Beskydy – Kysuce Catalogue of Measures Beskydy – Kysuce Pilot Area Catalogue of Measures Beskydy – Kysuce cross-border pilot area (the Czech Republic, Slovakia) Part of Output 4.1 TRANSGREEN Project “Integrated Transport and Green Infrastructure Planning in the Danube-Carpathian Region for the Benefit of People and Nature” Danube Transnational Programme, DTP1-187-3.1 April 2019 2 Project co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) www.interreg-danube.eu/transgreen Editors: Barbara Immerová (WWF Consultant, GIS expert, Slovakia) Ján Kadlečík, Ivan Koubek, Tereza Thompson (State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic) Martin Strnad (Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic) Contributors Czech Republic: Dana Bartošová (Protected Landscape Area Administration Beskydy, Czech Republic) Ivo Dostál, Josef Svoboda, Marek Havlíček (Transport Research Centre, Czech Republic) Václav Hlaváč (Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic) Miroslav Kutal (Friends of the Earth, Czech Republic) Contributors Slovakia: Peter Drengubiak, Zuzana Václavová (State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic, Kysuce Protected Landscape Area) Michal Kalaš (State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic, Malá Fatra National Park) Beňadik Machciník (State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic, Strážovské vrchy Protected Landscape Area) Michaela Skuban (State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic) Photographs: Photo credits are with authors and contributors, pages 10 and 64 with Mária Apfelová, specific credits with other contributors are mentioned in the legend. Layout and graphic design: Alex Spineanu (Graphic designer, Romania) Marián Špacír (SPECTRA) With the support of Catalina Murariu (WWF Romania) English proofreading: Private Language School BS SCHOOL, Ondrej Straka, BSBA Catalogue of Measures Beskydy – Kysuce Pilot Area 3 Acknowledgement: This publication was elaborated as part of Output 4.1 Catalogues of measures of the TRANSGREEN “Integrated Transport and Green Infrastructure Planning in the Danube Carpathian Region for the Benefit of People and Nature” project (DTP1-187-3.1, January 2017 – June 2019) funded by the Danube Transnational Programme through the European Regional Development Funds. The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Transport and Construction of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Road Administration for providing data on road objects and traffic intensity, the Slovak Railways for providing data on railway animal mortality and the field mappers who collected data on animal mortality and animal movements in the field. Authors gratefully acknowledge the efforts of all the TRANSGREEN project partners, including Friends of the Earth for comprehensive field work, and both local and national stakeholders involved within the frame of the Carpathian Convention and have trust in their benefiting from the outcome. Citation: Immerová, B., Kadlečík, J., Koubek, I., Strnad, M., Thompson, T., (editors), Bartošová, D., Dostál, I., Drengubiak, P., Hlaváč, V., Kalaš, M., Machciník, B., Skuban M., Václavová, Z. (2019): Catalogue of Measures. Beskydy – Kysuce cross-border pilot area (the Czech Republic, Slovakia). Danube Transnational Programme TRANSGREEN Project, Part of Output 4.1, 136 pp. ISBN ISBN 978-80-8184-061-6 This publication may be reproduced as whole or in parts and in any form for educational or non-profit purposes without any special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement or the resource is made. This publication may in no case be used for resale or for any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing from the main author. Disclaimer: The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not express views of any single participating organisation, nor the views of one particular individual, nor the positions of the European Union. About TRANSGREEN: TRANSGREEN means a better connected Carpathian region with transport infrastructure that takes nature into account. The project aims to contribute to safer and environmentally-friendly road and rail networks that are being developed in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine. www.interreg-danube.eu/transgreen Output 4.1 Catalogues of measures were prepared for: Beskydy – Kysuce cross-border pilot area (the Czech Republic, Slovakia) Miskolc-Košice-Uzhgorod trilateral pilot area (Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine) Arad-Deva pilot area (Romania) Tîrgu Mureş - Iaşi pilot area (Romania) 4 Project co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) www.interreg-danube.eu/transgreen Table of contents 1. Introduction 6 2. Aim of the Study 6 Identified critical points 3. and measures proposed 10 3.1 Beskydy PLA 12 3.2 Kysuce PLA 21 3.3 Malá Fatra NP 31 3.4 Strážovské vrchy PLA 38 4. Conclusions 46 5. References 47 6. Annex: In-depth Analysis 48 Catalogue of Measures Beskydy – Kysuce Pilot Area 5 Introduction eskydy and Kysuce are two regions located in the northern part of the common state border between the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic. This area is northwest part of the Carpathian mountain range arch, which Bstretches over seven countries. The uniqueness of this region lies in its biodiversity, which is still well-preserved, and thus able to support the life of the region as such. The presence of charismatic animal species, the brown bear, the grey wolf and the Eurasian lynx (commonly known as large carnivores) gives this place a sense of special importance. However, there are also other points of interest related to the fast development of the region, which have a negative impact on the area biodiversity. Development of housing and transport infrastructure is advancing and crosscutting the area into still smaller fragments. These small “islands” are not able to sustain the life of large carnivores and their high demand for space (long distance dispersal especially of young animals), food and reproduction. The balance of their population directly influences the balance of other species populations. Moreover, isolated populations are often predestined to extinction. In order to preserve the treasures of this region in a fast developing and competitive world, there exist numerous initiatives aimed at preserving this mountain region, from the highest political level represented by the international convention on the protection of the Carpathian Mountains (Carpathian Convention) to local activists in the field. This document is a result of joint effort and integrative approach of several stakeholders at different level and different focus, from international to national, from political to practical, from Ministries, through expert organisations, to local field mappers. It provides practical information on how to stop further fragmentation of the area or mitigate its impact on biodiversity while allowing the necessary development in the area. The document is a product of the INTERREG TRANSGREEN project funded by the Danube Transnational Programme. The aim of the project is to contribute to development of safer and environmentally friendly road and rail networks that already exist or are being developed in the pilot area of Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine. Preparation of this document was strongly supported by the staff working at the Administration of Protected Landscape Area Beskydy (CZ), Protected Landscape Area Kysuce (SK), Administration of the National Park Malá Fatra (SK) and Protected Landscape Area Strážovské vrchy (SK), who contributed to the project with field monitoring data, their knowledge of the area and expertise regarding large carnivores. 6 Project co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) www.interreg-danube.eu/transgreen Fig. 1: Beskydy - Kysuce pilot area of TRANSGREEN Project. Catalogue of Measures Beskydy – Kysuce Pilot Area 7 2 Aim of the Study he aim of this document is to provide selected to monitor animal mortality and to map detailed information on permeability of animal crossings and animal residence signs near the pilot area for wildlife and to provide the road. Tpossible solutions for its preservation and / or Information on average daily traffic intensity for improvement. For this reason, the most critical all days of the year (AADT) is based on monitoring places were identified, verified in the field, and realised by the Slovak Road Administration in 2015 mitigation measures were proposed. and by the Czech Road Administration in 1990, 2000 and 2016. Radars placed on selected roads The main criteria for identification also recorded traffic intensity. Inventory of migra- of critical places were: tion objects (e.g. bridges, underpasses, overpasses) » The absence of urbanization in the transition was realized in the entire area. area of a sufficient width, in the urbanized Based on the information and data accessed, landscape, taking into account the needs of mitigation measures that would help to improve large carnivores the area permeability for animal species were » Citation of the site in the literature, or in the proposed for each critical place. Some of them are documentation on nature conservancy, and low cost. Others, which usually represent an ideal especially in the documentation on Regional solution (i.e. ecopassages or underpasses), are Territorial Systems of Ecological Stability more costly and their implementation would be more demanding from the administrative, time, Documented translocations or collisions of large » and financial viewpoints. However, even relatively carnivores