SpecBN's video: Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe

Subscribe Please! like our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/SpecBN/ Visite our website: http://specbn.com Follow our Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/specbn News: https://bitlylink.com/pp7qc Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe Location: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Ukraine Inscribed in: 2007 Criterion: (ix) This transboundary property stretches over 12 countries. Since the end of the last Ice Age, European Beech spread from a few isolated refuge areas in the Alps, Carpathians, Dinarides, Mediterranean and Pyrenees over a short period of a few thousand years in a process that is still ongoing. The successful expansion across a whole continent is related to the tree’s adaptability and tolerance of different climatic, geographical and physical conditions. Conservation Outlook SIGNIFICANT CONCERN This is a serial transboundary site comprised of 77 components located in 12 countries – Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Ukraine. While the values of the site have so far been relatively well preserved, the external pressures are high for some components. The small size and isolation of the components do not necessarily guarantee the integrity of the property in the long term and preservation of ongoing natural processes which are the essential part of the site’s Outstanding Universal Value. The components of the property are influenced by increasing development pressures, of which the forest resource exploitation in the Poloniny national park in Slovakia is of particular concern. Some progress has been achieved in ensuring multilateral cooperation with the establishment of a Joint Management Committee. However, the efficiency of the Joint management structure is still to be demonstrated. Current state and trend of VALUES Low Concern TrendStable Overall, the values of the property are being maintained. In many of its components primeval forests are well protected and have been so for many years. However, the 2017 extension of the property added a number of very small components with unclear buffer zone protective prescriptions and concerns exist whether their size is sufficient to maintain integrity and support ecological process. Overall THREATS High Threat Many of the current threats are localized and limited to some of the components only. Logging in the buffer zones and reportedly also within the Slovak components of the property will remain a high threat until all the areas within the property are legally protected from logging. On the other hand, small size of the components, particularly those added through the 2017 extension of the property, and habitat fragmentation are issues that are relevant for the entire property. This raises a significant concern with regards to the future integrity of the property. Whilst potential threats across the majority of the serial site remain low there are specific concerns regarding hydropower development impacting on the Albanian components.. Overall PROTECTION and MANAGEMENT Some Concern All component areas have a high legal protection status. However, there are some concerns about the consistency of the legal regimes of the property as a whole, as demonstrated by concerns repeatedly expressed with regards to the protection regime of the Slovak components of the property. With the 2017 extension, this serial property now includes 77 components in 12 countries. While intentions have been expressed to establish an Integrated Management System building on the existing cooperation between Germany, Slovakia and Ukraine, the effectiveness of such measures will need to be evaluated.