– These are unique publications. They show the fauna on both sides of the border – says Andrzej Raj, director of Karkonosze National Park Andrzej Raj. – The work was carried out according to a uniform methodology. We are proud of this.
The Fauna of the Karkonosze Mountains project is based on many years of cooperation between the KRNAP Directorate (Krkonošský Národní Park) and KPN. The project’s third partner – the Czech Charles University – brings another element to the cooperation between the park directorates: links with universities and, consequently, with scientific and research institutions.
Publication descriptions
The main objective of the Fauna of the Karkonosze Mountains project is to monitor particularly valuable species of birds, butterflies, bats and red deer. The individual project activities serve a common goal – improving the quality of the environment in the Polish-Czech border area:
- Distribution of breeding birds in the Czech and Polish Karkonosze Mountains. Birds are an important indicator group, among the most thoroughly studied methodologically and most frequently used in practice. The species composition and number of birds in a given area are aspects often used to observe and assess changes in forest and agricultural landscapes.
- Inventory of diurnal butterflies in the Karkonosze Mountains. Butterflies are a highly sensitive indicator of environmentally friendly, biodiversity-supporting and sustainable landscape management. It is therefore important to obtain current, comprehensive and mutually comparable data on the distribution and population sizes of individual diurnal butterfly species in KRNAP and KPN, including species subject to special protection, rare species and those listed on the Red List of Threatened Species.
- Bats of the Polish and Czech Karkonosze Mountains. As part of this section of the project, chiropterological studies will be conducted to monitor, among other things, the diversity and activity of bats in individual habitats using ultrasonic detectors, as well as to locate and map summer bat roosts in human settlements in KPN, its buffer zone and adjacent municipalities.
- Deer species in the Karkonosze Mountains. The primary vision for this section of the project is to develop, based on telemetry studies of deer and an inventory of damage caused by game animals, a management approach aimed at reducing the pressure of deer species on forest ecosystems in the most vulnerable areas. The use of telemetry will make it possible to learn about deer migration routes and habitat preferences, and to obtain data on their behaviour over time and space.
As a result of the activities carried out under the Fauna of the Karkonosze Mountains project, both directorates will obtain up-to-date information on the numbers of species and the population status of animals protected under national legislation and within the European Natura 2000 network. The monitoring will establish the current status and development of biodiversity in the Karkonosze Mountains. The data collected will be analysed and compared with historical data, and the two parks will also compare the data with each other. The information obtained will be used by nature protection authorities when making decisions concerning development measures in the area; it will also be useful to local governments and other institutions.
The project will also produce four popular-science publications, organise photographic exhibitions and hold a concluding conference.
The project is based exclusively on joint activities carried out by the partners and other specialist institutions in Karkonosze National Park on the Polish and Czech sides of the border. Fauna monitoring is conducted at the same time and according to a uniform methodology, ensuring that the data is comparable. The full compatibility of the information collected will enable more accurate decision-making in the area of economic development of the Czech and Polish national parks, and will allow an integrated approach to assessing projects implemented in both parks, particularly their impact on the natural environment and the Natura 2000 area. Development projects in the area can be assessed in a broader context, ensuring compliance with sustainable development conditions.
The “Fauna of the Karkonosze Mountains” project is co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund under the Operational Programme of Cross-Border Cooperation Czech Republic – Republic of Poland 2007–2013.
- Total project value: EUR 822,224.12
- ERDF funding: EUR 698,890.22
- Project value on the Polish side: EUR 225,566.06
- ERDF funding on the Polish side: EUR 191,731.15.
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