DAPHNE publications

Natura 2000 in Slovakia. Methodology of Site´s Identification

Šeffer J., Lasák R. (eds.) 2004: DAPHNE - Institute of Applied Ecology for State Nature Conservancy of the SR, Bratislava, 107 p. (in Slovak and English)
The authors explain the process of the preparation of the system Natura 2000 and methods for identification of its key components in a comprehensive, well-arranged and clear way. The chapter on identification of taxa and habitats included in the Habitats Directive comments expert discussions, which anticipated the accomplishment of the lists including 25 priority and 114 other species and 23 priority and 44 other habitats. Further chapter gives the background on the sources of information for identification of Natura 2000 sites. Further three chapters analyse step-by-step the expert procedure of preparation of data for selection of SCIs, identification of the pSCIs, and specification and adjustment of borders. Substantial part of the book encompasses text and image annexes. A reader will find here the list of habitats of Annex I of Habitats Directive in Slovakia with threshold values of habitat coverage and the list of taxa of Annex II of Habitats Directive in Slovakia with threshold values of coverage. The images include maps of distribution of habitats and taxa in Slovakia, whilst the data on habitats are discriminated into three categories (occurrence of habitat not covered by governmental nor by scientific proposal of SCIs, occurrence of habitat covered by governmental and by scientific proposal of SCIs and occurrence of habitat covered only by scientific proposal of SCIs). The final part of the book presents synthesis - a map of the scientific proposal of Natura 2000 (total area 8 981.1 km2 , number of localities 864) and a map of the overlap of scientific proposal of Natura 2000 agreed by government (total area 5736.9 km2, number of localities 382) with the part of the scientific proposal not agreed by the government (total area 3244.2 km2, number of localities 482).

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Grasslands of Slovakia. The Guide on Wise Use

Galvánek, D., Viestová, E., 2006: Grasslands of Slovakia, The Guide on Wise Use. DAPHNE - Institute of Applied Ecology. Bratislava, 16 p. (in Slovak).
The brochure presents brief information on semi-natural and natural grasslands in Slovakia. It contains several short chapters presenting their history, ecological typology and importance. Special attention is paid to their sustainable use including description of suitable and unsuitable management practices. At the end of the brochure, the readers can also find useful links to web pages containing information on grasslands. The publication was prepared in the frame of WB/GEF project Central European Grasslands - Conservation and Sustainable Use and targets especially farmers.

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Water Resource Protection across Borders
Viceníková, A., Chrenková, M., Vogrín, M., Popov, D., 2006: Water Resource Protection across Borders. DAPHNE - Institute of Applied Ecology. Bratislava, 12 p.
The brochure is the result of UNDP/GEF Danube Regional Project: Addressing nutrient and toxic pollution in the in the sub-basins of the Morava, Mura and Ogosta Rivers. Three NGOs joined their effort with the aim to contribute to water pollution reduction in above mentioned river basins that are tributaries of the Danube River. The brochure was published in four languages, each separately, in different amount of copies - Slovak and Bulgarian version - in 900 copies each, Slovenian in 700 copies and English in 500 copies. The brochure brings upon the similarities in water pollution problems in three target river basins and summarises undertaken activities and project achievements. At the end the suggestions on what can be done to improve the quality of the water in everyday life are given.
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EU Funding for Environment - A Handbook for the 2007-2013 Programming Period
Janák, M., Miklášová, L., Viestová, E.: Fondy EÚ pre životné prostredie. Príručka pre programovanie. DAPHNE - Inštitút aplikovanej ekológie, Bratislava, 108 s. Translation into Slovak from original: Liarikos, C., Schubert, D., Lang, S., Beckmann, A., Aulotte, E., Torkler, P., 2005: EU Funding for Environment - Handbook for programming period 2007-2013. WWF, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 108 p.
The handbook aims to analyse and understand the proposed European Commission's regulations for EU Funds in 2007-2013 with regard to funding of environmental priorities. It helps to combine concrete activities and ways for their financing, identifies possibilities for combined funding from various funds and also describes successful environmental projects with aim to provide best practice examples for future measures and projects.
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Water Framework Directive - Challenge for the Third Millenium
Janák, M., Chrenková, M., 2006: Rámcová smernica o vode - výzva pre tretie tisícročie. DAPHNE - Inštitút aplikovanej ekológie, Bratislava. (in Slovak).
Information leaflet deals with the Water Framework Directive, its aims, process of implementation, national timeline and dates for achieving specific milestones in Slovakia. Furthermore it contains information specifically targeting municipalities as one of the key environmental stakeholders.
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Wetlands in River Basin Management
Janák, M., Moisi, P., Mrekva, L., Tamás, E. A., Vogrin, M., Wolf, J., 2006: Wetlands in River Basin Management. Danube Environmental Forum, Bratislava. (in English).
Leaflet contains definition of wetlands, informs about their diversity, types of wetlands in the river basins, their values and functions with regard to water management issues. It refers to the EU Water Framework Directive and gives examples and inspiration where and how wetlands can be effectively included into the river basin management and thus help in solving water related issues in the river basins.
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Danube-Oder-Elbe Water Way versus Natura 2000 in Slovakia
Janák, M., 2006: Vodná cesta Dunaj-Odra-Labe verzus Natura 2000 na Slovensku. Priatelia Zeme - CEPA, Ponická Huta. (in Slovak).
The leaflet contains a map of the planned Danube-Oder-Elbe Canal route in Slovakia and shows conflicting areas of the DOEC and Natura 2000 in Slovakia. It contains information about each Natura 2000 site which lays in the planned route of the canal, its habitats and species of interest. The basic information on the Natura 2000 network, the DOEC project and description of main conflicts is also included.
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Danube-Oder-Elbe Canal - Situation in the Slovak Republic
Janák, M., 2006: Kanál Dunaj-Odra-Labe - situácia v Slovenskej republike. Priatelia Zeme - CEPA, Ponická Huta, 24 p. (in Slovak).
The brochure summarises the situation of the DOEC project in Slovakia as of January 2005. It contains information from relevant laws, transport sector strategies, spatial plans as well as national funding programmes for EU funds which ever referred to planning or preparation of the DOEC project in Slovakia. Several official technical and feasibility studies for the DOEC project done in Slovakia are also cited. These studies uncover the questionable economic benefit of the project as well huge technical demands which make the DOEC unrealistic.
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Natura 2000 in the new EU Member States, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia
Viestová, E., Janák, M., Šeffer, J., September 2005: Natura 2000 in the new EU Member States, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia.
Like our previous report from 2004, also this report seeks to assess the progress that these countries have made in implementing the EU´s central tool for conservation policy, the Habitats Directive (HD), in particular the EU´s Natura 2000 network of specially protected sites. This summary report and the individual country reports on which it is based make clear that much still remains to be done for proper implementation of the Habitats Directive. There are still some gaps in transposition of legislation, especially with regard to assessments of plans and projects (according to Article 6 of HD). Many of the proposed or potential Natura 2000 sites are already under threat, certainly not helped by the fact that nature conservation and provisions of the Habitats Directive are only poorly integrated into most other sectoral policies and programming, from regional development to transportation. Resources and capacity for implementation of Natura 2000 remains relatively limited. Download here. Link: www.panda.org/epo (see under Natura 2000 and publications)

Natura 2000 in the New EU Member States
Lasák, R., Viestová, E., Šeffer, J., 2004: Natura 2000 in the New EU Member States - Slovakia. In: Status report and list of sites for selected habitats and species. Covering the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia, and with status reports for Cyprus, Estonia and Latvia as well as Bulgaria and Romania.
Purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the status of progress in identification and designation of the Natura 2000 network in the new Member States and to create a common yardstick, applied across the countries, to help gauge the relative quality of official preparations for site designation as well as to identify some of the remaining gaps in coverage. It is a joint effort of eight non-governmental organisations including: Daphne Institute of Applied Ecology (Slovakia), Estonian Fund for Nature, Federation of Ecological and Environmental Organisations in Cyprus, Lithuanian Fund for Nature, Nature Trust Malta, Slovenian Society for Bird Research and Nature Protection, Veronica, Czech Union for Nature Conservation, and WWF - World Wide Fund for Nature.
Report builds on previous experience with the WWF Initiative for a European Shadow List of Natura 2000 Sites for the EU-15, which was published in June 2000. This earlier NGO contribution to the Natura 2000 site selection process in the EU-15 together with subsequent work has proven to be a valuable tool for promoting effective implementation of the Directives, helping to increase significantly the scope and quality of the sites proposed.
Download here. Link: www.panda.org/epo (see: Natura 2000)

Natura 2000 - Protection of Nature in the Third Millennium
The aim of this colour-illustrated brochure for the public is to pass on basic information about the principals, the functioning and the formation of the Natura 2000 system in Slovakia in relation to entry to the European Union.

Progress on Preparation for Natura 2000 in Future EU Member States
Viestová, E., 2002: Progress on Preparation for Natura 2000 in Future EU Member States - Slovakia. In: Beckmann, A., 2003: Progress on Preparation for Natura 2000 in Future EU Member States, Synthesis and Country Reports for Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, 49 - 52.
In the run-up to the historic enlargement of the European Union, the WWF Ecological Networks Team decided to build on its experience of working on Natura 2000 in the EU member states within the framework of the WWF Accession Initiative. The team worked with five partner organisations (including DAPHNE) to evaluate the current preparations of the EU candidate countries towards implementation of the nature conservation legislation. The national reports and the synthesis cover the preparation of lists of proposed Natura 2000 sites (p SCI´s), as well as covering communication (i.e. education and awareness-raising), planning for the future funding of the network in each country and integration into other land use policies.
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Position Document of Slovak Non-governmental Organisations on the Process of EU Integration in the Field of Environment
Bedi, E., Čárska, H., Čierna, M., Filčák, R., Havlíček, R., Hégeyi, L., Hrivňák, Ľ., Medál, R., Roháč, J. & Vagáčová, M., 2000: Position Document of Slovak Non-governmental Organisations on the Process of EU Integration in the Field of Environment. DAPHNE, ETP Slovakia, REC Slovakia, Bratislava.
This Position Paper reflects the views and observations of non-governmental organisations on the process of EU accession and its possible impact on the environment in Slovakia. The document, which has been prepared by 10 experts and supported by 24 environmental organisations, provides analyses and recommendations on different topics, such as biodiversity, agriculture, water, waste, the 6th Environmental Action Plan institutional development and public participation. The intention of the paper is to stimulate discussion on alternative social and environmental policy, transparency and public participation in the EU enlargement process.

River Morava Floodplain - Manual for Guides
Farkašovská, M. (ed.), 2000: Morava River Floodplain - Manual for Guides. DAPHNE - Institute of Applied Ecology and Distelverein, Bratislava (in Slovak, German, English).
The aim of the manual is to provide extensive information about a very
valuable Ramsar site, the River Morava floodplain, its nature, culture and history. The manual gives some ideas and information useful for the preparation of guided nature tours or just for people who want to learn more about this region. There are sections about nature, culture and history as well as about the different recreational uses of this area and the techniques of interpretation. References at the end of chapters allow users to quickly and easily find more information about each topic. Beside this, the relevant chapters include tables providing a list of all species mentioned in the document. The manual is available in three languages - English, German and Slovak.

Daphne - Journal of Applied Ecology

Daphne's Journal has been issued twice per year since 1994 and is an excellent tool for supporting discussions among scientists, onservationists from the state nature protection organisations, members of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and all bodies interested in land and nature conservation and environmental education. In addition, the journal increases public awareness about Slovakia's environment and strengthens the vital link between experts and the public to co-operate in solving real environmental problems. Each issue of the journal focuses on different topics - in 2000 they were the Ecological Network in Landscape and Ecology & Environmental Education. Daphne includes several columns providing information about important events in nature conservation, information about new books and materials, reviews and a special supplement devoted to the EU integration process.