european wilderness journal issue 2

European Wilderness Journal 7,50 Donation FeeNo. 2/2014

National Park Vizhnitski, Ukraine

2European Wilderness Journal

Dear friends of the wild!

Wilderness areas represent a vital part of Europes natural and cultural heritage. In addition to their in-trinsic value, they offer the opportunity for people to experience the spiritual quality of nature in the widest experiential sense beyond mere physical and visual attributes, but in particular its psychological impact.

In order to properly identify, designate and manage wilderness, a stan- dardised and international applicable definition of wilderness is needed. A definition of wilderness to be applied to the wilderness areas had been formu-lated for the Conference on Wilderness and Large Natural Habitat Areas in May 2009, and the Wilderness Working Group (WWG) of the Wild Europe Initiative (WEI) was established to develop this as a practical entity. WWG workshops were held during 2010 and early 2011 with participation from sev-eral of the WEI partner organizations, which generated a first draft paper: the Discussion Draft: A Working Definition of European Wilderness and Wild Areas.

Leading up to the WILD10 Conference in Salamanca in 2013, the feedback of several members of the WWG, NGOs, and Government organisations plus the practical experience gathered during the first applications of these criteria in several test sites, led to an update of the criteria. The European Wilder-ness Quality Standard and Audit System defines wilderness in a precise and concised manner that allows us to identify, designate and manage Europes wilderness across the continent. Read more on page 4.

By the way, these and many other topics are part of our annual conference European Wilderness Academy Days.

Thanks for supporting wilderness!

The future of wilderness in Europe

Thank you!Thank you for the increasing number of subscribers who are donating 50,- to allow us to write, edit, print and distribute the European Wilderness Journal.

Letter to the editorsVery important stuff. Thanks for the updates with your Wilderness Newsletter Jim ODonnellDear Jim, Registration for the Newsletter on our website is easy. You could also follow us on Facebook and Twitter or join our open Linkedin group. Anni, European Wilderness Society

Thank you for this informative magazine. How can I subscribe? Gerlind M. Dear Gerlind, if you want to subscribe visit our website and register and easily donate with paypal or credit card. Anni, European Wilderness Society

Thank you for the complementary DVD Wolf Mountains. I loved the film so much. I recommended it to my friends.Hopefully, it is not the last film. Vasil K.Dear Vasil, nice to hear that you enjoyed the film. We have already secured the rights for another DVD as a Christmas surprise. Anni, European Wilderness Society

There is certainly a great deal to learn about this subject. I really like all of the points you have made. Marcus Verbrugghen

I think that setting an area as Wilderness is a very big choice for a public administration (and so for population involved). Therefore clearly defined criteria and transparency of the method are very important. Now Im downloading EWS Wilderness Quality Standard file. Its very interesting! Dario Botti

This is at once a stunning result and yet not terribly surprising. Humans have become so separate from wild and wilderness and wildlife that we cant see the forest for the trees so to speak. Peter K.

Zoltn Kun, Chairman Max A.E. Rossberg, Deputy Chairman

Vlado Vanura, Director Wilderness Development

3www.wilderness-society.org

See and meet us at the following events

None of Natures landscapes are ugly so long as they are wild. John Muir, Our National Parks, (1901),

Chapter 1, page 4.

Wilderness ticker

Large carnivore platform launchedThe European Union is home to five species of large carnivores;

these include brown bear, wolf, wolverine and two species of lynx, Eurasian and Iberian. Historically these species have all suffered dramatic declines in numbers and distribution as a consequence of human activity. Due to increases in their prey and forest cover and favourable legislation the last few decades have seen populations sta-bilizing or increasing. However, while this recovery can be viewed as a great conservation success it has resulted in controversy in some ar-eas. In response the EU Commission has initiated a range of measures including the launch of a large carnivore internet platform. For more information please contact Gudrun Pflger, large carnivore specialist of the European Wilderness Society.

Wilderness guidance documentThe EU Natura 2000 network is generally not a network of strictly protect-

ed areas in which no economic activities should take place. However, in spe-cific cases, a wilderness approach can be the most appropriate or even neces-sary management approach for specific Natura 2000 sites. Those sites should host habitat types and species of community interest whose maintenance or restoration to a favourable conservation status is dependent on some degree of wilderness qualities and natural processes. And there will be sites for which a wilderness approach can be useful but not necessarily the only way to restore or maintain the species and habitats at a favourable conservation status. This guidance document is applicable to those specific Natura 2000 sites and can be downloaded from our website www.wilderness-society.org.

Tasmanian wilderness saved with global effortOn 24 June the World Heritage Committee delivered a strong rebuke

to the Australian Government by rejecting its request to de-list Tasmanias new World Heritage forests. This is the success of a global effort, which our society contributed to with a strong letter of concern to the IUCN Advisory Board leading up to this decision.

SeptemberBear and Human Interaction Workshop11-12 September 2014, Trentino, ItalyWild Europe Initiative Steering Comittee15 September 2014, Bruxelles, BelgiumEU Commission Advocacy Meeting16-17 September 2014, Bruxelles, BelgiumEurosite Wilderness Workshop17-19 September 2014, Haarlem, Netherlands

7. Mostviertler Conf. Sustainable Tourism22-23 September 2014, Pielachtal, AustriaNatura 2000 Management Workshop22-23 September 2014, Graz, Austria

OctoberEuropean Wilderness Academy Days1-4 October 2014, NP Hohe Tauern, Austria18th Forum 2000 Conference12-14 October 2014, Prague, Czech Republic

National Wilderness Conference15-19 October 2014, in Albuquerque, USAWildnis im Dialog20-23 October 2014, Insel Vilm bei Rgen, Germany

NovemberIUCN World Parks Congress12-19 November 2014, Sydney, Australia


European Wilderness Quality Standard and

Audit SystemAuthor: Vlado Vanura

The need for a wilderness standard

One of the main reasons for the ab-sence of a coordinated strategy on wilderness and large natural habitat areas in Europe is the lack of a common wilderness standard.

There are not only many different words in the various European languages for wilder-ness and wild but there are also many differ-ent interpretations. Therefore it is impossible to adequately promote, protect, restore an area if its qualities remain undefined, because they are understood differently according to geographic location, individual perception or local culture.

The benefits of a standardIt is important that any standard can thus

be applied in operational circumstances. The European Wilderness Quality Standard and Audit System (EWQA) provides wilderness areas with:

a) Improved complianceThe European Wilderness Quality Stand-

ard and Audit System is compliant with all re-cent and existing wilderness definitions cur-rently applied in most European countries. This provides easy integration into national and regional policies.

b) Expectation fulfilmentAdherence to the standards of EWQA helps

ensure visitor satisfaction, reliability and en-vironmental care. As a result, visitors perceive wilderness areas as more dependable. This in turn raises visitor confidence, increasing vis-its and financial support.

c) Improving effectiveness The European Wilderness Quality Stand-

ard and Audit System provides wilderness area managers with reliable third-party rec-ommendations based upon a detailed analysis of strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, the so-called SWOT analysis based on a standard set of European wide accepted criteria and indicators.

d) Pan European adherence Regulators and legislators for protecting

users frequently reference standards to sup-port government policies. Standards play a central role in the European Unions policy for a Single Market. Adherence to the standards of the EWQA will show the commitment to a common set of European values.

e) InteroperabilityThe ability of wilderness areas to work to-

gether relies heavily on a common set of wil-derness standards.

f) Encourage researchThe standards of EWQA provide a solid

foundation upon which scientists base their research and to enhance monitoring.

g) Marketing possibilitiesAs more and more wilderness areas adhere

to the European Wilderness Quality Stand-ards more visitors and wilderness advocates will support and promote wilderness publicly due to their increased awareness and confi-dence.

h) Reduced costsPotential wilderness areas do not have to

reinvent the wheel, because all the basic cri-teria and indicators which define a wilderness have already been defined. This ensures that new wilderness areas will support the same principles along with the existing wilderness network.

i) Benefits for wildernessThe EWQA sets minimum levels that clas-

sify wilderness according to several princi-ples, criteria and a multitude of indicators. They provide benchmarks against which wil-derness areas are audited. This gives the ar-eas an incentive to improve their wilderness to gain an advantage. In turn this guarantees public access to more wilderness for future generations.


European wilderness definitionWilderness areas certified under the Europe-

an Wilderness Quality Standard and Audit Sys-tem should have three zones: a wilderness core zone surrounded by a wilderness buffer zone of minimal activities, which in turn is surround-ed by a wilderness transition zone. Wilderness core zones are the main focus of the EWQA and are defined as:

Natural processes govern wilderness core zones meeting the EWQA Gold- or Platinum Standard. They are composed of native habitats and species, and large enough for the effective ecological functioning of natural processes. They are unmodified or only slightly modified and without intrusive or extractive human activity, settlements, infrastructure or visual disturbance.

Wilderness core zones meeting the Europe-an Wilderness Quality Standard and Audit System Bronze- or Silver Standard have a high level of predominance of natural process and natural habitat. They tend to be individ-ually smaller and more fragmented than the

Gold- or Platinum Standard wilderness are-as, although they often cover extensive tracts. The condition of their natural habitat, process-es and relevant species has however often been partially or substantially modified by human activities such as livestock herding, hunting, fishing, and collecting berries and mushrooms.

The objectiveThe main objective of the EWQA re-

flects the theory of the wilderness continu-um (see page 10) which encourages smaller wild areas to restore their wild lands while simultaneously rewarding the designa-tion of large pristine wilderness areas. This development was encouraged by the in-put of several leading European NGOs as well as government agencies and manag-ers of protected areas including among others the Wilderness Research Institute, ECO Austria, BfN, WWF Austria, PAN Parks, WCPA, IUCN Europe, Wild Europe, and the John Muir Trust Fund.

EWQA fulfils several requirements: Compliance with the Wild Europe Initi-

ative Discussion Draft: Definitions and Criteria for Wilderness and Wild Areas

Compliance with the IUCN criteria for wil-derness areas

Compliance with the PAN Parks criteria for wilderness areas

Compliance with the definition of the Bun-desamt fr Naturschutz 2013, Germany

Compliance with the wilderness continu-um model of Robert Leslie

Standardized Criteria for a Pan European Certification Process

Compliance with the Verified Conserva-tion Area (VCA) Council


Wilderness sizeThe various categories provide an incentive

for smaller areas to join the European Wilder-ness Preservation System. These are sort of a launch-pad towards improved protection and eventually enlarging the size of wilderness.

Four categories of wilderness core zones are defined within the European Wilderness Quality Standard and Audit System. Each category defines a specific wilderness quality standard with a clear focus on its wilderness values. Minimum size is ideally governed by multiple considerations including type of habitat that need to be considered collectively in determining the respective adherence to the standard of EWQA. In general the wilder-ness areas should have a wilderness core zone with the below mentioned size.

Platinum wilderness areaWilderness core zone of at least 10,000 ha. This category represents the highest achieva-ble level in the wilderness continuum.

Gold wilderness areaWilderness core zone of at least 3,000 ha. This category represents the minimum size recommended by the former Working Definition of European Wilderness and Wild Areas.

Silver wilderness areaWilderness core zone of at least 2,000 ha.

Bronze wilderness areaWilderness core zone of at least 500 ha, dependant on type of habitat.

The importance of zoningWilderness areas certified under the Euro-

pean Wilderness Quality Standard and Audit System should have three zones. It is consid-ered that this threefold structure offers the best protection of key wilderness principles whilst allowing potential for future expansion and flexible interaction with other land uses.

The Wilderness Core Zone would have the highest quality of wilderness, with absolutely no or just minimal impact of human activity or infrastructure and a dominance of natural processes. Where feasible, outward expansion would occur over time through restoration into the buffer zone particularly if the core zone is not large enough initially to allow complete ecological processes.

The Wilderness Buffer Zone, with rela-tively low impact of human presence, sur-rounds and protects the wilderness core zone. Emphasis here should be on restoration of natural habitats and processes, with phasing out of built structures and high impact activ-ities within five to ten years. Where feasible, there should be plans for it to be incorporated into the core zone and expand outwards over time into the transition zone.

The Wilderness Transition Zone is an area where a range of human activities is permitted, but with management controls preventing development of major infrastruc-ture, wind farms or large scale clear-cutting, that might significantly alter the landscape or natural environment. Sustainable harvest-ing of timber, animals (hunting, fishing) and plants (berries, fruits, mushrooms), together with organic agriculture is possible.

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Wilderness principlesAll wilderness areas are audited according

to the following principles and criteria of the European Wilderness Quality Standard and Audit System. The audit is repeated in general every 10 years and supports with its analysis the monitoring of the wilderness area. The criteria fall into these seven principles:

1) Wilderness and extractive usesGold and Platinum Standard level wil-

derness core zones should not have any hu-man extractive use. At the Bronze and Silver Standard level a phase out plan for extractive use should be put into place. Also covered under this principle are fire control, disease control, wildlife management and invasive species control.

2) Wilderness restoration In general a plan must be in place for all

Bronze and Silver Standard wilderness core zones to restore wilderness with the focus on low human intervention. In the Gold and Platinum Standard wilderness areas, wilder-ness restoration is typically implemented in the buffer zone for later expansion.

3) Wilderness disturbanceHere the focus lies on the removal of infra-

structure, well-planned tourism access and

limited road access especially in the Gold and Platinum Standard wilderness core zones.

4) Wilderness research and monitoringThis principle requests a detailed plan for

scientific research and cooperation in coop-eration with scientific institutions and univer-sities regardless of the European Wilderness Quality Standard and Audit System level.

5) International relevanceThe audit of the international relevance

focuses mainly on the IUCN categories, Natura2000 Network, UNESCO designations but also acknowledges others certifications.

6) Wilderness management planThis plan encompasses the different wil-

derness conservation measures, a biodiversity management plan, and a plan for supporting the natural processes, a landscape manage-ment and the training of the responsible wil-derness management team.

7) Wilderness size and zoningIn general a wilderness area should have

three different zones. In cases where these cannot be implemented additional measures to ensure the protection of the wilderness core zone must be implemented.

The results of the European Wilderness Quality Standard and Audit System is a thor-ough wilderness assessment report including a detailed SWOT analysis on the basis of a stand-ard set of European widely accepted wilderness principles, criteria and more than 200 indica-tors. This report provides the management team of the wilderness area with a detailed plan including action items recommended by the auditors to improve the wilderness quality. This report can also be used for the European reporting requirement as well as for the Con-vention on Biological Diversity (CBD) report-ing for monitoring purposes.

Get your EWQA copyTo get your personal copy of the European Wilderness Quality Standard and Audit System in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian send an Email to: [email protected]


It is believed that Mediterranean nature has been impacted by hu-man civilization already for millennia and that it is hard to find wilderness there. Therefore any wilderness areas in this territory are so much appreciated and valued. Foreste Casentinesi National Park - locat-ed less than two hours from Rome and around one hour from Firenze and Bologna - is definitely such a place!

Regardless of human pressure during the last centuries, there are still places with high wilderness quality. Nevertheless in the last decade their naturalness and even wilderness character is continuously improving, caused by urbanisation resulting in the abandonment of large areas. From this perspective potential for wilderness in Italy is pretty high and in the coming years may be even higher. Unfortunately, many wild areas or self-rewilding areas are still not identified and designated and so they are currently at risk.

Implementation of non-intervention management practices are still very uncommon in Italy. This management approach is still rare even in National Parks. One of the reasons, apart from fundamental differences with an increasing number of local stakeholders, lies in the historical agricultural tradition of Italy. The so-called shifting baseline syndrome explains quite well that for centuries each square metre of Italy was in some extent managed. The local population has thus forgotten that na-ture can survive without the help of human mankind.

Many people strongly believe that land abandonment just causes damage and degradation to the landscape and that spontaneous rewil-ding is replacing our lovely and traditional cultural landscapes. Only a few of them are willing to consider and admit that the real world is very complex and diverse and that particular in the last few years Mother Nature is teaching us great lessons.

Scientific research shows that this traditional cultural landscape is dis-appearing due to the changing of the economical model of our society. Because of this inevitable change more and more people are convinced that one of the best choices for these abandoned lands could be the pro-tection with non-intervention management practices. This will actual-ly also save governments millions in public expenditures.

In this socio-economical context, an important pillar is no doubt ed-ucation. It can help us shift public support towards more realistic par-adigms of nature conservation. This approach can lead to a shift from actively managed landscapes to more spontaneously rewilded areas re-sulting in a wilder and healthier landscape. To achieve this objective, it is necessary to educate especially the next generation about the benefits of wilderness, where forests (or wild beaches) full of deadwood are not considered dirty. An excellent example is the Foreste Casentinesi Na-tional Park.

Where the trees touch the skyThe Apennines mountains between Tuscany and Romagna, Firen-

ze and the Adriatic coast, are an amazing spot of biodiversity protected since 1993 by the Foreste Casentinesi National Park. The area is remark-able because of the huge amount of rare fauna and flora species such as centuries-old silver firs and beech forests, which contain also hermit-ages and sanctuaries, an incredible net of water sources, streams and falls, and the signs of an historical abandoned rural culture and society, counting just few human inhabitants today.

The Park has the highest national forest coverage (more than 80%), and its ancient beech forests have just applied for the UNESCO tenta-tive list to become a World Heritage Site. The forest ecosystems could

Wilderness in Foreste Casentinesi NP, Italy

Author: Dario Botti, Giuseppe Paris, Mattia Speranza,Vlado Vanura

Between Romagna and Tuscany, Foreste Casentinesi National Park with its beautiful natural forest is one of the most important Italian biodiversity hotspots.


be considered pretty much complete, with a very well defined internal balance from the most important predators (wolves, eagles) to their most common preys (ungulates, rodents). Just recently, the black wood-pecker, wildcat and pine-marten have been detected. The area is an ex-cellent example of the Mediterranean wilderness.

In the middle of the protected area is a fragment of wild beauty. The first Italian Integral Nature Reserve of Sasso Fratino: 764 hectares of wil-derness closed to visitors since 1959, dominated by beech trees in its highest part, mixed with other broad-leaved trees as well as big holly trees and old yews below the altitude of 1,200 m. The value of this piece of wilderness lies not only in the enormous wealth of species, but also in the wood structure itself: new-born, adolescent, old, sick and dead trees coexist in this area where everything is left as it is, and human mankind for once has restricted himself just to observe and learn.

The whole National Park territory is an excellent example of a sponta-neous ecosystems restoration. The result of this process is an increasing variety of species and the creation of a remarkable ecosystem dynamism. The recent recolonization of the wolves throughout the Northern Apen-nines and more recently even to the Alps, had its origin in these moun-tains and forests at the beginning of 1970s.

Potential of wilderness growth in Foreste Casentinesi NPNevertheless even this wild area has the potential to improve to be-

come more wild! Current management still permits a certain level of intervention and spontaneous ecosystems dynamism is only partially allowed and protected.

Compliance with EWQAJust like many others Parks, Foreste Casentinesi National Park (36,548

ha) is zoned. This zoning actually is revealing the highest wilderness potential of this park!

The size of Zone A Riserva Integrale (strict nature reserve, non-in-tervention zone) is 1,320 ha (3,6% of the park).

The size of Zone B Riserva Generale Orientata (carefully man-aged reserve, where according to the parks management plan tradition-al uses are still permitted) is 10,408 ha (28,5%). This can be a zone of future wilderness expansion.

Remaining area of the park is classified as Zones C Area di Pro-tezione (including traditional forestry, agricultural and sport protection areas) is 25,833 ha and Zone D Area di Promozione Economica e Sociale (social and economic promotion, most urban areas) is 126 ha.

In the current situation only zone A would meet the European Wil-derness Quality Standard and Audit System and be considered as wil-derness. Nevertheless, the EWQA is offering a step-wise approach and therefore the opportunity to expand wilderness throughout the Foreste Casentinesi National Park is encouraged.

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Minsk

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Helsinki

Riga

Vilnius

Stockholm

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Yerevan

Desertas Islands NP, PortugalGarajonay NP, Spain

Vatnajkull NPIceland

WILDERNESSThe European Wilderness Society certifies thatFORESTE CASENTINESI NATIONAL PERK

ITALYis a European Wilderness Preservation System Partner according to the European Wilderness Quality Standard and Audit System.

This diploma certifies that the Foreste Casentinesi National Park joins

the European Wilderness Preservation System by protecting 1,320 ha of

wilderness representing the best of Europes wilderness.

valid until 30.08.2016

DIPLOMA

Zoltn KunChairman

Max A.E. RossbergDeputy ChairmanVlado Vanura Director Wilderness Development

EUROPEAN WILDERNESS SOC

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Y

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NRED

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BRONZE

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European Wilderness Journal

The degree to which an area is wild can be measured along a continu-um with primary wilderness at one end and marginal agriculture and marginal forestry at the other. The position of any particular area on this continuum is dependent on the de-gree of habitat and process modification, hu-man impact etc. Wherever possible, it should progress over time along this continuum, through increased stages of naturalness to-wards a wilder state - as a result of restoration of its habitat, wildlife and natural processes. This restoration can occur purely through the actions of nature or with some initial human involvement.

Attainment of the Platinum Wilderness Standard is the ultimate goal wherever scale, biodiversity needs and geography permit.

Despite of the lack of true wilderness are-as in Europe there are still remote areas with minimal human intervention, exhibiting the potential to become over time wilderness ar-eas. Keeping this in mind the European Wil-derness Society came to the conclusion that this concept of the Wilderness Continuum should be used as the underlying theoretical framework to develop the European Wil-derness Quality Standard and Audit System (EWQA).

This continuum concept by Robert Leslie provides the underlying framework reflected in the different Standards of the European Wilderness Quality Standard and Audit Sys-tem. The Bronze Standard is basically a wild area, which is smaller in size and still has weaknesses when it comes to the protection of the natural processes. The Silver Standard is already larger in size and has moved along the wilderness continuum upwards toward being a primary wilderness. The Gold Stand-ard is the former standard as defined in the Working Definition of European Wilderness and Wild Areas. The Platinum Standard has a larger and typical primary wilderness area.

Wilderness ContinuumTrue wilderness is extremely rare in Europe. While there are still primary wilderness areas

across Europe, most of them need to be categorized as secondary wilderness areas. Therefore researchers and scientists developed the Wilderness Continuum Framework to reflect the

different wilderness stages an area can have and take on over time.Author: Stephen Carver Wildland Research Institute


Europes Wilderness protec-tion has a relatively short history. The focus on our continents wilderness started to increase when the Euro-pean Parliament adopted a special resolution on 3 February 2009. This resolution resulted in the approval of the Agenda for Wilderness and wild lands, which included 24 recom-mended actions.

The annual Wilderness Academy Days are an unique European event. This years con-ference acts as a direct follow up of the 10th World Wilderness Congress and will also prepare a message for the 2014 World Parks Congress in Sydney.

There is clearly still a huge lack of know-ledge in relation to wilderness protection in Europe: Where are the wilderness areas? What are the current standards? What are the main threats and major op-

portunities to enhance its protection? How does the EWQA help? What are the management principles for

wilderness? How to deal with large carnivore and hu-

man interaction?

These are just some of the questions, which the 30 international speakers will address at the first European Wilderness Academy Days in Nationalpark Hohe Tauern, Mittersill. A special presentation by our Ukrainian col-leagues will focus on the difficulties on how to manage wilderness in a country at war.

The Wilderness Academy

Author: Zoltan Kun

Research colleagues, wilderness managers and fellow wilderness advocates, you are all more than welcome to participate in our first of many European

Wilderness Academy Days.

Wilderness Academy Days informationwww.wilderness.academy

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When it comes to Ukraine we typically only hear of the main cities, Kyiv (Kiev), Lviv, Odessa and from Crimea. While westerners are unfortunately learning the names of the cities in the east thanks to the current crisis, the western parts of Ukraine go generally unnoticed and while intact ecosystems are not exclusive to the western part of the country many of the best preserved and protected lands are in that region of the country. We also tend not to consider the fact that Ukraine has a long history of nature protection initiatives that has helped make it the valuable wilderness resource it is today.

For example, right up against the European Union on the western border are the remote Carpathians known for their rugged forests and small population of ethnic Hutsuls. In the Ukrainian section of the Carpathians there remain significant pieces and fragments of wil-derness forest hosting the spectrum of native carnivore: wolves, bear, lynx and marten. There is also European bison not to mention all the smaller mammals and insects which need wilderness and old-growth forests to survive. It is a genetic bank for native European species that are endangered elsewhere. For those reasons the European Wilderness Society has been working hard to bring those areas into the wilderness movement in Europe.

Wilderness in Ukrainian CarpathiansThe most important fragments of Ukrainians wilderness are protect-

ed through the network of various categories of protected areas. The well-known Wilderness in Enchanted Land Nature Park got legal pro-tection in 2009 with 8,700 ha (21,500 acres) of wilderness. According to the EWS, other vital fragments of wilderness in Ukraine are protected or will be protected via the Uzhanskij Nature Reserve, Carpathian Bio-sphere Reserve, the Gorgany Nature Reserve (3,073 ha, 7,590 acres of wilderness) and the Synevyr National Park.

Nevertheless there are already two wilderness areas, Zacharovanij kraj National Park and Vizhnitski National Park who are members of the European Wilderness Preservation System: Zacharovanij kraj Na-tional Park with 1,332 ha of wilderness and Vizhnitski National Park with 2,153 ha of wilderness. What makes this especially interesting is that the responsible managers of both wilderness areas are taking the protection of wilderness serious regardless of the political turmoil. This is very commendable and deserves our respect.

Zacharovanij kraj National Park Zacharovanyj kraj National Park is established by the Decree of the

President of Ukraine of May 21, 2009, the territory of Irshava district of Zakarpattya region of Ukraine. Total area of the park is 6,101 ha. The park combines nature protection, recreation, cultural and educational institution of national importance.

Zacharovanyj kraj National Park encompasses the central part of the Vihorlat-Hutyn volcanic ridge at the foothills of the Eastern Carpathi-ans. The area is bordered by the valleys of the Latorytsya river on the North-West and the Borzhava river on the southeast. The highest point of the park is Borzhava River at 1085 m above sea level. The park is the watershed of one of the tributaries of Tysa river.

This landscape diversity means the park protects an ecological diver-sity that includes well-preserved beech forests, unique rock landscapes, sphagnum bogs, lakes, ponds and riparian forests. Twenty-nine endan-gered plant species and thirty-eight endangered animal species call the park home.

Wilderness potential in Ukraine

Author: Vasil Mochan National Park Zacharovanij kraj

Most of the news coming from Ukraine the past year is far from positive and appears to get more desperate by the day. While American oil and gas companies are quite literally licking their lips over events in Eastern Europe

many young Ukrainians are forging ahead to protect the nature of Ukraine, the wildlands that remain and the economic potential those areas offer. If there is a bright spot in Ukraine these days, it is wilderness.


Bogs, peculiar rock forms and beach forestThe park hosts several unique highlights such as the 15 hectare

sphagnum bog Chorne Bahno (Black bog), a botanical and hydrolog-ical natural monument. This is the deepest peat bog in the Ukrainian Carpathians (depth almost 7 metres) with a visible convex surface.

Another remarkable spot is Zacharovana Dolyna (Enchanted Valley), which is known for its peculiar up to 100 metre high rock relief, formed by water-aerial erosion. Some of the rocks even have names: Strimchak, Stone Spruce, Stone Camel, Ruins of the Castle, Throne Stone etc.

Forests cover 87,5% of the whole territory of the park. More than 90% of the total forest area is indigenous beech forest (Fagus sylvatica) and only 7% of the territory are covered with secondary stands, mainly spruce (Picea abies). Beech virgin forests (568.3 ha) ecosystems are un-touched by forest management.

Vizhnitski National Park Another magnificent area nearby is the National Park Vizhnitski

established in August 30, 1995. The current size is 11,238 ha with a strictly protected wilderness core zone. The park and particularly the wilderness core zone represent an excellent example of the lowland area

of the Bukovina Carpathians. Almost 95% of the park is covered by a mixed forests of beech, fir, hornbeam and other species. The altitude varies from 340 m to 1,013 m above sea level.

Every season in each one of these parks is captivating and mysteri-ous. Visitors can experience magnificent fir trees and a variety of plants growing in the mountain valleys. The evergreen firs are mixed with sturdy beech trees. Cascading mountain streams and clamorous water-falls echo in this corner of the Carpathians.

Wilderness Potential in UkraineThese relative recently designated protected areas are becoming well

known, because of their wilderness quality and even more because of their commitment to improve the management effectiveness and their contribution to the European Wilderness Preservation System.

Regardless of the latest disturbing news from Ukraine, the European Wilderness Society is currently negotiating with several top managers of these great Ukrainian wilderness areas a wilderness audit to support the protection of the Ukrainian wilderness heritage and gradually in-crease the size of wilderness areas.

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Helsinki

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WILDERNESS

The European Wilderness Society

certifies that

VIZHNITSKI NATIONAL PARK

UKRAINE

is a European Wilderness Preser

vation System Partner according

to the European Wilderness Qua

lity Standard and Audit System.

This diploma certifies that the

Vizhnitski National Park joins

the

European Wilderness Preserva

tion System by protecting 2,15

3 ha of

wilderness representing the be

st of Europes wilderness.


DIPLOMA

Zoltn KunChairman

Max A.E. Rossberg

Deputy Chairman

Vlado Vanura

Director Wilderness Developme

nt

EUROPEAN WILDERNESS S

OC

IETY

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WILDERNESSThe European Wilderness Society certifies thatZACHAROVANIJ KRAJ NATIONAL PARK

UKRAINEis a European Wilderness Preservation System Partner according to the European Wilderness Quality Standard and Audit System.

This diploma certifies that the Zacharovanij kraj National Park joins the

European Wilderness Preservation System by protecting 1,332 ha of



DIPLOMA

Zoltn KunChairman



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Y

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NRED

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BRONZE

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This is the reason why an effective wilderness communication strategy is a vital component of the national and inter-national nature protection strategy. With a carefully formulated com-munication strategy it is possible to render the ecological and cultural value of wilderness more tangible to the public.

The Foundation for Natural Landscapes in Brandenburg - recently renamed to the Wilderness Foundation - took the opportunity to desig-nate wilderness areas on the sites of four selected former military train-ing grounds. Founded in Potsdam by private and public partners in 2000, it now owns and takes care of over 12,700 hectares that are unique in Germany for their size, lack of roads and wilderness development.

Jterbog areaJterbog area is located south of Berlin between the cities of Luck-

enwalde and Jterbog. The foundation owns 7,100 hectares with 4,700 hectares of wilderness.

This huge area remained contiguous as it was not dissected by roads, settlements or other uses because it has been under military use from the 19th century to 1994. It is now a nature reserve and part of the Naturpark Nuthe-Nieplitz. More than 75% percent are already free of all kinds of intervention. The landscape varies from sand dunes, heath-lands and evolving forests in the central area to wetlands and older forests in the fringe. Rare species as the Grey Wolf, European Otter,

Bechsteins bat and hoopoe live there and the area is listed as a FFH and SPA. A 30 km network of hiking trails lets people participate in natures development and beauty.

Heidehof areaHeidehof area is only a few kilometres east of the Jterbog area and

part of an even bigger former military training ground with a total area of 12,000 hectares. A part of this area is temporarily used as a wind farm but 1,400 hectares are already free of interventions. Heidehof is a feeding ground for the neighbouring wolf population and also houses rare species as European Nightjar and stag beetle Lucanus cervus. It is also protected as a nature reserve, FFH and SPA.

Lieberose areaLieberose area is located south-east of Berlin in the famous Spree-

wald-Region, close to the polish border. The area offers a variety of val-uable forest- and wetland-biotopes as bogs and clear water lakes togeth-er with heathlands and large sandy areas. The foundations area (3,200 hectares with 2,000 hectares of wilderness) is part of one of the biggest former military areas (27,000 hectares) of GDR. The wilderness area is an excellent habitat for plenty of species with impressing representatives such as the Grey Wolf, European otter, beaver and white-tailed eagle. Special feature of Lieberose is its geological configuration with evidence of the glacial period. Parts of it are also a nature reserve and a FFH- and SPA-area and already 65% are managed without any interventions.

Author: Petra Riehmann Wilderness Foundation Brandenburg

Wake up call for the fascination of Wilderness!

In a modern industrial society as Germany a natural woodland development on several 1,000 hectares is not very common, while at the same time the exclusion of economical

use is not comprehensible for a great number of people.


Tangersdorf areaTangersdorf area is located north of Berlin in the Uckermark-Re-

gion. It is the smallest of the foundation grounds (foundations property 653 hectares with 600 hectares of wilderness area) but is embedded in an even bigger nature reserve and former military training area with a total area of 6,000 hectares. An impressing particularity is the bea-ver-built 150 hectares area of swamps and lakes in its surroundings. Valuable wetlands and bogs with rare insects and birds species are char-acteristic for Tangersdorf but you also find old growth forests and heathlands there.

Appropriate communication of the Brandenburg wilderness is play-ing an active role in embedding and better supporting the wilderness idea. This work supports the public awareness of the stakeholders, who establish wilderness areas, permanently protect and mentor them. In this process all involved entities learn to implement excursions, speech-es and information desks aiming to reach peoples hearts and minds for evaluating and bringing forward wilderness. Brandenburg is part of the European Wilderness Preservation System.

WILDERNESSThe European Wilderness Society certifies that

is a European Wilderness Preservation System Partner according to the European Wilderness Quality Standard and Audit System.

This diploma certifies that the Wilderness foundation brandenburg Jterbog

joins the European Wilderness Preservation System by protecting 4,700 ha of



DIPLOMA

Zoltn KunChairman


WILDERNESS FOUNDATION BRANDENBURG JTERBOGGERMANY


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Y

SSE

NRED

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Based on the enthusiastic re-sponse to our Pyrenees to Carpathians natural green corridor idea, the European Wilderness Society decided to develop the idea further into a Pan Europe-an Green Corridor Network (PEGNet). We believe that such a network can be set up for the implementation and promotion of wil-derness and wildlife preservation across the continent.

The Pan-European Green Corridor Net-work initiative aims to create a vast unbroken ecological corridor connecting natural land-scapes from the Atlantic coast to the Black Sea and from the Arctic Circle to the Mediterra-nean.

This initiative will be implemented in var-ious phases like connecting mountains in Portugal, the Cantabrian Mountains, the Pyr-enees and the Massif Central to the Alps, and eventually, the Carpathians and the Balkans,

along which natural ecological processes are allowed to create a landscape rich in biodiver-sity to the benefit of nature and humanity.

Europe is a highly fragmented continent. Vast areas of Europes last great wild places have also been transformed into urban zones or cut up by an increasingly dense transport network. Recent statistics from the European Environment Agency illustrate just how sig-nificant these changes are. In a single decade around 5% of EU territory has been covered with concrete or otherwise converted into completely artificial surfaces including indus-trial areas, holiday resorts and infrastructure. Europes motorways have increased in length by almost 41% (15,000 km) within that same period and will increase by 12,000 km in the years to come. In densely populated countries like Belgium, the average size of contiguous land units not dissected by major transport routes has been reduced to just 20 km2 (EU average is 130 km2).

The Pan-European Green Corridor Net-work offers a unique opportunity to recreate natural connections and routes throughout Europe, with wilderness areas coupled with the Natura2000 Network as resting and mat-ing places for the migratory animals along these corridors. In order to maximise the contribution of PEGNet to wilderness protec-tion, the project includes the following three elements:

habitat restorations based on locating gaps in the current network of protected areas

supporting a sustainable comeback of wild-life in Europe

communicating the socio-economic bene-fits of large scale European-wide green cor-ridor set up with special attention of pre-serving wilderness for future generations

Pan-European Green Corridor Network (PEGNet)

Connecting the Atlantic to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean to the Baltic.Author: Max A.E: Rossberg, Stephen Carver


Based on our initial research supported by the Wildland Research In-stitute, PEGNet will be implemented in four phases:

Phase 1: West to EastConnecting mountains from the Atlantic coast to the Black Sea, which

is basically our original idea to establish a mega-corridor from the Pyr-enees to the Carpathians, connecting Europes three iconic mountains ranges

Phase 2: To the SouthLinking the mountain corridor to the south into the Iberian Peninsu-

la, Apennines, Dinaric Arc and the Balkan mountains

Phase 3: To the NorthLinking the mountain corridor to the North: the inclusion of the Bal-

tic states, Fenno-Scandinavia and the European lowlands in the large scale green corridor concept.

Phase 4: To the EastFrom the Carpathians to the Ural and the Caucasus. As wilderness

knows no political boundaries, we must recognise that differences in po-litical views shall not stop us to make our PEGNet truly European!

This initiative is a classical win-win, because wildlife will benefit from more space to freely roam human will benefit from more ecosystem services such as flood and

climate change mitigation!

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The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is the largest wild cat in Europe. In the end of the 19th century the Eurasian lynx was exterminated in many parts of Europe. Rein-troduction projects in Switzerland, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Croatia and Slovenia in the 1970s gave this species the chance to recolonize some parts of its former range. However, despite these efforts many of these reintroduced populations are still facing problems. They are stagnating or decreasing and some even became completely extinct. Surviving populations are small, isolated, and at least some signs of inbreeding depression were observed. Among the three originally widespread large carnivores in Europe lynx, wolf and bear, the lynx is currently the most endangered with the lowest population size.

Conservation status of the lynx in the Alps and in the Dinaric Mountains

The situation in the Alps and in the Di-naric Mountains is critical. While the rein-troduction of at least 14 individuals in the Swiss Alps from 1970 to 1976 founded a lynx population of about 130 lynxes, the releases in Austria, Italy and France were less suc-cessful. Although the alpine population in Switzerland is stable and one of the most es-tablished of the re-founded populations there is no pan-alpine population. Especially in the Eastern Alps there are only some individuals scattered over the Alpine arc. Thats why the pan-alpine lynx population still remains small and isolated and has already lost much of its genetic diversity.

The Dinaric population was formed after 1973, when six animals were translocated from the Carpathians to Slovenia. Despite the

low number of animals, the reintroduction seemed to be successful in the very begin-ning. The population quickly extended over a large part of the Dinaric Mountains and South-Eastern Alps. However, after this initial success, the population started to decline at the end of the 1990s This became even more significant after the year 2000. Nowadays, the lynx again disappeared from many areas it had already occupied. The current situation of the Eurasian Lynx in the Dinaric Moun-tains is considered critical, with possibly only 15 adult lynx left in Slovenia and similarly low population densities in the adjacent re-gions. Such small populations are extremely vulnerable to a series of issues that would not normally cause threat to a larger population. In this situation any mortality can have signif-icant effects to the populations viability.

Augmentation projects are essential To ensure the long-term survival of the Di-

naric population and the lynxes in the South- Eastern Alps as well as to prevent inbreeding depression, augmentation projects are abso-lutely necessary in this area. Ideally animals from the Carpathian population, which is re-garded as the optimal source, will be released in the Alps and the Dinaric Mountains. Al-though a bigger project proposal on this topic is expected in the next years, researchers and authorities prepared smaller pilot transloca-tion projects as a first step. To stop the further decline of the population and to save a part of the current gene pool the translocation of a few lynxes from Switzerland to Italy and Slo-venia was arranged.

Lynx reintroduction setbackDuring the last years several NGOs and regional governments worked hard to

reintroduce the Lynx into the transboundary area of Italy, Slovenia and Austria - This project is derailed after the killing of one of the lynx

beginning of September 2014.Author: Christian Pichler WWF


Two animals released in border area of Austria-Slovenia-ItalyAs a first step towards an increasing lynx population, a reintroduction-pi-

lot project could be implemented in Italy this year. End of April, a male and a female lynx from the Jura Mountains in Switzerland were released near Tarvisio, an Italian town in the South-Eastern Alps. Both lynxes were cap-tured a month ago by KORA (Carnivore ecology and wildlife management) and had to undergo a quarantine in Bern. Ten days later they were translo-cated to a valley near Tarvisio and after a period of confinement in order to help the specimens adapt to the new area and to prevent possible homing behaviour - the ability of lynxes and some other animals to return to a given place when displaced from it - they were released into the wild. Both ani-mals are equipped with radio collars, which help to monitor the survival, the movement, the predation and the potential reproduction of the animals. To complete this first phase of the project, another female could be released in the next weeks. The project was implemented by Progetto Lince Italia, the State Forestry Corps and the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and financially supported by WWF Austria.

Major Setback: Lynx Alus most likely killed by poacherThe male lynx Alus stopped sending a GPS signal on 7 August followed by

the morality signal on August 8th. Beginning of September a hiker found the GPS collar draped over a branch on a tree almost 2 metre above the ground with no signs of breakage. Bernhard Gutlieb from the provincial government of Carinthia and Christian Pichler from WWF Austria are sure that Alus fell prey to a poacher. This loss has destroyed years of work to bring back the lynx to Italy, Austria and Slovenia.

Berlin

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The aim of this reintroduction programme is to re-establish a viable, self-sustaining population of European bison in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains.

After more than one year of complex preparation six captive-bred fe-

male European bison were transferred from four collections in the Brit-ish Isles, including the Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks, to the Vanatori Neamt Nature Park in Romania. These animals provide an additional release stock for the ongoing Romanian European bison rein-troduction project in the Cracului Valley of the Chitele area of the Park.

A consortium of four partners Vanatori Neamt Nature Park Admin-

istration, Romania, The Aspinall Foundation, UK, The European Bison EEP, EAZA and European Wilderness Society successfully accomplished this tasks.

At the end of April, after an epic journey from Hythe, United King-dom to Vanatori, Romania 6 bison were successfully transported. Due to the highly professional preparation, the animals arrived at the destina-tion in perfect health and they started to graze fresh grass and hay from the very beginning. That was a clear sign that the transport was done in good conditions. The bison stayed one month in the pre-release fenced area (which contain not only a meadow, but also an area with forest veg-etation), a period during which they were permitted to acclimate to local conditions.

The director of Vanatori Neamt Nature Park in Romania, Mr. Sebastian

Catanoiu, appreciated the involvement of several organizations and the smooth coordination and the overall process. He remembers with a little bit nostalgia beginning of this effort::

then after more than one year since Vlado from European Wilder-ness Society and me talked in Slovakia about the possibility of bringing bison from UK, we finally succeeded

We wish the bison well in their new home, and hope they will settle in

quickly and prove to make a valuable contribution to the reintroduced population.

Bison reintroduction accomplished

As we already informed in the previous issue of the European Wilderness Journal the European Wilderness Society is engaged in the reintroduction of the European Bison to

the Vanatori Neamt Nature Park in Romania.

Author: VladoVanura

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Our new team members

Born in 1972 in Austria, Gudrun spent her whole childhood and youth growing up in the Austri-an Alps. The big forest right be-hind her parents house was her playground and later, when she decided to become a professional athlete (1991-1998) b.a. 4 times World Champion in Mountain Running, 20 times Austrian Champion in xc skiing and ath-letics and xc skiing Worldloppet Winner, her trainings terrain.

After receiving her Masters degree in Biology at the University of Salzburg, (2000), she applied for a volunteer position at the Central Rockies Wolf Project, based in Canmore, AB, Canada. Following and studying the local wolfpack, she realized, that this kind of job is tailored to her skills, education and passion: Being a field biologist combines physical fitness with the opportunity to be in the great outdoors and mainly to work for its conservation through collecting data and increas-ing knowledge.

For seven years she worked on six different wolf research projects in very different parts and ecosystems of Canada: from the Subarctic to SW Alberta, from the Aspenparklands to the lushy temperate Rainforest along B.C.s Pacific Shoreline.

Two international awarded nature documentaries Searching for the coastal wolves (Die Suche nach den Kstenwlfen, 2007) and Running with wolves (Die Wolfsfrau, 2009) tell about her work.

In October 2005 Gudrun was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tu-mour out of the blue. For more than three years she was fighting for her life. Successfully. Today she is Mum of a 5 year old son and since his birth in summer 2009 Gudrun is back in her hometown Radstadt in the Austrian Alps. She started giving talks and presentations about her experiences in the wilderness and on the path of the wolves.

Gudrun shares the common knowledge of the wolf being a flag-ship species of an ecosystem but she even more sees the condition of a wolf-population as an indicator for the attitude and tolerance of the local people. She will be the wildlife focal point of the European Wilderness Society and advises and councils protected area managers on large car-nivores and human coexistence issues.

We are happy to present you our new team member Karin Eck-hard who will be the focal point for sustainable tourism pro-jects and consultations.

Although born and raised in New Hampshire, USA, she has had the fortune to live in places as diverse as Vail, Colorado; Salzburg, Austria; London and in a small village in the east of England. However, she has called Madrid, Spain her home for the last 2 years.

While in the US, she worked for 12 years in the tourism sector in product development, operations and various other roles. She holds a Masters in Sustainable Tourism Development and after receiving her Masters she worked for several years as a Sustainability Advisor in the tourism sector with an international consultancy and has worked on various European regional sustainable tourism projects. While living in the UK and volunteering for a local conservation organization, she

decided to take on the challenge of doing a Masters in Land Man-agement as it relates to Conser-vation. She had the fortune to do her thesis work in the area of Landscape Ecology specifically connectivity and its role in spe-cies and biodiversity conserva-tion. Here is where she found her keen interest in the role tourism can play in promoting global and regional conservation effort. When not travelling, she enjoys, of course, the outdoors, wildlife photography, sports and spend-ing time with friends.

Karin Eckhard

Gudrun Pflger

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Where to get your information

Berlin

Bruxelles

Vienna

Bratislava

Liptovsk Hrdok

Lisboa

Madrid

Paris

London

Roma

BudapestGyrTamsweg

Bucaresti

Sofia

Tirana

Kiev

Warszawa

Dublin

Bern

Ljubljana

Minsk

Moskva

Tallinn

Helsinki

Riga

Vilnius

Stockholm

Oslo

Ankara

Baku

Tbilisi

Yerevan



The European Wilderness Society Offices

Corporate Donors, Wilder-ness Advocacy,

Governments and Aid Agencies Public Relations,

PEGNet

Wilderness Development,

EWQA

Wildlife, Large Carnivores

and Human Coexistence

Sustainable Tourism

Wilderness Events,

Press Contact

Membership Programme, Wilderness Research

EU policy, EU Legislation

Marketing and Web

Graphic, Art Work

Zoltan Kun, Chairman [email protected]

Max A.E. Rossberg, Deputy Chairman [email protected]

Vlado Vancura [email protected]

Gudrun Pflger [email protected] Eckhard [email protected]

Anni Henning [email protected]

Susanne Werth [email protected]

Gaia Angelini [email protected]

Bodo Rossberg [email protected]

Monika Schitter [email protected]

The European Wilderness Society The European Wilderness Society (EWS) is Europes only non-profit NGO dedicated exclusively on

identifying, designating, managing and promoting wilderness across all of Europe. In case you have questions, input or ideas, please contact the respective focal point.


We acknowledge our advisorsStephen Carver, Wildland Research InstituteMark Fisher, University of LeedsAllison Parfitt, Wildland Research InstituteDr. Michael Jungmeier, E.C.O. Institute of EcologyMichael Meyer, OETE Stiftung Michael Zika, WWF AustriaBernhard Kohler, WWF Austria

Photo Credits: Max Rossberg, Gudrun Pflger, Karin Eckhard, Vlado Vanura, Andrea Gambassini, Christian Pichler, WWF, Central Balkan NP, Vizhnitski NP, Brandenburg Jterbog, Zacharovany kraj, NP Hohe Tauern, Foreste Casentinesi NP, Peneda-Gers NP, Paanajrvi NP, fotolia.deDesign: www.diemedienwerkstatt.info, 5580 Tamsweg, AustriaPrinted in AustriaAll rights, errors and changes are reserved.

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Gudrun Pflger [email protected]

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Foreste Casentinesi National Park, Italy

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