The SaveGREEN project helps to protect large carnivores in Beskydy
Introducing the project and large carnivore monitoring to the local people and visitors in Jablunkov
16.9.2022, Selmy.cz
The Beskydy Mountains are the last place in the Czech Republic with the regular presence of all three species of European large carnivores. Here as in the whole Carpathians, the carnivore populations are under severe threat from landscape fragmentation due to their large space demands and the need to move over long distances. That is why we talked about the need to preserve ecological corridors at the SaveGREEN information day that took place in Beskydy on the Czech-Slovak-Polish border where large carnivores from all three countries meet.
The SaveGREEN project focuses on the protection of landscape permeability in 7 European countries; © Hnutí DUHA Šelmy
The information day took place on Saturday 10 September as part of the Apple Day festival in Jablunkov. At our large carnivore information booth, we introduce visitors to the topic of lynx, wolf, and bear conservation and the problem of migration barriers. The event was organized as one of the activities of the SaveGREEN international project, in which we have been working together with other partners on the protection of landscape permeability in the Carpathians since 2020. Beskydy-Kysuce region is one of the 8 pilot areas of the SaveGREEN project.
Why Jablunkov?
Jablunkov, the town located between the Moravian-Silesian and Silesian Beskydy, was chosen for the event because it has long been an example of good practice in the protection of wildlife corridors for large mammals. One such corridor passes right by the town and is protected by local zoning plans. Also, as a traditional regional festival, Apple Day attracts visitors not only from the Czech Republic but also from Slovakia and Poland – the countries with which we share our large carnivore populations.
What did visitors learn?
At our information booth, visitors could learn all about the monitoring and occurrence of large carnivores in the surrounding mountains, about their lives, and the risks posed to their survival by the construction of new roads, highways, and urban development. Given the increased damages caused to local farmers by the wolf pack in recent months, livestock protection was also an important topic.
We also explained to the visitors the methods of field research: tracking and collecting occurrence signs, GPS telemetry, and photo-monitoring of large carnivores. We also distributed brochures on large carnivores and landscape permeability or practical activities such as identifying animal tracks. Visitors to the information booth also received a small gift of organic apple juice from the White Carpathians with information about the goals of the SaveGREEN project.
Information materials and gift bottles of organic apple juice for the SaveGREEN project; © Hnutí DUHA Šelmy
What are the goals of the SaveGREEN project?
The SaveGREEN project, co-funded by the European Union funds (ERDF) through the Interreg Danube Transnational Cooperation Programme (DTP), focuses on safeguarding the functionality of important ecological corridors in 7 countries of the Carpathians and the Danube region. It was launched in July 2020 and ends in December this year. The project aims to identify, summarize, and promote the best solution for the protection of ecological corridors. The project outputs include an Operational Plan for each of the 8 pilot areas, containing a description of the current state of landscape permeability, recommended measures for its improvement, and methods for monitoring the effectiveness of implemented measures. In addition, the Hnutí DUHA Šelmy (Friends of the Earth Czech Republic – Large Carnivore Conservation Programme) is monitoring and protecting the landscape permeability for various animal species, with a focus on large carnivores as an umbrella species, developing examples of good practice and transferring them to other valleys in the Beskydy Mountains and possibly other parts of the Czech Republic.
