Workshop on the newly developed Carpathian Ecosystem Services Toolkit

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On the 10th of November 2021, the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic and PRONATUR NGO jointly organised a workshop focusing on the Carpathian Ecosystem Services Toolkit, developed within Centralparks. The workshop was hosted in hybrid format, with participants attending on-site in Bratislava as well as online.

Successful knowledge exchange

The experts of the PRONATUR, the Ministry of Environment and the State Nature Conservancy introduced participants to the theme of ecosystem services, and informed about development of the ES assessment in EU and Slovakia. J. Kadlečík presented in short the Centralparks project and the preparation of one of the project´s most important outputs, the Carpathian Ecosystem Services Toolkit (CEST) elaborated in 2020-2021 by a designated transnational thematic task force. One of the main authors of the CEST Mr. J. Černecký of the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic presented the CEST itself, its content and main chapters. Mr. P. Mederly (Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra and PRONATUR NGO) provided an explanation of the step-by-step approach in the ecosystem services assessment process recommended in the CEST and some examples of ecosystem services assessment in Slovakia.

During the discussion (moderated by P. Semjanová) participants expressed the need for urgent ecosystem services assessment and data availability for the integrated evaluation of the benefits of ecosystem services, especially in national parks and other protected areas related to the planned transformation of nature conservation and administration in Slovakia. Moreover, participants urged the Ministry of Environment and other authorities to continue in the process of mapping and assessment of ecosystem services and speed up these activities. Generally the workshop received a positive feedback and participants expressed their interest in the theme and the CEST itself.

Background

What are ecosystem services?

Ecosystem Services are considered to contribute to ecosystems (natural or semi-natural) and human prosperity (quality of life). Ecosystem services are dependent on natural resources such as soil, air, water, biodiversity and fauna, which are generally described as natural capital. Therefore, simply put, ecosystem services are the “benefits of nature directly or indirectly used by humans“. Through nature and its services, people meet a large part of their needs, in particular:

  • Basic resources needed for survival (food, water, raw materials …)
  • Adequate quality of the environment and its components (air, water, soil, biota and biodiversity …)
  • Socio-cultural superstructure (relaxation, education, spiritual values…)

What is the Carpathian Ecosystem Services Toolkit?

The Carpathian Ecosystem Services Toolkit in an interdisciplinary toolkit developed for managers and analysts, to support the effective assessment of ecosystem services in the Carpathians.

Within the Centralparks project, numerous experts from the Carpathian countries have worked on the Carpathian Ecosystem Services Toolkit (CEST) which is intended to serve as both a guide and a valuable resource for the evidence-based decision-making as well as for the similar management practices not only in the Carpathian region but also in other European countries. It provides a practical set of procedures for understanding what might be gained or lost from a given management choice and the human dimensions of such effects. It can help managers to better comprehend and address potential issues and reduce conflict. As a separate deliverable developed within Centralparks, a step-by-step guidance document to complete a comprehensive ecosystem services assessment has been developed within the Toolkit. This includes guidance about the information, analysis, and process needed, using experience from similar ecosystem services assessments and will depend on what is required to address. 

The Carpathian Ecosystem Services Toolkit will soon be published on the project website, stay tuned!

12th Meeting of the Carpathian Convention Implementation Committee and CNPA SC meeting

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From 18th to 19th of November 2021, the Carpathian Convention Implementation Committee and the Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention organized the 12th Carpathian Convention Implementation Committee meeting in Krakow, Poland.

The first day sessions focused on the Carpathian Convention ongoing and planned activities, included reports by the Carpathian Network of Protected Areas (CNPA) Steering Committee Chair and a presentation of the Centralparks project main results and progress in the CNPA revitalization process. In order to seek synergies and potential for further networks, Centralparks project’s outputs, developed solutions and best practices were presented, together with other similar local initiatives and projects, during the joint session of the Carpathian Convention and the Centrum GRID/Warsaw.

The second day sessions focused on the updates on the Carpathian Strategy development process and on the strengthen of networks within the Carpathian Convention discussed during a workshop supported by the project “Strengthening the ESD network in the Carpathian Convention via science-policy-practice interface”.

The event hosted a CNPA Steering Committee meeting, with the aim to discuss and agree on the recommendations elaborated during the 3rd CNPA Conference in Visegrad, September 2021. It also offered a platform to present best practices of protected areas management and facilitate a dialogue on further enhancement of cooperation between and within the protected areas in the Carpathians and other regions. Conference attendees heard about the valuable outputs of Centralparks, received inputs from the Steering Committee Members of the CNPA and discuss about CNPA next steps planned by the Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention. One of them is the preparation of the next CNPA event, that will be held in the framework of the Centralparks project final conference, in Wieliczka (PL) on the 23rd and 24th of March 2022. 

Workshop on the nature- and culture-based tourism in the region of Gemer, Slovakia

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The epidemiological situation has been affecting the lives of each of us in and is forcing us to change our way of working and lifestyle to varying degrees. The usual forms of spending free time and holidays have been shaken to their foundations, and instead of exotic destinations, the undiscovered attractions on our doorstep are are gaining a momentum.

Gems of Gemer – how to use the opportunities of local sustainable tourism? This question and many more were discussed at the workshop in Veľké Teriakovce on 27th October 2021. The workshop was organized by the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic, the Administration of the Protected Landscape Area Cerová vrchovina and the NGO PRONATUR within the Interreg CE Centralparks project. 

Representatives from different sectors such as local and regional authorities, local action groups, destination management organizations, administrations of protected areas and caves as well as other stakeholders came together to learn about the Centralparks project outputs, possibilities for networking and cooperation, as well as about future plans for the development of the nature- and culture-based local tourism in the Gemer region, located in the Western Carpathians. Participants discussed the resent outcomes of the qualitative visitor satisfaction survey carried out in the Protected Landscape Area Cerová vrchovina. The Education and Information Centre Bílé Karpaty, Centralparks project partner from Czechia, gave an enthusiastic interactive presentation of their experience with local guiding in the Bílé Karpaty, sparked a constructive discussion which brought up many stimulating ideas, questions and challenges of how to work together to create sustainable nature tourism in the Carpathians and specifically in Gemer. The participants expressed their interest in the next steps of implementation of the Local Sustainable Tourism Development Strategy in the Carpathians.

What does monitoring the needs of the customer in the field of nature tourism look like?

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Customer care, satisfaction and needs monitoring are common activities that we encounter in commercial practice. Even in the case of monitoring the customer’s needs in the field of nature tourism, it is about the quality of the experience. However, in this case the end result is not a high-turnover consumer product, but an “entity” that sensitively responds to the way and amount of use. The difference compared to commercial marketing frameworks is that in the case of nature, we must take into account certain limits, the so-called carrying capacity of the territory. Knowing and respecting the carrying capacity is an essential part of the nature tourism management process so that we can preserve natural values. Natural resources are often not renewable and their damage or destruction can have an impact on the functioning of the ecosystems present and thus on us humans.

For the sustainable development of nature tourism it is therefore necessary to monitor the number of visitors, but at the same time it is very important to know the views and needs of visitors (qualitative survey) so that the offer in nature tourism can meet the expectations and needs of both sides.

In the framework of the Centralparks project, the Administration of the Protected Landscape Area Cerová vrchovina, in cooperation with the NGO PRONATUR, carried out a qualitative survey of the opinions of visitors to the PLA Cerová vrchovina in the summer months. The questionnaire consisted of 16 questions, which took about eight minutes to answer. 162 visitors took part in the survey, of which 36 questionnaires were conducted in Hungarian with visitors from Hungary. The majority of the survey was carried out in the locality of the Šomoška nature trail, a smaller part in Gemerské Dechtáry and Fiľakovo, in the Gemer region of Slovakia. The results of the survey provided us with valuable information about the perception of the protected area, about the satisfaction of visitors with the existing infrastructure, information and services such as accommodation and meals in the region, and also about what should be improved in the area.

The individual conclusions of the survey are available directly on the website of the Protected Landscape Area Administration Cerová vrchovina.

Thematic workshops for local stakeholders in the Magura region

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Action aims

A series of 4 thematic workshops for local stakeholders was held in October 2021 in the Magura region of Poland, in the frame of the Centralparks pilot action aimed at testing the draft “Strategy for local sustainable tourism development based on natural and cultural heritage of the Carpathians” at the local and regional level, according to one of the priorities of the current Polish Presidency of the Carpathian Convention.

The above draft strategy was elaborated in 2019-2020 under the Centralparks project in support for the implementation of the 2011 Protocol on Sustainable Tourism, and was submitted to the Parties of the Carpathian Convention on 10th June 2021. 

The Centralparks pilot action was carried out in 2021 in the buffer zone of Magura National Park. Its objective is to involve this protected area staff and relevant local stakeholders from the 7 municipalities in the joint elaboration and implementation of the local strategy for sustainable tourism development, based on the natural and cultural wealth of the shared region. 

Due to the proper timing of this activity, the resulting common local strategy can easily be integrated with the local development strategies for the new programming period 2022-2027, to be soon elaborated and adopted by the 7 municipalities surrounding the national park. 

The workshops

Thematic workshops held in October 2021 marked the next step in the pilot action implementation phase that commenced in June this year, when the local stakeholders attended a 3-day Centralparks preparatory workshop at the national park visitor center. 

Each workshop in October had a particular thematic focus: 

  • agritourism and local product (Nowy Żmigród, 5th Oct.)
  • education and heritage interpretation (Nowy Żmigród, 6th Oct.)
  • cultural and historical heritage (Krzywa, 7th Oct.)
  • branding and strategy management (Krzywa, 8th Oct.). 

Following this, the stakeholders’ inputs and feedback will serve to elaborate the Local Community Strategy for sustainable tourism development of the Magura region.       

The Ekopsychology Society* and the administration of Magura National Park jointly organized the workshops in Nowy Żmigród and Krzywa.

*Leader of the Centralparks thematic work package No 1 “Integration of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in the Carpathian Region”

Centralparks training in Poland

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A training on “effective communication between protected areas and local communities in the Carpathians”, organized by the Ekopsychology Society, was held in Muszyna – Złockie (Poland) from 22nd to 24th September 2021.

Aims of the training

This event was attended by 13 trainees and marked the next phase of implementing the pilot action, which aims to test the usefulness of the “Guidelines on communication between protected areas and local communities in the Carpathians”. These were elaborated in 2019-2020 by the relevant multinational expert group (Thematic Transnational Task Force on Communication) established under the Centralparks WPT1. 

The main objective of the training was to raise the capacities, knowledge and skills of Carpathian PA managers and regional nature conservation authorities for effective communication with their local communities and stakeholders. The following thematic blocks were discussed:

  • the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians
  • stakeholder mapping
  • convictions that strengthen communication
  • communication tools
  • preparation of a letter to future generations concerning the idea of protecting biological and landscape diversity in the Carpathians.

Communication with the local stakeholders should be further strengthened under the Carpathian Convention. The involvement and closer cooperation at a local and regional level is not only encouraged by Decision COP6/2, paragraphs 1 and 2, but has also been declared as one of the two priorities of the new Polish Presidency of the Carpathian Convention in 2020-2023 (Decision COP6/24, paragraph 1).

Event success and acknowledgements

Trainees included representatives of the Regional Directorates for Environmental Protection in Katowice, Kraków and Rzeszów, Babiogórski National Park, Gorczański National Park, Magura National Park, Pieniny National Park and the Board of the Landscape Park Complex of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Participants had the chance to practice new skills and share their experiences from past communication activities and campaigns. They assessed the event as practical and found it was conducted at a high professional level and in a friendly atmosphere. 

The Ekopsychology Association would like to thank both the participants and the team of communication experts: Alina Marek, Agata Leśniara and Agata Ćwik, for their commitment. Monika Ochwat-Marcinkiewicz (psychologist and trainer) and Zbigniew Niewiadomski co-led the training on behalf of the Association.

*Leader of the Centralparks thematic work package No 1 “Integration of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in the Carpathian Region”

Slovak workshop on the Carpathian Ecosystem Services Toolkit

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On the 10th of November, the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic, the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic and OZ Pronatur are jointly hosting the first Slovak workshop on the Carpathian Ecosystem Services Toolkit (CEST), which will be presented to directly by Slovak experts involved in its creation. The workshop will cover the practical use of the CEST in the activities of bodies and organizations for nature protection, biodiversity, landscape and environmental creation.

The workshop will take place from 10:00 to 13:45 in hybrid form, in person at the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic in Bratislava as well as online.

The event is aimed at a wide range of stakeholders, with the aim of introducing the potential of implementing Ecosystem Services and natural capital assessments into decisions, policies, documentation, processes and procedures in various sectors and areas that have a major impact on natural resources and their use.

If you are interested to join, please register by 9th of November here (meeting language is Slovak):

Registration

Local community workshops in Pieniny National Park

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A series of 4 workshops under the common title “Strategy for the protection of biological and landscape diversity outside and inside Pieniny National Park”, organized by the Ekopsychology Society*, was held in Łapsze Niżne (6 September 2021), Czorsztyn (20 September 2021), Szczawnica (21 September 2021) and Krościenko nad Dunajcem (29 September 2021). 

What is behind these workshops?

This event marked the next phase of implementation of the Centralparks pilot action in Pieniny National Park, which aimed at testing the efficiency of the draft Carpathian strategy for enhancing biodiversity and landscape conservation outside and inside protected areas. It was elaborated in 2019-2020 under the Centralparks project by the relevant multinational expert group (Thematic Transnational Task Force) established under the Centralparks WPT1, in support for the implementation of the Protocol on conservation and sustainable use of biological and landscape diversity (Bucharest, 2008) to the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians (Kyiv, 2003) at the local and regional level, accordingly to one of the priorities of the current Polish Presidency of the Convention.

The above draft strategy was submitted on 7 July 2021 for the endorsement by the Carpathian Convention. It targets local municipalities, protected area administrations, local and regional level nature conservation and landscape protection agencies, bodies and authorities.

Pieniny National Park

Pieniny National Park, designated in 1932, forms the Polish part of the first European and world’s second transboundary protected area (established only a month later than the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park between Canada and the USA). The intention to designate such a crossborder nature park was inscribed into the Polish-Czechoslovak bilateral agreement, the 1924 ‘Krakow Protocol’. It stipulated “concluding, as soon as possible, a tourist convention” to facilitate the development of tourism in border areas of both above countries, and “a convention on a nature park” establishing areas restricted for the protection of cultural heritage, nature and landscape. Both ideas materialized decades later, with the adoption of the ‘Carpathian Convention’ in 2003, and its thematic Protocol on Sustainable Tourism (Bratislava, 2011).

Another objective of this Centralparks pilot action is to facilitate and support dialogue between the Pieniny National Park administration and the authorities of the 4 local communities located in its buffer zone. This would ensure the integrity of natural habitats and maintain the fragile ecological connectivity between this relatively small protected area (2,371.75 ha) and neighbouring larger natural complexes in the Carpathians. They are increasingly threatened by the rapid residential and recreational housing development in the national park buffer zone (2,653.8 ha). It requires a joint solution of potential land-use conflicts in several ‘problem areas’, successfully identified during the June workshop.

Identifying problems and solutions

54 participants attended the Centralparks 4 workshops in September, including: 

  • village heads
  • municipality mayors
  • municipal councilors
  • village leaders
  • school directors
  • employees of municipalities and the Pieniny National Park
  • representatives of local entrepreneurs and NGOs. 

The purpose of the workshops was to identify possible solutions for mitigating and preventing conflicts between biological/landscape diversity protection and local development. The following problems were identified among the most typical problem situations:

  • scattered housing development pattern interfering with wildlife migration corridors
  • lack of legal tools for effective construction law enforcement
  • still-increasing tourist pressure on fragile mountain ecosystems
  • pristine mountain landscapes spoiled by redundant and poorly designed roadside advertisements, as well as newly built settlements
  • pressure by large investors and developers on influencing the local spatial and land use planning process.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks go to the participants of the meetings, who’s presence confirmed the importance of the topics discussed for local communities. In the opinion of the participants, such workshops strengthen the dialogue between the protected area and the individual entities. We would also like to thank the team of experts: Monika Sadowska, Katarzyna Śnigórska, Ewelina Zając. Monika Ochwat-Marcinkiewicz and Zbigniew Niewiadomski were involved in preparing, coordinating, conducting and moderating the workshops on behalf of the Ekopsychology Society. 

*Leader of the Centralparks thematic work package No 1 “Integration of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in the Carpathian Region”

Centralparks partners met in Visegrád

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On 30th of September, after a long-awaited time filled with online discussions, Zoom presentations and workshops in the virtual realm, Centralparks partners were able to meet again physically in Visegrád, Hungary.

The partner meeting provided the possibility to revisit the past months of work, celebrate the successes and plan the last 6 months of the project.

The Centralparks team has shortly before been actively involved in the ConnectGREEN final conference, thanks to the strong and fruitful relations with the ConnectGREEN project and the Secretariat for the Carpathian Convention. The project team has looked back on the successful CNPA event organised one dy earlier, which has been a great meeting with a large number of presentations, as this event created the opportunity to have on board all the countries represented.

Partners reviewed the state of the art of the thematic work packages. In the previous months, Centralparks reached several milestones:

  • The Strategy for Enhancing Biodiversity and Landscape Conservation and the Strategy for LSTD have been submitted by SCC to CC Parties and presented by LP to the relevant CC Working Group.
  • Two pilot actions foreseen under the implementation activities of the aforementioned strategies were carried out in Poland. As well as the training for Polish PA managers on communication with local communities.
  • The LiDAR pilot action, the habitat mapping of Börzsöny Mountain and part of the forest fauna evaluation have been fully implemented thanks to the long research and field work carried out by Duna-Ipoly National Park.
  • The 2nd official round table of the CNPA SC has been organized and held online. A further CNPA conference has been organized in the framework of the ConnectGREEN final conference.
  • Centralparks main achievements have been presented during several online meetings and events in order to bring the contents of the project among its planned target groups.
  • The Carpathian Ecosystem Services Toolkit has been developed and being layouted in the upcoming months in English as well as Polish, Slovak, Czech and Hungarian.
  • A workshop for 50 stakeholders in Nová Lhota in Czechia took place, focusing on the Ecosystem Services Assessment and the Carpathian Ecosystem Services Toolkit
  • Centralparks has established a close cooperation with several other EU-funded projects, such as ConnectGREEN, SaveGREEN and BEECH POWER

The meeting was attended by Henk Zingstra from Eurosite, who expressed its interest in cooperating with Centralparks and the Carpathian Network of Protected Areas.

The Centralparks team is looking ahead to the last phase of the project with dedication and excitement, working side by side to contribute to the sustainable future of the Carpathian region.

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

Henry Ford

Successful conclusion of the 3rd CNPA conference

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From 28-30 September 2021, the Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention, the Carpathian Network of Protected Areas (CNPA) Steering Committee, the ConnectGREEN project consortium, supported by the Centralparks consortium organised the International Conference on “Protected Areas – Cornerstones of Ecological Connectivity in the Carpathians and Beyond“ in Visegrád, Hungary, and virtually. The three-day event also hosted the 3rd Conference of the Carpathian Network of the Protected Areas organised by the Centralparks project and the Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention.

ConnectGREEN final conference

The conference shed light on the recent environmental developments in the Carpathians and highlighted the importance of cross-sectoral collaboration for the identification, conservation and restoration of ecological connectivity in one of Europe’s largest mountain ranges and beyond. Key stakeholders working in and around protected areas, came together to share knowledge, exchange experience and discuss new tools to improve and safeguard ecological connectivity.  

The Conference in Visegrad also witnessed the closing the project ConnectGREEN – Restoring and managing ecological corridors in mountains as the green infrastructure in the Danube basin (Interreg Danube Transnational Programme). Various successful project results and outputs were presented, as well as other projects and international cooperations that contribute to the restoration of natural habitat connectivity and biodiversity conservation, such as the Centralparks project.

The closing act of the Conference was the adoption of a joint Conference Declaration: the participants agreed to call on the European Commission, the European Parliament and the national governments of the Danube-Carpathian region to drive the efficient management of ecological corridors to avoid further deterioration, restore their functionality and reverse habitat fragmentation.  

A new age for the CNPA network

The event hosted 3rd Conference of the Carpathian Network of the Protected Areas, which offered a platform to present best practices of protected areas management and facilitate a dialogue on further strengthening cooperation between and within the protected areas in the Carpathians and other regions. Conference attendees heard about the valuable outputs of Centralparks, received inputs from the Steering Committee Members of the Carpathian Network of Protected Areas (CNPA) and learnt about best practices in protected areas management from protected areas representatives. This was followed by an interactive exercise, facilitated by the Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention, to identify relevant future focuses for the Carpathian Protected Areas Network.

More information about the speakers and agenda, as well as a detailed report from the 3rd CNPA Conference can be found here:

3rd-CNPA-Conference-A-new-age-for-the-CNPA-network-29.09.21-MinutesDownload