13.5 Further Insights
We experienced various management methods even within the same habitat type on
our relatively small sample areas. A favourable conservation status of protected
habitats is not only threatened by pressures and impacts driven by climate change,
but also by those emerging from land use and its changes. Therefore, planning
climate adapted management requires the intense involvement of stakeholders and
amongst them, land users. Preparing a compilation of problems with the stakeholders,
focusing on problems that are connected with climate change helps to identify the
most important questions that should be answered during the planning of adaptive
management. Conflicts between stakeholders concerning the management of the
protected area should also be explored. It should be decided in each case which
factors are of the highest importance (e.g. species-oriented or habitat requirements)
and which climatic effects might affect the natural values (both species and habitats)
at the highest level. Thus, management cannot be uniformed or standardised.
Several ecologists and other officers working at Hungarian national park directorates underlined that a high flexibility of the authorities is needed when ordering
certain management restrictions for farmers on protected areas; the regulations
should be revised every year or even within a year (e.g. time of mowing should be
tied to vegetation phenophase instead of exact date). They also reported that currently
there is a lack of such flexibility due to strict legal regulations. A general guideline is
that management planning should be based on current, exact, relevant ecological and
social circumstances, and historical land uses. Therefore, this process cannot be
simplified into following a planning scheme. This especially applies on the Natura
2000 habitat type Pannonic salt steppes and salt marshes (HD code 1530) as it unites
every sodic habitat from the driest steppes to the wettest marshes. The scale of
planning its management should be based on the Hungarian habitat classification
system (A ´ NE ´ R), which divides it towards six habitat types. This scale should be
refined onto administrative management units according to national park officers.
Acknowledgments We are grateful for the key informants for this study, especially the managers
of the Ko ¨ro ¨s-Maros National Park Directorate and the land owners and farmers who gave their
knowledge and time. Our study was supported by the HABIT-CHANGE project, implemented
through the CENTRAL EUROPE programme co-financed by the ERDF. Authors are also greatful
for the support of Research Centre of Excellence - 17586-4/2013/TUDPOL.
Open Access This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
Noncommercial License, which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
References
Erwin, K. L. (2009). Wetlands and global climate change: The role of wetland restoration in a
changing world. Wetlands Ecology and Management, 17, 71–84.
George, G. (Ed.). (2010). The impact of climate change on European Lakes. Aquatic Ecology
Series 4, 1–13.
206
A ´ . Malatinszky et al.
We experienced various management methods even within the same habitat type on
our relatively small sample areas. A favourable conservation status of protected
habitats is not only threatened by pressures and impacts driven by climate change,
but also by those emerging from land use and its changes. Therefore, planning
climate adapted management requires the intense involvement of stakeholders and
amongst them, land users. Preparing a compilation of problems with the stakeholders,
focusing on problems that are connected with climate change helps to identify the
most important questions that should be answered during the planning of adaptive
management. Conflicts between stakeholders concerning the management of the
protected area should also be explored. It should be decided in each case which
factors are of the highest importance (e.g. species-oriented or habitat requirements)
and which climatic effects might affect the natural values (both species and habitats)
at the highest level. Thus, management cannot be uniformed or standardised.
Several ecologists and other officers working at Hungarian national park directorates underlined that a high flexibility of the authorities is needed when ordering
certain management restrictions for farmers on protected areas; the regulations
should be revised every year or even within a year (e.g. time of mowing should be
tied to vegetation phenophase instead of exact date). They also reported that currently
there is a lack of such flexibility due to strict legal regulations. A general guideline is
that management planning should be based on current, exact, relevant ecological and
social circumstances, and historical land uses. Therefore, this process cannot be
simplified into following a planning scheme. This especially applies on the Natura
2000 habitat type Pannonic salt steppes and salt marshes (HD code 1530) as it unites
every sodic habitat from the driest steppes to the wettest marshes. The scale of
planning its management should be based on the Hungarian habitat classification
system (A ´ NE ´ R), which divides it towards six habitat types. This scale should be
refined onto administrative management units according to national park officers.
Acknowledgments We are grateful for the key informants for this study, especially the managers
of the Ko ¨ro ¨s-Maros National Park Directorate and the land owners and farmers who gave their
knowledge and time. Our study was supported by the HABIT-CHANGE project, implemented
through the CENTRAL EUROPE programme co-financed by the ERDF. Authors are also greatful
for the support of Research Centre of Excellence - 17586-4/2013/TUDPOL.
Open Access This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
Noncommercial License, which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
References
Erwin, K. L. (2009). Wetlands and global climate change: The role of wetland restoration in a
changing world. Wetlands Ecology and Management, 17, 71–84.
George, G. (Ed.). (2010). The impact of climate change on European Lakes. Aquatic Ecology
Series 4, 1–13.
206
A ´ . Malatinszky et al.