important plant areas in central and eastern europe - hirc.botanic.hr ...

Section 1DANA TURONOVAHuman communities and wild planthabitats have co-existed for thousands ofyears but pressures from people areincreasing.Currently 25% of central and easternEurope’s IPAs are threatened bydevelopment.IntroductionWhy do we need IPAs in Europe?Wild plants, fungi and their habitats are fundamental to our lives, the lives of all otherorganisms, and the air, soil and water around us. Europe has already lost an astonishingnumber of species and habitats, from the very rare to the seemingly common. Wecontinue to lose many plant species in Europe every year, although we still understandvery little about the long-term implications of this loss for humans and other organisms.The causes of this decline in diversity are also well documented and include habitatdestruction and fragmentation, intensive agriculture, poor forestry management,transport and infrastructure development, air and water pollution, and invasive species.The identification and protection of IPAs is an important process in stemming thedecline of wild plant diversity and the ecological systems that support it, by ensuringthat the threats to our best sites are recognised and that these invaluable areas are notlost through indifference or ignorance.Despite the continuing loss of plant diversity, Europe still has some of the most beautifuland diverse areas of forests, grasslands, mountains, wetlands, rivers and lakes ofanywhere in the world. The central and eastern European region in particular has awealth of large, un-fragmented natural areas; such as increasingly rare areas of naturaland semi-natural grasslands, and the largest areas of old growth or ‘virgin’ forests withtheir wide range of plants, trees, fungi, mosses and lichens. Mountain ranges such as theCarpathians and Rhodopes contain hundreds of endemic plant species, the Baltic region,Belarus and Russia have unique expanses of bog, wetland and tundra, and the majorEuropean rivers such as the Danube, are home to an impressive number of plants and10