Objectives

The project’s overall objective is the restoration of the original water dynamics and natural habitats of a sodic lake and its catchment area, which is one of the most important of such habitats in the Carpathian Basin located in the central part of the Kiskunság. Böddi-szék is a priority habitat of the Natura 2000 network and is also protected on national level. The extent of its area is significant with 18% of the open water surface sodic lake subtype of 1530 habitat type in Hungary.

The construction of the main drainage canal Nr. V. and its drainage ditches caused significant damage on the sodic lake, as the canal Nr V. literally halved the lakebed. Due to the high water level in the canal, water is straining through the dam and flowing away in drainage ditches into the lakebed. Spreading of the marsh vegetation is a great threat for the most valuable sub-types of the 1530 habitats characteristic for the sodic lakebed. Additionally, the canal causes serious habitat fragmentation.

The most important objective of the project is to restore the sodic lake and its catchment area that changed to a significant extent due to anthropogenic effects and the lack of sufficient number of grazing animals in the area, and increase the habitat management activities on the project site to the ecologically sustainable high level.

During the project implementation, we would like to emphasize the importance of monitoring on scientific basis, hence we apply the ecological criteria system and reference results of sodic lake survey covering the whole pannonic eco-region within the framework of the project LIFE07NAT/H/000324.

Our ultimate goal is to draw the attention of local inhabitants to the importance of sodic areas at European level, with special emphasis on the dynamism of the ecological system of sodic wetlands, highlighting their vulnerability and the human role in their long-term conservation.

The copyright owners of photos, audio and video recordings and of illustrations are the authors. Any use of them is prohibited, unless a written permission is obtained from the author or the project manager.

Kiskunság National Park Directorate

Krisztina Kiri
project manager

Phone: +36-30/149-3181

E-mail address: kirik@knp.hu