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Report
EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
TerraVoice, non-profit organization Ukrajinská 10, 831 02 Bratislava, Slovakia Find us at: www.terravoice.sk
Authors & Editors Ivana Kohutková, Eva Streberová
Contributors Ivana Kohutková, Rastislav Krivosudský, Ľuboš Molitoris, Eva Streberová
Photographs Peter Baus, Rastislav Krivosudský, Zuzana Michalcová, Ľuboš Molitoris
Design and layout Peter Baus
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
Contents
Foreword............................................................................................................ 5 The EuroEnviro World ...................................................................................... 6 EuroEnviro 2012 – Conservation is not isolation ............................................. 8 Organising Team ..............................................................................................10 Participants ....................................................................................................... 11 Program ............................................................................................................ 13 Daily Reports .................................................................................................... 15 Lecturers, Activities leaders, Guests................................................................ 29 Patrons and partners ....................................................................................... 30
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
FOREWORD One year ago, in the end of the EuroEnviro 2011 event, us - Slovak students - were chosen as members of the next EuroEnviro organising team. Back then we were not completely aware of what we put on our shoulders and had only a hazy concept what EuroEnviro is all about. As soon as we started to plan and organize this meeting it became evident that some of us would have to give in almost all the spare time and energy we had. However this report is proof that we completed our goal to organise EuroEnviro 2012 and that we succesfully came to the end. The EuroEnviro is a students’ organised meeting of European students with an environmental focus. Since 1995 the annual EuroEnviro is taking place in different European country and deals with temporaly relevant topics on environmental issues. The 18 years long lasting tradition of the EuroEnviro is based upon a vision shared by people all over the continent. Every year the event is hosted by a new country involving new people and new ideas. Without a headquarter or long lasting organization structures this EuroEnviro-vision has endured even though, it has changed its appearence every year again. What all these different events have in common is the network which has been created over many years and that has bonded generations of students together. The EuroEnviro 2012 offered a space for discussions and for exchanges of different viewpoints, thanks to the diversity of different backgrounds and countries of origin of the participants. The annual meeting of European students with an environmental focus tries not only to interconnect the participants but also aims to connect different stakeholders with an international group of students who might be working in this field one day. The past has shown, that the experiences of the EuroEnviro meetings are unique and that the networks which have been created are invaluable. By means of this report, we would like to provide insight into this year´s EuroEnviro, to share some of its special atmosphere and energy, which carried through the whole event and which is not easy to describe in words. In the following paragraphs and pictures we present the program and activities, highlight issues dicussed and places visited. The idea of this EuroEnviro 2012 report was to gather the experiences and describe our activities. We also want to document what we did and what a EuroEnviro meeting is all about. Thanks to all the contributors, to the participants and organisers and sponsors. The report starts with some general information about the whole EuroEnviro „thing“, continues with introduction sentences about this year´s event and describes the logic behind the topic „Conservation is Not Isolation“. The following paragraphs contain a detailed program followed with photographs catching some of the special moments of the event. I hope you will enjoy this report on the EuroEnviro 2012. Show it around and tell people about the EuroEnviro: invite them, thrill them, discuss, tell and inspire them. That is what the EuroEnviro is about. the Slovak EuroEnviro 2012 organizing team
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
THE EUROENVIRO WORLD The EuroEnviro - European students´ symposium on the environment - is an open, students’ organized symposium for students from all over the world interested in environmental issues. It has now eighteen years long and successful tradition in providing a forum for discussion and exchange of knowledge among students with an environmental focus. BIB – Born In Born (now called EuroEnviro) was created in 1995 in Born on the peninsula Darß (Mecklenburg - Vorpommern, Germany). The founders were students of the University of Rostock, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich and the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU) of Vienna. The aim was to exchange their opinions with other students on environmental sciences and ecopolitical issues. One year before there was a private informal meeting of some students of these universities to fathom the possibilities of environmental exchange and organising such a meeting. Since 1995 the meeting has taken place in many European countries all over the continent. Next hosting country is selected by the participants themselves at the end of each EuroEnviro event. 2012
Bratislava and High Tatras, Slovakia: “Conservation Is Not Isolation“
2011
Zagreb and Rijeka, Croatia: “Biodiversity & Urbanism”
2010
Graz and Vienna, Austria: “Sustainable Lifestyle – Ideas for Consumption and Mobility”
2009
Rostock, Greifswald and Berlin, Germany: “Renewable Energies – Possibilities and Limits”
2008
Soomaa National Park, Estonia: “PAN Parks”
2007
Skopje, Republic of Macedonia: “Ecotourism – Discovering the Hidden Natural Treasures”
2006
Geneva, Switzerland: “Food: An Environmental Perspective”
2005
Seville, Spain: “Environmental Communication and Education”
2004
Bucharest, Romania: “Preserving Nature and Culture Through Tourism”
2003
Paris, France: “Eye to eye on Sustainable Development”
2002
Belgrade, Serbia: “Sustainable Development – Considering the Environment During Socioeconomic Transition”
2001
Aberdeen, Scotland: “Industry and Environment”
2000
Moscow, Russia: “Our Common European Heritage”
1999
Évora, Portugal: “Mediterranean Ecosystem”
1998
Graz and Vienna, Austria: “Water and Groundwater Ecology”
1997
Zürich, Switzerland: “European Freight Transport and Traffic”
1996
Krakow, Poland: “Humans and its Environment”
1995
Born, Germany: “First Round: The National Park”
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
EUROENVIRO 2012 – CONSERVATION IS NOT ISOLATION For the year 2012, Slovak students accepted the challenge and a responsible task of organizing the 18th event of EuroEnviro. It was the first time this project was realized in Slovakia where it was held from 19th to 26th of May in two places – Bratislava and High Tatras. For EuroEnviro 2012 the topic “Conservation is Not Isolation” was chosen as it characterizes one of the most common problems in conservation worldwide. Protected areas represent places of unique landscapes, endangered plant and animal species, which are characterized by a specific protection regime. In the past these places were established far away from human activities. Nowadays the situation is different as these areas rather provide space for interaction between humans and nature or are considered of high potential for regional development, despite that these areas still posses habitats for endangered species and rare ecosystems. Therefore the protection of extremely valuable areas requires understanding and balance between conservation measures, development activities of local stakeholders, tourism and environmental awareness raising. The program of the EuroEnviro 2012 consisted of both theory and practice. Lectures, discussions, workshops and excursions dealing with the topic of nature and landscape conservation were focused on providing interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches to the topics with the goal of critical reflection on the issues. The goal was to reach a broad audience from all over Europe and to encourage the participants to apply and improve the knowledge and methods they learned and experienced during the EuroEnviro2012 once they return back home.
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
ORGANIZING TEAM Main coordinators Ivana Kohutková Peter Baus
Organizational staff Rastislav Krivosudský Michaela Mackovová
Supporting team Ľuboš Molitoris Eva Streberová Zuzana Michalcová
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
PARTICIPANTS We are happy we managed to create the conditions for hosting thirty-nine students from all over Europe.
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Name
Country of study
Christian Kofler Philipp Mitterhofer Belinda Torres-Leclercq Ida Jagar Sonja Jelić Anita Rubane Lucy Szaboova Kertu Lõhmus Taavi Paal Iitu Kiminki Ahmed Huseynli Asja Bernd Christian Hardt Christiane Plum Elisabeth Fial Jonas Rönnefarth Judith Reise Nora Marie Zaremba Paul Schumacher Sabine Schnichels Samad Hassanpour Razavi Susanne Arnhold Afroditi Kardamaki Aikaterini Alexandra Demertzi Roberto Urso Salvatore Ghiani Alvydas Gintaras Masa Stojanovic Maria Ntovantzi Ehsan Ebrahimi Yasir Nadeem Marta Deptuła Lucia Cachovanová Anja Hočevar Deja Skerjanc Irena Smole Manica Markelj Tomislav Tkalec Stefanos Giannakis
Austria Austria Belgium Croatia Croatia Denmark England Estonia Estonia Finland Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Germany Greece Greece Italy Italy Lithuania Montenegro Netherlands Germany Norway Poland Slovakia Slovenia Slovenia Slovenia Slovenia Slovenia Spain
EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
Participants map of EuroEnviro 2012
VlkolĂnec, Slovakia
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
PROGRAM The EuroEnviro 2012 was focused on topic of “Conservation Is Not Isolation“ with a wide interpretation and its aim was to provide many different viewpoints on this theme through various activities. The program contained lectures, workshops, discussions, relfection groups, committees and field excursions related to the topic of nature and landscape conservation. All these events were led by scholars from Slovakia and abroad - representatives of academic ambient and nongovernmental sector, practitioners of nature and landscape conservation, employees of institutions and organizations dealing with this topic every day. The event started in Bratislava city with a welcome meeting and introduction into the main theme. Afterwards, the program continued in High Tatras region where it came to the end. As the participants had a great variety of backgrounds, fields of study, cultural backgrounds and different experiences we wanted them to extract this vast knowledge and encourage them to actively share with all of us. They had opportunity to share their opinions in intercultural and international setting. Our aim was to encourage international cooperation and exchange of ideas and possible solutions as well.
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
DAILY REPORTS Bratislava
20th May First night in Slovakia, first common breakfast and we are getting started with the first ice-breaking activity. In the morning, the participants were divided into small groups lead by organizers and left the hostel with the aim to see a bit of the city centre and to get to know each other. During the short excursion each group obtained its own map with pictures of various attractions they had to find.
M Miicchhaaeellaa ffrroom m oorrggaanniissaattiioonn tteeaam m dduurriinngg rreeggiissttrraattiioonn
PPaarrttiicciippaannttss dduurriinngg cciittyy ttoouurr iinn BBrraattiissllaavvaa
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
After this short tour across the city we moved to the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava where the EuroEnviro 2012 event was officially opened by Slovak organizers and Assoc. prof. Katarína Pavličková, the head of Department of Landscape Ecology at the Faculty. The afternoon program continued with two lectures. The first one was led by our host lecturer Mr. Alois Lang who works in the field of public relations in National Park Neusielder See - Seewinkel, Austria. The lecture was dedicated to the theme “Campaigning for nature conservation: Is it the right language?” which started by interesting facts about the National Park Neusielder See – Seewinkel. Then many deep-going questions were asked: “What are we communicating with nature conservation, what is the message?, What is the story we are telling to whoever?, What is the reputation of nature conservation as a result of hearing different stories?, How can we reduce the messages of nature conservation into key points?, How can we motivate people to spend more time in the nature?, How can we motivate people not to just be fascinated by nature but also get them to appreciate the nature before the doorstep of your home, not only in protected areas?”. There is a broad range of groups we want to tell the message of nature conservation and diverse range of expectations. Nature conservation does not mean that any form of economic development is impossible and that is what has not been told enough so far in our society.
LLeeccttuurree ooff M Mrr.. AAllooiiss LLaanngg The integration of national park into the surrounding region, which is not a state/public property, is a must. In the end four essential points – musts – in communicating nature conservation were presented: 1. very clear translated message 2. we have to decide on who you can reach and address him or her in the terms of nature conservation contents, 3. natural wealth, natural values are a part of component of our quality of life in a region, 4. nature conservation places an active role for sustainable development and therefore it makes a lot of sense to find out
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
where is the common ground in all these interests that at the first glance look very oponent to each other. Second lecturer prof. Mikuláš Huba´s presentation (Institute of Geography, Slovak Academy of Sciences, and National Council of the Slovak Republic) was dedicated to the broad theme of Slovakia, scientific community, civic involvement, nature/landcape and Rio+20 process. The lecture started with a detailed presentation concerning nature conservation in Slovakia using the example of the most famous national park in Slovakia - High Tatra National Park – the national symbol of Slovakia and an international phenomenon. We heard about the unique combination of natural, cultural and historical values within this transboundary protected area, preparation of zonation, different protection regimes on Polish and Slovak side, the prevailing tendencies in managing nature, also about curiosities, interesting facts and well known different forms of cooperation. It continued with the theme of contemporary situation of nature conservation in Slovakia, institutional framework, governmental conception of nature conservation, levels of protection and bodies responsible for nature protection. Afterwards we moved to the topic of the upcoming Rio+20 - United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development which was organized in order to adopt new approaches especially in the field of green world economy, to reduce world poverty, to improve the functioning in UN system and international system of relevant organizations which are dealing with sustainable development and in the end to implement the results and findings into practice.
PPrrooff.. H Huubbaa ssppeeaakkiinngg aabboouutt R Riioo++2200 pprroocceessss And finally, the first EuroEnviro day ended with the International night event, an informal evening, during which participants could experienced different countries they all came from. This event began in Slovak pub where they could experienced the spirit and traditions of Slovakia. We then continued in the backyard of the hostel where all of the participants brought special and typical meals and drinks from their countries.
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
21st May Next day, the morning program started with indoor activities. The first lecture was led by assoc. prof. Dr. Tatiana Kluvánková-Oravská and Dr. Veronika Chobotová from the Centre for Transdisciplinary Studies of the Institutions, Evolution and Policies and Institute for Forecasting, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia. The presentation was dedicated to the topic of “Dynamic ecosystems: The role of property regimes and ecosystem services in conservation of biodiversity” with a market approach to ecosystem services. At the beginning there were few slides of introduction related to the concept of ecosystem services and the benefits people obtain from ecosystems. Afterwards we moved from functions of ecosystems to services and commodities and commodification process, through invisible complexity, values and institutional asymmetries to environmentally friendly behavior. In the end, the lecturer concluded that the focus on monetary valuation and market based policy design has contributed much to mainstream ecosystem services science and attract political support for conservation. This has taken place in parallel to a process of commodification of a growing number of ecosystem services, reproducing the market logic to tackle environmental problems, together with its underlying ideology and institutional structures. Uncertainties remain - like which are the potentional side effects that may result from mainstreaming of utilitarian market-based rationales for conservation, in terms of both possible changes in the motivational aspects for conservation, as well as in terms of exportation of particular worldviews in the understanding of the human–nature relations.
EExxccuurrssiioonn ttoo D Daannuubbee rriivveerr bbrraanncchheess w wiitthh cciivviicc aaccttiivviisstt M Miicchhaall D Deerraajj
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
The workshop Landscape Protection, Sustainability and Quality of Life: Linkages Between Biodiversity and (Socio-)Cultural Diversity which followed, was lead by prof. Vladimír Ira from Institute of Geography, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia discussed biodiversity and cultural diversity issues. Historically, biodiversity was a topic, which was discussed among national scientists and there is a new aspect which is appearing in connection with the sustainability concept. Cultural/socio-cultural diversity is a phenomenon which has been studied and analyzed in relation to biodivirestity issues. Especially, we Europeans have protected areas, which are not typical areas of wilderness - most of them are territories with strong human impact. The aims of the workshop were to deal with recommendations for future research, management of an area of complex diversity and relationship between biodiversity and cultural diversity which are strongly interlinked, especially if we are talking about it in the sustainability and well-being context. Six areas of interdependence between biodiversity and cultural diversity were mentioned. The presentation dealt with terms of socio-cultural diversity, biocultural diversity and biocultural heritage, with examples of how to evaluate biocultural diversity on a global scale. At the end, the participants had to deal with three questions and issues: (1.) Are the essential components of diversity as well as the relations among them clearly identified?, (2.) Try to define logical structure for evaluating the links between cultural and biological components of diversity, (3.) Highlight important assumptions and gaps in understanding diversity and its role in social-ecological systems., which developed long and rich discussion.
LLeeccttuurree aabboouutt hhiissttoorriiccaall vviinneeyyaarrdd llaannddssccaappeess After a short lunch break, a bus has been waiting for everybody in order to take us for the trip to the Danube river branches where a field excursion was led by MSc. Michal Deraj – a civic activist. After about an hour, during which our guide introduced to us the short history of the river branch system origin and we saw a movie dedicated to the fauna of this unique place, we were taken about 52 km south of Bratislava to one of the biggest hydroelectric power plants on the river Danube (Gabčíkovo dam). As the
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
weather was perfect, our guide took us to the barrier, where he briefly introduced the complexity of the river branch system, how the hydroelectric power, the inlet channels and locks work. From the dams and artificial channels we went to the original old Danube. We had the opportunity to see the decrease of water level of the original flow after the construction and the filling of artificial power channel by the power plant. In addition, there was the opportunity to have a look at the remainder of the original floodplain forests and wetlands. After a short bus journey upriver Bodíky we visited the village, which lies in the branch system. Since the original Danube had countless side branches besides its main bed, the inland delta of the river in lowland stream was established. Flood forests and wet meadows, which in the past were flooded regularly by natural floods, are slowly disappearing and changing its biological composition, since the flow and frequency of flooding are regulated. Then MSc. Michal Deraj introduced the possibility of management of these rare ecosystems. An interesting discussion started, which regarded the ownership relations of this area and the potential for its use. The last stop on our trip was Čunovská water reservoir- where we could see the inlet branch system. PPaarrttiicciippaannttss eennjjooyyiinngg vviinneettaassttiinngg
From the place of Dunajské luhy we directly headed towards Modra – small town in a famous Slovak wine-making region. In the restaurant and wine cellar called “U pradeda”(At the Grand-grandfather´s), the participants had the opportunity to hear the results of current research within the project of Historical vineyard landscape of Small Carpathians Mts. The lecture was held by Dr. Dagmar Štefunková and Dr. Róbert Kanka (Institute of Landscape Ecology of Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia). The presentation defined historical landscape structures in general and how the agricultural landscape looked like in the past and nowadays. The researchers then presented some details about the Project “Research and maintaining of biodiversity in historical structures of agricultural landscape of Slovakia“. As we heard about the vineyards in Small Carpathians Mountains it would be a sin not to taste any of the wines produced in this famous wine region. And so, the owner of the cellar prepared wine tasting of local wines with an additional presentation about these wines and followed by stories about the cellar, his family and tradition of wine-making in the family.
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
May 22th Next day we made the journey from Bratislava to Horný Smokovec during which we visited several interesting places. The first stop was in Suchá nad Parnou village which represents a typical rural agricultural settlement. The program was prepared by employees of Institute of Landscape Ecology (Slovak academy of Sciences, Bratislava) – Dr. Milena Moyzeová, Dr. Zita Izakovičová and Dr. Jana Špulerová, by the mayor of the village – Dr. Daniela Balážová and by the director of the grammar school – MSc. Ivana Smahelová. Firstly, we learned some basic facts about the village and its environmental activites. Part of the presentation were the “green” activities of the kindergarten and grammar school with established ecolaboratory (later on we had an opportunity to go outside and experience it by ourselves) and the classroom for teaching natural sciences. The Ecolaboratory is used for non-traditional forms of education, various competitions, games and events. Also, we were told about the results of the ecological management project related to the realization of the territorial system of ecological stability in Suchá nad Parnou as an example of (a) transfer of scientific knowledge into practice, (b) planting of vegetation in agricultural and urban landscapes on the basis of landscape ecological principles, (c) involvement of different stakeholders in the active protection of environment at the local level, (d) organic enrichment of ecological network with new TSES elements – biocentre and biocorridor, and thereby, increasing the ecological stability and biodiversity of this area.
LLuunncchh ttooookk ppllaaccee aatt tthhee bbeeaauuttiiffuull hhaalll aatt tthhee SSm moolleenniiccee ccaassttllee The next place we stopped at was Smolenice castle where we had lunch and guided tour within the castle. From the highest tower we had a beautiful view over the entire area of the castle and over the surrounding landscape as well.
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
And the last station was in Vlkolínec – a tiny village hidden in the mountains, a unique monumental reservation of folk architecture. To get there we had to hike a little up into the hills but then we experienced an amazing walk through this village where it seemed that time stopped centuries ago. We visited museum and gallery of folk arts and listened to the local guide about history of the village.
VViieew w ooff VVeeľľkkáá FFaattrraa N Naattiioonnaall PPaarrkk ffrroom m VVllkkoollíínneecc ((U UN NEESSCCO O)) And finally, after the visit of Vlkolínec we travelled to Horný Smokovec (High Tatras) where the next part of the EuroEnviro took place.
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
May 23rd On May 23rd, the EuroEnviro continued in High Tatras (Horny Smokovec), surrounded by the mountainous landscape of Tatra national park - TANAP, the largest and oldest national park in Slovakia. On this day three thematic sessions took place, first guest lecturer was Dr. Dušan Bevilaqua (former director of Slovak Paradise National Park, Slovakia), then Ing. Erik Baláž followed (one of the leaders of the environmental non-governmental organisation - WOLF) and the closing session was presented by Dr. Juraj Švajda (researcher and lecturer at the University of Matej Bel in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia).
LLeeccttuurree ooff EErriikk BBaalláážž w waass ffuulll ooff iinnssppiirraattiioonn ffoorr aalll ppaarrttiicciippaannttss The main aim of all these three sessions was to provide a theoretical background and present different case studies that deal with nature conservation and interaction of people and nature in a mountain environment and landscape in general. The introduction on this topic was made by Dr. Bevilaqua, who presented the past and current challenges in scientific discourse on landscape conservation, definitions and practical implementation of landscape conservation and management policy in Europe. The presentation continued with several examples from the Tatra and Spiš region, which was exactly where the Euroenviro was taking place. Furthermore he outlined several perspectives on cultural landscapes, landscape and identity and the issues and underestimated potential of marginal landscapes. Dr. Bevilaqua also provided answers to several questions in the final discussion and proposed to join the Euroenviro trip to Slovak Paradise national park. As the former director of this park he was an asset to this excursion later on. The second presentation was dedicated to wildlife protection and conservation of natural reserves. Ing. Erik Baláž had two presentations, the first one was dealing with preservation of wildlife in the European context. He stressed the need for stopping fragmentation of European protected areas in order to effectively conserve European wildlife – at least what has been left. Mr. Balaž used examples from the past to give the participants an impression of the ancient European pristine forests and already extinct animals. The presentation explained several biological and ecological theories, which
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
are the cornerstones to understand and protect wildlife. Towards the end of his presentation Mr. Balaž presented a starting project for wildlife conservation and sustainable tourism development initiative - a trilateral project between Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine in Eastern Carpathians. He closed his presentation with a movie trailer on bears living in the natural reserves Tichá and Kôprová valley in TANAP – The Keeper of the Wilderness, for which Mr. Balaž observed and collected videos of wild animals for more than 3 years.
LLeeccttuurree ooff D Drr.. JJuurraajj ŠŠvvaajjddaa The final session was a presentation by Dr. Švajda, a former employee of TANAP Administration and currently a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Biology and Ecology at Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica. His presentation was focused on 4 main topics: the importantance of the research in TANAP, the historical aspects of research and current challenges, problems, solutions and recommendations for management of TANAP and further research initiatives. The presentation was full with examples of issues that researches and staff of the park encounter in their daily management practice. The idea of this presentation was to give the participants an overview of the potentials that TANAP has – natural and socio-economic values, and the position that research has been taking in connecting these two dimensions.
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
May 24th We woke up into a sunny day in High Tatras. The weather was excellent in the morning so we could follow the scheduled trips. We created two options and split the participants into two groups. The first group hiked up to the mountain hut at the Green “pleso” (pleso is Slovak expression for lakes of glacial origin in Slovakia) located in the end of Valley of green “pleso” at the elevation of 1551 m above the sea level. We took the bus from Horný Smokovec to Kežmarská biela voda bus stop where our starting point was. We followed yellow marked trail all the way up to the hut. The guides - Ľuboš Molitoris (Department of Landscape ecology, Comenius University in Bratislava) and Martin Lukáň (Institute of High Mountain Biology) were discussing the current management in High Tatra National Park, the situation in State Nature Conservancy and environmental issues caused by actual management measures. There was also a room for discussing general information about the park concerning the history and natural conditions.
TTrriipp ttoo ZZeelleennéé pplleessoo m moouunnttaaiinn llaakkee ((ttaarrnn)) We reached the hut approximately after 3 hours of walking. After the refreshment at the hut there was short talk about glacial forms of the surrounding area. Afterwards, there were two options: people who were not in a good condition returned back to Horný Smokovec and for those who were a bit better in condition the hike continued further to the Belianske Tatry, named after limestock rocks origin. Following the red trail, we passed White “plesa” lakes to the geological border of High and Belianske Tatras. As the weather was quite unfriendly at that time, we decided to return to the bus stop following blue marked trail creating a loop to the Kežmarska biela voda bus stop. The second group headed to Starý Smokovec in the morning. The weather was perfect without any clouds in the sky. After the walk to Starý Smokovec we walked along the path of the cableway to Hrebienok (1263 m a.s.l.). During the 20-minute walk, we
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
passed the territories affected by a wind storm, which refuted most of the trees in 2004, mostly spruce monocultures. On one side we had the chance to see some of the still unprocessed calamity wood, on the other side there were areas where the nature slowly began with gradual recovery of the forest. Passing through the forest, we heard the sound of chainsaws in the valleys.
SSttuuddeennoovvooddsskkéé W Waatteerrffaalllss –– ppiieeccee ooff H i g h T a t r a s N High Tatras Naattiioonnaall PPaarrkk´´ss bbeeaauuttyy From Hrebienok we descended around the Bilíková mountain hut to Cold Creek Waterfall, one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the High Tatras. We had luck because there were no tourists there at this time. Compared to the majority of big mountains in the world, the High Tatras peaks are smaller but the weather tends to change just as much. In the middle of our journey it started to rain, thus we went to Zamkovského mountain hut where we survived the rain with cups of hot tea and pieces of another local specialty - Tatramelky (nutty-caramel cakes of local production). We tried to reach our final destiantion - Terry’s mountain hut (2015 m a.s.l.) - through the Small Cold Valley but after about 30 minutes of heavy rain, which caught us on our way, we were soaking wet. Thus we returned back to Zamkovského cottage, where we had lunch and after 2 hours of resting and drying out our clothes, we went to the Skalnaté pleso lake (1751 m a.s.l.). Thanks to the rain the air was purified and we had good visibility and could see the underlying valley and cities in it. At Skalnaté pleso-lake there is, in addition to the crystal clear glacial lake surrounded by a trail, an astronomical observatory and the cable car station. When we arrived, the cable car station was closed. Therefore, we had to walk down. In Tatranská Lomnica, we took a tram to our pension.
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May 25th The last day we traveled to the nearby National Park Sloveský Raj (Slovak Paradise) where the representatives of the national park administration – Dr. Tomáš Dražil (Head of the Department for protected parts of nature, forester and fytocenologist), together with Dr. Dušan Bevilaqua waited for us. We arrived in Vernár village and then walked a few minutes to the protected grounds of Slovenský Raj (Slovak Paradise)
D Drr.. TToom máášš D Drraažžiill ((oonn tthhee rriigghhtt)) ttaallkkiinngg aabboouutt w e t l a n d p l a n t s wetland plants iinn SSlloovvaakk ppaarraaddiissee N Naattiioonnaall PPaarrkk
PPaarrttiicciippaannttss lleeaarrnn aabboouutt tthhee iim mppoorrttaannccee ooff w weettllaanndd pprreesseerrvvaattiioonn
National Park where we actively participated in nature conservation measures by removing the self-seeding tree species in wetlands. After two hours of removing the
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
trees and shrubs, we travelled to Stratená village where we ate our lunch at the Ranč pod Ostrou skalou (Ranch Under the Sharp rock). We had the opportunity to have a look at the ranch area with horses which is at the entrance to the National Park Slovak Paradise. We got to know many interesting details about the hard work of ranch owner but also about his positive relationship to the surrounding nature, and his cooperation with Administration office of the national park is proof of this. Afterwards we went to Stratenský kaňon (Stratená canyon) where we had a short walk. Stratená canyon is a canyon segment of upper part of river Hnilec between villages Stratená and Dobšinská Ice Cave (Dobšinská ľadová jaskyňa). And at the end of our Slovak Paradise trip we stopped near the Donšiná village where we walked on the trail of educational purpose Hnilec Wetlands - Mokrade Hnilca. This path is one of the first paths of this type in Slovak republic. The wooden trail runs along the river Hnilec, surrounded by wetlands and educational boards with information on the valuable biodiversity and habitats.
SSttaannddiinngg oovvaattiioonn ffoorr tthhee EEuurrooEEnnvviirroo 22001122 oorrggaanniissaattiioonn tteeaam m SSlloovvaakkiiaa At the end of this day we returned happy but tired back to the pension in High Tatras and had the last common dinner of EuroEnviro 2012 participants. Then we officialy closed the event with a big “Thank you!” and then the Goodbye party started.
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Lecturers, Activities leaders, Guests Opening of EuroEnviro 2012: Assoc. prof. Katarína Pavličková (Department of Landscape Ecology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Bratislava) Lecturers (in alphabetical order): Ing. Erik Baláž (non-governmental organisation VLK [WOLF]) Dr. Veronika Chobotová (Centre for Transdisciplinary Studies of the Institutions, Evolution and Policies, Institute for Forecasting, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia) Dr. Dušan Bevilaqua (former manager of National Park Slovenský Raj [Slovak Paradise]) MSc. Michal Deraj (civic activist) Dr. Tomáš Dražil (administration of Slovak Paradise National Park, head of the department for protected parts of nature, forester and fytocenologist) prof. Mikuláš Huba (Institute of Geography, Slovak Academy of Sciences, and National Council of the Slovak Republic) prof. Vladimír Ira (Institute of Geography, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia Dr. Róbert Kanka (Institute of Landscape Ecology of Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia) Assoc. prof. Tatiana Kluváková-Oravská (Centre for Transdisciplinary Studies of the Institutions, Evolution and Policies, Institute for Forecasting, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia) Dr. Alois Lang (National park Neusiedlersee-Seewinkel, Austria) Dr. Milena Moyzeová (Institute of Landscape Ecology of Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia) Dr. Dagmara Štefunková (Institute of Landscape Ecology of Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia) Dr. Juraj Švajda (Department of biology and Ecology, Matej bel University, Banská Bystrica)
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
Patrons and partners The EuroEnviro 2012 was held under the patronage of: Faculty of Natural Sciences, University in Bratislava, Slovakia
Comenius
Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia
Institute for Forecasting, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
Institute of Geography, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
Institute of Landscape Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
Environmental Institute, Pezinok, Slovakia
civic
association,
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
SPONZORS
Anton Novotný
SASHE CREATIVE PEOPLE: Lucia Cebáková /luceba/, Katarína Hulková /KatuHula/, Ivana Juráková /charis/, Ivana Kasardová /Levandulka/, Zina Krajčovičová /ZinaK/, Janette Kutrucová /Dadyart/, Andrea Lajošová /Andy.Art/, Tatiana Lipovská /Tanaja/, Marta Zajarošova /martafilip/
MEDIA PARTNERS
SUPPORTERS Department of Landscape Ecology, Comenius University, Bratislava Lucia Leváková Soňa Zemanová
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EuroEnviro2012 Conservation is not Isolation
VET BIB Community of veterans of BIB or EuroEnviro meetings VetBIB was founded to bring students together who meet on BIB meetings and where scattered over Europe after finishing university. VetBIB is a made-up word of „veterans“ and BIB. BIB is is the forerunner of EuroEnviro and stands for „Born in Born“ because Born, located on the penisula Darss at the Baltic Sea in Germany, was the first official meeting point of environmental students. The VetBIB was founded to bring students together who met former meetings and are scattered all over Europe. In 2004 the first VetBIB meeting in Tulfes (near Innsbruck/Austria) started. Then it was decided to organize a VetBIB meeting every other year in a different country. At the moment, the intention is to keep it small (around 30 people) so it is easilly arrangable for people. The website www.VetBIB.org should serve as the technical support to build up a VetBIB community. The website should be a small social network to stay in contact and maybe find other former BIB participants. However, the main intent is to have a central platform to collect all necessary information for the upcoming VetBIB meetings. As a registered veteran www.VetBIB.org provides you with all necessary information on the upcoming VetBIB meeting. Previous VetBIB Meetings
2012 – Obertraun / Austria 2010 – Zingst, Baltic Sea / Germany 2008 – Gurzuf, Crimea / Ucraine 2006 – Gonten, Appenzell / Switzerland 2004 – Tulfes, Tyrol / Austria
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