On 23 October 2021, an enthusiastic team of current and former DINPD staff members and their relatives devoted their Saturday morning to hands-on nature conservation at the Szársomlyó site of the LIFE endemic PANALP project. They cut down overgrown bushes and smaller trees on the most Southern habitat of the rare and vulnerable Vincetoxicum pannonicum.
The DINPD team was led by the local ranger of the Duna-Dráva National Park Directorate, the responsible nature conservation organization of the area. He guided us through the newly established ‘Colchicum’ Panoramic Trail, a special metal platform built above the ground and going along the edges of a former stone-mining site. This platform prevents any treading damage to the unique flora of the site and also provides a safe walking surface for the visitors. The highest parts of the trail are very close to the exact habitats of both strictly protected species, Vincetoxicum pannonicum and Colchicum hungaricum.