Although we do not commemorate October 28 as a national holiday in Slovakia, the legacy of the first common republic is still alive for many of us. This also applies to Czech conservationists from the JARO Group or scientists from the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Charles University. They decided to spend their extended October weekend in Slovakia, specifically in the northern part of the White Carpathians. More than three tens volunteers led by leading entomologists Ondřej Sedláček and Zdeňek Faltýnek Fric and conservationist David Číp helped us restore the rare flowering hillsides included in the LIFE Endemic PANALP project.
We opened the main working part of the volunteer event on Saturday at Vršatské bradlá in the Babky laction. Here, we have been improving the conditions for the survival of the endangered mountain apollo butterfly for a long time, and it was no different this time either. Here, together with Czechoslovak forces, we cleared sawed-off wood from an area of more than half a hectare, thanks to which we finally created a biocorridor between two open rock cliffs. It will definitely benefit not only apollo butterflies, but also many other species of plants and animals that are tied to the rocky steppes.
We spent Sunday morning in the nearby area of European importance, Hrehorkové, which we cleared of encroached trees last season. Together with a local farmer, we also restored sheep and goat grazing here. Our activity was also to clean the site from encroached trees. In the afternoon we returned to Vršatské bradlá, but this time not for work, but for getting to know the local nature. We guided the participants of the event through the areas that we manage here as part of the LIFE Endemic Panalp project, and we ended the excursion by admiring the autumn views from Biely vrch (White hill).
We returned to work on Monday, the Czech Czechoslovak national holiday. This time we were also joined by the staff of the White Carpathians PLA Administration, whom we helped rake hay in the natural monument Brezovská dolina. It is full of orchids and butterflies in the spring and at the beginning, also thanks to the long-term care of the State Nature Conservancy and volunteers from the local NGOs KOZA and Pre Prírodu.
At the end of this post, we would like to thank all the participating volunteers for deciding to spend the long holiday weekend with us in White Carpathians, as well as the people from the conservation group JARO and the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Charles University for organizing this successful event. Last but not least, our thanks also go to the municipality of Bolešov for providing the facilities in the premises of the sports house and the landowners assocation from Mikušovice for refreshment after Sunday work.
BROZ
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