the River Zagyva, all the rivers in the region rise abroad, this determines water quality. The water quality of the River Tisza, which criss-crosses the region, varies between “good” and “moderately good”. The water quality of the Szamos, the Kraszna, the Túr and the Sebes Körös, its tributaries rising in areas beyond the border varies widely, the underlying reason being the industrial, mining and communal pollutants along the sections of the River beyond the border. Lake Tisza, one of the country’s largest lakes is situated in this Region; the quality of its water is, on the whole, good, although siltation, the appearance of algae and the proliferation of saligot (Water Chesnut) give rise to concerns. Oxbows branching off the River Tisza represent a special issue; although they are in differing conditions, they are all invaluable in terms of nature protection, agriculture, recreation and environmental protection. The most important natural resource of the region is stratum water, the utilisation of which is 26%, and is mainly restricted to cities and towns (in particular, Debrecen, Nyíregyháza, Jászberény, Törökszentmiklós, Mezőtúr, Tiszaföldvár-Martfű and Túrkeve). The most serious risks to environment security in the Észak-Alföld Region include floods, excess surface water, the contamination of the rivers that rise abroad and the absence of an international monitoring system that can forecast or alert to them. Comprehensive flood protection along the River Tisza is yet to be solved in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg and Jász- Nagykun-Szolnok counties; the current infrastructure of dykes fails to comply with the requirements that take into consideration benchmark flood levels. In the years to come the Advanced Vásárhelyi Plan is envisaged to play a key role in finding a resolution to the dismal situation and in mitigating the impact of the problems. Woodland in the region is below the national average (12% compared with the national 19.1%), which is further compounded by its fragmented nature. As regards the region’s natural heritage, original phytocoenoses are few and far between. Nevertheless, linked to the rivers here and Hortobágy, Hungary’s first national park and a world heritage site, there are protected areas of considerable size in the region. The Region’s habitats of national importance are situated in sandy woods, sandy grassland, loess grassland, floodland forests, floodland meadow, saline grassland and marshland. These habitats and some of the protected species, which are more or less independent of such habitats, are today endangered, as fragmentation, reduction in the size of habitats, human interference, reduction in the diversity of species and desiccation threaten their survival. There are vast expanses of Natura 2000 areas (overlapping bird sanctuary and nature conservation areas) with a combined size of approximately 367,000 hectares, accounting for close to 21% of the entire area of the region. The most important natural resource in the Észak-Alföld Region as one of the country’s most significant farming region is arable land. Several factors of land degradation (e.g. acidification, wind erosion, alkalisation, erroneous cultivation, industrial and communal waste, erroneous groundwater management) threaten the condition of the various types of soil in the Region, which may lead to loss in the value and structure of the soil and, hence, a decrease in crops. 8. Key development challenges for Eszak-Alföld Page 40 www.i-p-p.eu
IPP BENCHMARK REPORT V. 1.0 CHAPTER 1.3 COMUNIDAD VALENCIANA CURRENT SITUATION Page 41 www.i-p-p.eu