Submitted by
avramoskio
on Thu, 02/01/2018 - 09:38
General Information
Resolution
46451
Period covered
Activities to implement this Resolution from Activity Reports
| Relevant operative para(s) of Res/Rec | Activities Overview | Description | Status | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Policy influencing/advocacy | In connection with the recent amendment to the Nature protection act, the Ministry of the Environment (MoE) has prepared a new ordinance regulating protected area (PA) management plans as to their mandatory contents and their preparation. Where the previous ordinance had mandated setting out the aims of the protected area and assigning an IUCN category following directly therefrom, the MoE newly proposed loosening the adherence to IUCN categories. Rather than a clear present declaration of an IUCN category for each PA, the category could newly be set out as a „target“ for the PA. E.g., NP Sumava: target IUCN cat. II. In practice, this would mean that PAs might not be placed within the IUCN classification at present, but at a hypothetical future date, which seriously puts in question the will of the MoE to achieve their stated management goals. In the case of NP Sumava, it would have had serious consequences for the implementation of res. WCC 6.034. Our partners in Hnuti DUHA (Friends of the Earth Czech Republic) held meetings with the MoE and the Office of the Government (i.e. the Cabinet Office) and notified the scientific community of the proposed changes, following which the „Scientists for Sumava“ platform also sent a letter to the Cabinet Office. At the behest of the Cabinet office, the MoE then altered the ordinance proposal and approved it in a form conforming to the previous version, i.e. PA management plans will continue to contain the IUCN category that the parks are to adhere to. We have held preliminary meetings about the new zonation of the national park: with the Director and technical staff of NP Sumava, as well as local NGOs. We continue to act in concert with the concerned scientific community (e.g. platform Scientists for Sumava), including WCPA members (e.g. Dr. Zdena Krenova). | On-going | Full activity report | |
| Policy influencing/advocacy | The Ministry of the Environment has worked out an internal directive, setting out the methodology for preparing National Park zonation. It provides that forests are to be divided up into nature protection zones according to their place in the classification of natural-ness of forest cover. The latter classification was originally developed for the purposes of research and monitoring of forests in smaller PAs like nature reserves, not for the purposes of national park zonation. Using this classification method yields completely different outcomes than, e.g., Natura 2000 biotope mapping. Moreover, the entire approach of setting conservation status as a function of the current state of forest stands, rather than their desired end-state aimed for in the final status of the PA, is itself problematic. This approach has already caused deviation from the goals of previous management plans and indeed regression in the protection status of certain areas. Specifically, an overreliance on the criteria of the natural-ness classification has in the past led to the fragmentation of the ‘first zone’ of NP Sumava, i.e. the area with the strictest conservation regime, and to an erosion of the conservation status of some of its most valuable forest stands. Advocacy from our partners in Hnuti DUHA, Friends of the Earth Czech Republic, unfortunately failed to achieve meaningful improvements to the document in its approval process, as the Ministry of Environment rejected Hnuti DUHA’s prompts. The directive serves as a guideline to NP employees in the present process of delineating nature conservation zones. In its current form, as approved by the Ministry in November 2017 and described above, the document is likely to complicate the process of NP zonation, which directly influences the management of individual areas of the park. | Completed | Full activity report | |
| Policy influencing/advocacy | We, along with our NGO and academic partners, took active part in a campaign for a better law regulating national parks in the Czech Republic. The main focus was advocacy, but also raising public awareness and providing technical expertise to support the legislative process, as appropriate. An English-language report from the campaign is linked below. The Ministry of Environment introduced an amendment to the Nature and Landscape Conservation Act (link to full text of current version listed below) in 2016, which contained new rules for Czech national parks. As part of the campaign, we and our partners prepared a series of specific texts, which were tabled in Parliament as amendments to the new legislation and some of which were eventually passed into law when the Czech Parliament approved the revised bill in April 2017. The amended law states for the first time that the long-term aim of conservation in national parks is primarily to protect undisturbed natural processes and that this should take place on more than one half of their area. The long-term aim is set specifically with reference to IUCN PA category II, which applies to three out of four Czech national parks, including NP Sumava. Broadly speaking, this success contributes to the fulfilment of paragraph 4(b) of the resolution as the conservation aim is now aligned with it in terms of the park’s end-state. Unfortunately, no timeline has been set out for its achievement (as paragraph 4b mandates) and the law explicitly provides for a 15-year moratorium on NP zonation changes, after an initial revision of the zonation, to be completed this year. In this sense, the new law represents an obstacle to the implementation of the resolution, as no further changes to NP zonation will be possible until 2033 if the revised zonation is approved this year. | Completed | Full activity report | |
| Scientific/technical activities | Our partners at Hnuti DUHA and in the scientific community suggested in 2013 that the core non-intervention zone of NP Sumava, intended to protect natural processes, could already cover 50 % of the area of the NP (peer-reviewed study linked below), based on mapping of the present extent of habitats protected by Natura 2000, which are suitable for non-intervention management and benefit from it. An update to the Natura 2000 habitats mapping (2010-2014) led our partners also to update the zoning proposal in accordance with new data last year in consultation with WCPA experts (e.g. Dr. Zdena Krenova). According to the new proposal, non-intervention “nature” zones should extend over 53% of Sumava NP immediately. While the new proposal is not yet published, it is attached below. The proposal has been introduced to the representatives of the Ministry of Environment, the Sumava National Park Authority and Council, as well as mayors of some local municipalities (whose territory is partly contained within the park) and is currently under discussion in this broad group of stakeholders. Notably, a number of the elected mayors of the local municipalities are in favour of the proposal. This action has included a number of field activities, as the preparation of the revised maps required verifying the state of locations with the park, photographic documentation, etc. | On-going | Full activity report | |
| Convene stakeholders/Networking | Discussion between WCPA RVC and WCPA members in Czech republic in Septmeber 2016 on the implementation of the IUCN standards for category II „national parks“ in Prague. It was agreed that activities will be coordinated again when the new management plan will b eunder preparation and in phase of approval. |
On-going | Full activity report | |
| Policy influencing/advocacy | Several meetings between the representatives of the Czech Ministry for Environment and WCPA Global and RVC Eurpe Chair and IUCN GPAP director took place after the WCC, aiming at explanation of the IUCN PA standards. In April 2017, the Czech Parliament approved the new rules for Czech national parks, which was proposed by the Ministry of Environment as a part of broader Nature and Landscape Protection Act: https://www.zakonyprolidi.cz/cs/1992-114#cast3. This new law states for the first time that national parks should primarily protect basically undisturbed natural processes on more than one half of their area as its long term goal. The main task for the Šumava NP now is the preparation of new zonation and management plan according to the new rules in the act. |
On-going | Full activity report | |
| Education/Communication/Raising awareness | We, along with our NGO and academic partners, took active part in a campaign for a better law regulating national parks in the Czech Republic. The campaign combined direct advocacy with raising public awareness of the issue and providing technical expertise to support the legislative process, as appropriate. An English-language report from the campaign is linked below. The Ministry of Environment introduced an amendment to the Nature and Landscape Conservation Act (link to full text of current version listed below) in 2016, which contained new rules for Czech national parks. As part of the campaign, we and our partners prepared a series of specific texts, which were tabled in Parliament as amendments to the new legislation and some of which were eventually passed into law when the Czech Parliament approved the revised bill in April 2017. The amended law states for the first time that the long-term aim of conservation in national parks is primarily to protect undisturbed natural processes and that this should take place on more than one half of their area. The long-term aim is set specifically with reference to IUCN PA category II, which applies to three out of four Czech national parks, including NP Sumava. Broadly speaking, this success contributes to the fulfilment of paragraph 4(b) of the resolution as the conservation aim is now aligned with it in terms of the park’s end-state. Unfortunately, no timeline has been set out for its achievement (as paragraph 4b mandates) and the law explicitly provides for a 15-year moratorium on NP zonation changes, after an initial revision of the zonation, to be completed this year. In this sense, the new law represents an obstacle to the implementation of the resolution, as no further changes to NP zonation will be possible until 2033 if the revised zonation is approved this year. |
Completed | Full activity report | |
| Policy influencing/advocacy | In connection with the recent amendment to the Nature protection act, the Ministry of the Environment (MoE) has prepared a new ordinance regulating protected area (PA) management plans as to their mandatory contents and their preparation. Where the previous ordinance had mandated setting out the aims of the protected area and assigning an IUCN category following directly therefrom, the MoE newly proposed loosening the adherence to IUCN categories. Rather than a clear present declaration of an IUCN category for each PA, the category could newly be set out as a „target“ for the PA. E.g., NP Sumava: target IUCN cat. II. In practice, this would mean that PAs might not be placed within the IUCN classification at present, but at a hypothetical future date, which seriously puts in question the will of the MoE to achieve their stated management goals. In the case of NP Sumava, it would have had serious consequences for the implementation of res. WCC 6.034. Our partners in Hnuti DUHA (Friends of the Earth Czech Republic) held meetings with the MoE and the Office of the Government (i.e. the Cabinet Office) and notified the scientific community of the proposed changes, following which the „Scientists for Sumava“ platform also sent a letter to the Cabinet Office. At the behest of the Cabinet office, the MoE then altered the ordinance proposal and approved it in a form conforming to the previous version, i.e. PA management plans will continue to contain the IUCN category that the parks are to adhere to. We have held preliminary meetings about the new zonation of the national park: with the Director and technical staff of NP Sumava, as well as local NGOs. We continue to act in concert with the concerned scientific community (e.g. platform Scientists for Sumava), including WCPA members (e.g. Dr. Zdena Krenova). |
On-going | Full activity report | |
| Policy influencing/advocacy | The Ministry of the Environment has worked out an internal directive, setting out the methodology for preparing National Park zonation. It provides that forests are to be divided up into nature protection zones according to their place in the classification of natural-ness of forest cover. The latter classification was originally developed for the purposes of research and monitoring in commercial forestry, not for the purposes of nature conservation. Using this classification method yields completely different outcomes than, e.g., Natura 2000 biotope mapping. Moreover, the entire approach of setting conservation status as a function of the current state of forest stands, rather than their desired end-state aimed for in the final status of the PA, is itself problematic. This approach has already caused deviation from the goals of previous management plans and indeed regression in the protection status of certain areas. Specifically, an overreliance on the criteria of the natural-ness classification has in the past led to the fragmentation of the ‘first zone’ of NP Sumava, i.e. the area with the strictest conservation regime, and to an erosion of the conservation status of some of its most valuable forest stands. Advocacy from our partners in Hnuti DUHA, Friends of the Earth Czech Republic, unfortunately failed to achieve meaningful improvements to the document in its approval process, as the Ministry of Environment rejected Hnuti DUHA’s prompts. The directive serves as a guideline to NP employees in the present process of delineating nature conservation zones. In its current form, as approved by the Ministry in November 2017 and described above, the document is likely to complicate the process of NP zonation, which directly influences the management of individual areas of the park. As the document is not publicly available, we have attached it in pdf format below (only in Czech). |
Completed | Full activity report | |
| Scientific/technical activities | Our partners at Hnuti DUHA and in the scientific community suggested in 2013 that the core non-intervention zone of NP Sumava, intended to protect natural processes, could already cover 50 % of the area of the NP (peer-reviewed study linked below), based on mapping of the present extent of habitats protected by Natura 2000, which are suitable for non-intervention management and benefit from it. An update to the Natura 2000 habitats mapping (2010-2014) led our partners also to update the zoning proposal in accordance with new data last year in consultation with WCPA experts (e.g. Dr. Zdena Krenova). According to the new proposal, non-intervention “nature” zones should extend over 53% of Sumava NP immediately. The proposal has been introduced to the representatives of the Ministry of Environment, the Sumava National Park Authority and Council, as well as mayors of some local municipalities (whose territory is partly contained within the park) and is currently under discussion in this broad group of stakeholders. Notably, a number of the elected mayors of the local municipalities are in favour of the proposal. This action has included a number of field activities, as the preparation of the revised maps required verifying the state of locations with the park, photographic documentation, etc. |
On-going | Full activity report |
Actors involved from Activity Reports
| IUCN Members | IUCN Commissions | IUCN Secretariat | Other non-IUCN related organisations |
|---|---|---|---|
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Challenges / lessons learned from Activity Reports
Upload document
Metodicky_pokyn_zonace_final_7_11_2017.pdf
(471.01 KB)
External link(s)
Report status
Published
I. IUCN Constituencies implementing this Resolution
IUCN Members
Český svaz ochránců přírody ( Czech Republic )
Ministerstvo životního prostředí ( Czech Republic )
Bund Naturschutz in Bayern ( Germany )
Pro Natura / Friends of the Earth Switzerland ( Switzerland )
IUCN Commissions
FB17E09E-5094-E611-97F4-005056BA6623
IUCN Secretariat
No
Other non-IUCN related organisations
Hnuti DUHA, Friends of the Earth Czech Republic, Scientists for Sumava Platform (Czech Republic), Sumava National Park Authority & Council, Municipalities with territory inside NP Sumava.
II. Implementation
Activities carried out to implement this Resolution
Policy influencing/advocacy
Scientific/technical activities
Describe the results/achievements of the activities
Strengthened alignment of the Czech nature conservation legislation with IUCN Protected Area Management Categories. The Czech Union for Nature Conservation (ÚVR CSOP) and Pro Natura / Friends of the Earth Switzerland were leading on a campaign combining advocacy with public awareness raising to ensure that the primary objective of conservation in national parks is to protect undisturbed natural processes in the long-term is part of the new rules for Czech national parks, set out in the revised Nature and Landscape Conservation Act, and that they apply to at least 50% of the territory. No timeline has been set out for achieving this target, however, and the law provides for a 15-year moratorium on any amendment of zoning in Czech national park after an initial revision.
Following the amendments of the law, the Czech Ministry of the Environment (MoE) has developed a new by-law regulating the content and process for developing management plans for protected areas. IUCN Members mentioned above, in partnership with local NGOs and scientific community, ensured that the final and official version of the by-law provides that management plans declare the IUCN Category of the protected area concerned and therefore set out management objectives accordingly.
Another by-law, concerning the methodology on management zoning for national park, was also enacted following the adoption of the amended Nature and Landscape Conservation Act. It provides for classification of forest stands based on their naturalness as originally developed for the purposes of research and monitoring in commercial forestry. This methodology differs from that applied in Natura 2000 habitat mapping by being based on the current state of forest stands, rather than their desired end-state. In the past this has led to fragmentation and degradation of forest stands in the nature zone in Šumava NP. Despite the advocacy of the IUCN members mentioned above and their partners, Hnuti DUHA and Friends of the Earth Czech Republic, this deficiency in the by-law was not mended and is expected to have negative consequences for management of national parks in the Czech Republic.
Scientific/Technical activities. Based on the research conducted by Hnuti DUHA and scientific community in the country, the IUCN members mentioned above submitted to the Czech Ministry of Environment and local stakeholders a proposal to extend the non-intervention nature zone in Šumava NP to 53% of its total territory. The development of the proposal included field activities, preparation of revised maps, and their verification on the ground, photographic documentation, etc. The proposal was supported by a number of mayors of the municipalities that straddle the borders of the park.
Following the amendments of the law, the Czech Ministry of the Environment (MoE) has developed a new by-law regulating the content and process for developing management plans for protected areas. IUCN Members mentioned above, in partnership with local NGOs and scientific community, ensured that the final and official version of the by-law provides that management plans declare the IUCN Category of the protected area concerned and therefore set out management objectives accordingly.
Another by-law, concerning the methodology on management zoning for national park, was also enacted following the adoption of the amended Nature and Landscape Conservation Act. It provides for classification of forest stands based on their naturalness as originally developed for the purposes of research and monitoring in commercial forestry. This methodology differs from that applied in Natura 2000 habitat mapping by being based on the current state of forest stands, rather than their desired end-state. In the past this has led to fragmentation and degradation of forest stands in the nature zone in Šumava NP. Despite the advocacy of the IUCN members mentioned above and their partners, Hnuti DUHA and Friends of the Earth Czech Republic, this deficiency in the by-law was not mended and is expected to have negative consequences for management of national parks in the Czech Republic.
Scientific/Technical activities. Based on the research conducted by Hnuti DUHA and scientific community in the country, the IUCN members mentioned above submitted to the Czech Ministry of Environment and local stakeholders a proposal to extend the non-intervention nature zone in Šumava NP to 53% of its total territory. The development of the proposal included field activities, preparation of revised maps, and their verification on the ground, photographic documentation, etc. The proposal was supported by a number of mayors of the municipalities that straddle the borders of the park.
Challenges/obstacles encountered in the implementation of this Resolution and measures taken
The main obstacle has been political pressure on the Ministry of Environment against the interest of nature protection. To overcome it, the IUCN members mentioned above have lobbied the Ministry and, when necessary, the Cabinet Office, to respect their prior commitments and the resolution, albeit with mixed results.
Future actions / activities needed for the implementation of this Resolution
The IUCN members mentioned above will continue to coordinate their cooperation with the scientific community in both educating the public and providing technical expertise needed for sound decision making. They will also publish a study to update the management zoning of Šumava NP and continue to discuss it with relevant stakeholders.
They will advocate for the application of the new management zoning of Šumava NP and in accordance with the resolution. The Sumava NP Authority is preparing a proposal for the new zonation of the NP, following from the amended Nature Protection Act and its implementing regulation. Once complete, they will review it and use the public consultation process to lobby the authority and Ministry of the Environment to conform to the resolution.
They will advocate for the application of the new management zoning of Šumava NP and in accordance with the resolution. The Sumava NP Authority is preparing a proposal for the new zonation of the NP, following from the amended Nature Protection Act and its implementing regulation. Once complete, they will review it and use the public consultation process to lobby the authority and Ministry of the Environment to conform to the resolution.
Are these actions/activities planned?
Yes
III. Status of implementation
Implementation status of this Resolution
On-going: implementation consisting of repetitive, recurrent action (attending meetings, reporting, etc.)