NATURE AND LANDSCAPE PROTECTION
NATURAL
HERITAGE
In accordance with the NCSR (National Council of the
Slovak Republic) Act No.287/1994 Coll. on Nature and Landscape Protection, the system
of complex nature and landscape protection has been designed based on five levels of
protection .
| I. level of protection | - the territory of the SR not included in any of the higher levels of protection |
| II. level of protection | - Protected Landscape Area (PLA) |
| III. level of protection | - National Park (NP) |
| IV. level of protection | - Protected Site (PS) |
| V. level of protection | - Nature Reserve (NR) - Nature Monument (NM) - National Nature Reserve (NNR) - National Nature Monument (NNM) |
In 1997, 56 protected area proposals were elaborated and
15 new NR with total area of 3 214 ha, 5 NM with total area 86 ha and 3 PS with total area
of 129 ha were designated. With regard to large-scale protected areas 2 new national parks
were designated, namely NP Muránska planina Plateau with a total area of 20 318 ha
(former PLA) and NP Poloniny with the total area 29 805 ha (formerly part of PLA
Východné Karpaty). The act on their designation came into effect on October 1st, 1997.
Furthermore, 3 protected sites were withdrawn from the list
of protected areas of Slovakia.
Table 39 Categories of Protected Areas in the SR (as
of December 31st ,1997)
Category |
Number |
Area of protected territory (ha) |
Area of protective zone (ha) |
| Protected Landscape Area | 15 | 598 585 | - |
| National Park | 7 | 243 219 | 238 124 |
| Protected Site | 174 | 4 397.7447 | 2 263.2476 |
| Nature Reserve | 347 | 13 885.4380 | 318.4179 |
| National Nature Reserve | 229 | 82 121.8907 | 3 162.2489 |
| Nature Monument | 214 | 1 377.0270 | 232.6567 |
| National Nature Monument | 45 | 55.3181 | 26.6225 |
SOURCE: SAP, SNP SR
Within the 4th and
5th levels of protection, 270 protected areas with a
total area of 19 805 ha are located within designated PLA boundaries, 192 protected areas
with a total area 63 691 ha are located within designated NP boundaries and their
protective zones. 547 protected areas lie outside designated PLA, NP and their protective
zones. Protected areas belonging to the 4th and 5th levels of protection statistics based on 3 categories according
to the level of potential danger are listed in the following table.
Table 40 The Categories of Protected Areas as of
December 31st, 1997
| Category | Number | Area * (ha) |
Optimal | Thretened | Degraded | |||
| Number | Area | Number | Area | Number | Area | |||
| NNR | 229 | 82 122 | 150 | 69 147 | 77 | 12 952 | 2 | 23 |
| NR | 347 | 13 885 | 181 | 9 921 | 161 | 3 905 | 5 | 59 |
| PS | 177 | 4 398 | 47 | 1 334 | 96 | 2 092 | 31 | 972 |
| NNM | 45 | 55 | 30 | 22 | 15 | 33 | - | - |
| NM | 214 | 1 377 | 118 | 938 | 93 | 421 | 3 | 18 |
SOURCE: SAP, SNP SR
*area excluding protective zone
Figure
28 Protected Areas of the SR
Source: M
Category Optimal Protected Area referers to all
protected areas where subject of protection is not threatened by human activities and
develops according to protection objectives. Category Threatened Protected Area refers to
all protected areas where subject of protection is being negatively affected by human
activities to such extent that without regulation measures its existence is threatened.
Category Degraded Protected Area refers to all
protected areas where changes, respectively destruction of natural ecosystem were caused
either by human activities or evolution.
From the total number of 1 009 small-size protected areas:
- 41 fall into category Degraded (representing 1% of the total area)
- 442 fall into category Threatened (19% of the total area)
- 526 fall into category Optimal (80% of the total area)
The most serious situation is in the group Protected Site where:
- 17.82% of areas fall into category Degraded (22.10 % of the total area)
- 55.17% of areas fall into category Threatened (45.57% of the total area)
In the group Nature Reserve 46.39% (28.13% of the total area) fall into category Threatened. In the group Nature Monument 43.35% (30.59 of the total area) fall into category Threatened. Protected Tree group includes 463 trees growing outside forest and their clumps.