Evaluation of microclimate characteristics of a protective shelterbelt in Obelisk enclosure in 2010. Vegetation performs indispensable functions in the landscape. Protective shelterbelts are important landscape elements. Individual interventions to these ecosystems should be made with the intention to increase the retention capacity of the landscape, the biodiversity, and the stability of individual landscape elements and the landscape as a whole. This article presents the results of the measuring of the effect of model forest vegetation in the proximity of Obelisk in the Lednice-Valtice area on the microclimate. The protective shelterbelt, declared as a forest stand, is located in the cadastral area of Lednice, Podivin and Rakvice. A set of weather stations, supplied by AMET- Litschmann and Suchy Velke Bilovice, was used for the measuring. The stations measured wind velocity (m/s), soil temperature in depths of 5 and 10 cm (°C), air temperature (°C), radiation (W.m^-2) and precipitation (mm) from January 1 to December 31, 2010. The ImageTool application was used to establish optical porosity, based on photos taken in summer and winter. Optical porosity was established as a ratio of white spots to their total number in a specific section of a photograph. The optical porosity was 5% during the growing season and 23% outside the growing season. These values significantly differ from the optimum values for efficient semi-permeable PS, whose porosity is set to 40-50%.

Natura 2000 is a network of European protected areas, established under the provision of two directives of the European Union: the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) and the Birds Directive (79/409/EEC; 2009/147/EU). The Natura 2000 network can be considered an interesting instrument to maintain and improve ecosystem services provided by protected sites. The European Union member countries are free to organize the participatory process in the implementation of the Natura 2000 network. The participatory process is often overlooked despite it being an important tool to increase the social acceptance and reduce conflicts among stakeholders with different interests. The aim of the present study is to investigate the stakeholders’ perceptions towards the ecosystem services provided by the Natura 2000 sites in the Czech Republic. The data was collected through a questionnaire survey involving 53 stakeholders (forester managers and nature conservation authorities) in all regions of the Czech Republic. The results show that for the respondents, the implementation of the Habitats and Birds Directives in the Czech Republic is very or quite important (54.7%), but at the same time, many respondents consider the Natura 2000 network an obstacle for economic activities close to the sites (66.0% of total respondents). In accordance with the stakeholders’ opinions, the three most important human activities near and inside the Natura 2000 sites are agricultural activities, followed by nature conservation interventions and forestry activities. The representatives of environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and academia emphasize the importance of nature conservation interventions, while the other groups of interest consider the provisioning services supplied by agricultural and forestry activities as the most relevant ecosystem services. The results of this study can be considered as the starting point aimed to improve the participatory process in the establishment and management of the Natura 2000 sites based on the stakeholders’ feelings and opinions.

In the framework of multi-objective forest management, 'priority areas' which are relatively more important for the selected management objectives are commonly designated. Using a comparative analysis of guided interviews, we examined the use and importance of priority areas in forest planning in nine Central European countries. In all countries, priority areas have been widely used, forest function areas and protected areas being the most common. According to management objectives, more than 20 types of priority areas were recognised, with priority areas for protection against natural hazards, nature conservation, recreation, welfare, and production being the most prevalent. Criteria for the designation differ among the countries; however, site conditions and infrastructure facilities are most often used. The scale of designation ranges from 1:10 000–1:50 000, and the size of priority areas varies from 0.1 ha to several hundreds of ha. The level of participation of stakeholders involved in the designation of priority areas differs among and within the countries. The effectiveness of priority areas for forest management can be improved by transparent designation criteria, objective oriented management measures, and efficient financial instruments. Spanish En el sistema de la gestión forestal multi-objetivo, se designan comúnemente unas “áreas prioritarias» que son relativamente más importantes para los objetivos de manejo seleccionados. El uso de un análisis comparativo de las entrevistas guiadas, se analizó el uso y la importancia de las áreas prioritarias en la planificación forestal en nueve países de la Europa Central. En todos los países las áreas prioritarias han sido ampliamente utilizadas y, entre ellas, las áreas importantes para las varias funciones forestales y las áreas protegidas que son las más comunes. De acuerdo con los objetivos de gestión, fueron reconocidos más de 20 tipos de áreas prioritarias. Entre ellas las mas prevalentes son las áreas para la protección contra los riesgos naturales, la conservación de la naturaleza, la recreación y la producción. Los criterios para la designación difieren entre los países; sin embargo, las condiciones del sitio y las instalaciones de infraestructura son las que se utilizan más a menudo. La escala de designación va de 1:10 000 a 1:50 000, y el tamaño de las áreas prioritarias varía de 0,1 ha a varios cientos de hectáreas. El nivel de participación de los actores involucrados en la designación de áreas prioritarias difiere entre (y dentro) de los países. La efectividad de las áreas prioritarias para el manejo forestal puede ser mejorada mediante criterios transparentes de designación, medidas de gestión orientadas a objetivos y instrumentos financieros eficientes. French Dans le cadre d'une gestion forestière à objectifs multiples, il est fréquent d'assigner aux objectifs de gestion donnés des “zones prioritaires», d'une importance relativement plus élevée. À l'aide d'une analyse comparée d'entretiens semi-directifs, nous avons examiné l'usage et l'importance des zones prioritaires dans la planification forestière de neuf pays d'Europe centrale. Dans tous les pays, les zones prioritaires ont été largement employées, celles de protection et celles à fonction forestière étant les plus courantes. Selon les objectifs de gestion, plus de 20 types de zones prioritaires ont été identifiés, les plus fréquentes étant les zones prioritaires pour la protection contre les dangers naturels, pour la protection de la nature, la récréation, le bien-être et la production. Les critères de désignation diffèrent selon les pays, mais les conditions stationnelles et les infrastructures sont le plus souvent retenues. Les échelles utilisées pour la détermination vont du 1:10 000 au 1:50 000 et la taille des zones prioritaires de 0,1 ha à plusieurs centaines d'ha. Le niveau de participation des acteurs au processus de désignation de ces zones prioritaires varie selon les pays et au sein de ces derniers. L'efficacité des zones prioritaires pour la gestion forestière peut être améliorée grâce à des critères de détermination transparents, des mesures ciblées par rapport aux objectifs de gestion et des instruments financiers efficaces.

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, the scientific journal of the Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic

Floodplain forests at the confluence of the rivers Dyje and Morava (in the southeastern tip of the Czech Republic) are completely unique ecosystems in terms of area and ecology. For many years, there has been an effort by the state’s nature protection officials to declare the area as a Protected Landscape Area. This effort is met by the resistance of foresters and other local stakeholders. The study focuses on the identification of stakeholders’ comments and objections to the planned declaration of the Soutok PLA and the comparison between the objections raised and the attitudes of stakeholders from existing PLAs. Using the content analysis of 247 paper documents, the first part of the study determines the negative arguments that are subsequently verified in the second part on the basis of 17 semistructured standardized interviews and interview surveys of 200 respondents. The analysis of the interviews and surveys was based on the grounded theory method. The theoretical sampling and snowball techniques were used to recruit the respondents. The interviews and surveys showed that most concerns over restrictions established by the conservation status are unnecessary since experience showed that they are either not registered or not established by the PLA status, and their application is provided by other legislative standards.

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, the scientific journal of the Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic