Conservation Carpathia Foundation, Czech Republic Sumava National Park sign cooperation agreemen

   The Conservation Carpathia Foundation and the Administration of the Czech Republic Sumava National Park have signed a cooperation agreement that provides for the exchange of knowledge and mutual support in research activities, species monitoring, conservation and restoration of affected areas, a statement informs.The five-year agreement was signed in Vimperk, at the headquarters of the park administration, by the director of the ?umava National Park, Pavel Hubena, and by Barbara and Christoph Promberger, executive directors of the Conservation Carpathia Foundation.According to Christoph Promberger, the S?umava National Park is a reference model in Central Europe in terms of nature conservation and the involvement of local communities, and the exchange of experience with the administrators of this large protected expanse could contribute to the foundation's efforts to create a similar park in the Fagaras Mountains."The expertise acquired [by ?Sumava National Park] in over 30 years of managing an extensive protected area brings essential value to our conservation efforts and vision of creating a National Park in the Fagaras Mountains. We are convinced that we can learn a lot from the way they have managed to integrate nature, communities and the local economy into a functional and sustainable model," said Promberger.According to the director of ?umava National Park, "the collaboration with the Conservation Carpathia Foundation is a source of inspiration.""We see how a private conservation initiative wants to create a national park just as we imagined the ?umava National Park in the early 1990s. The fact that it is a private initiative means that it consistently follows its chosen direction and clearly states its objectives from the start. I mention this aspect because in ?umava, at the beginning, the state did not have a very clear vision of nature protection," said Pavel Hubena according to the cited release.As part of the partnership, study visits will be organized for stakeholders from the project areas: authorities, researchers, journalists, employees of the two organizations, to see and learn firsthand how a national park well integrated into the social and economic landscape functions.By signing this agreement with the ?umava National Park, the Conservation Carpathia Foundation is expanding its cooperation at European level, after having concluded in 2022 a similar partnership with the Bavarian Forest National Park in Germany, "thus highlighting its commitment to creating a transnational network dedicated to the protection of forest ecosystems and sustainable development".S?umava National Park was established in 1991 and is the largest national park in the Czech Republic, with an area of 68,460 hectares.Its landscape is somewhat similar to that managed by Conservation Carpathia, being dominated by mountain forests of spruce, fir and beech, along with peat bogs, alpine meadows and wetlands, which support a remarkable biodiversity, the release states.The idea of creating a national park in the Fagaras Mountains was launched almost 10 years ago by Conservation Carpathia. In the beginning, it was met with reluctance by local communities, but they gradually changed their attitude as they were included in the foundation's projects.