Currently, most European forest landscapes are intensively managed, leading to the disappearance of the most pristine wilderness, such as primary and natural forests, with strong negative impacts on biodiversity. Although natural disturbances play a critical role in maintaining multiple taxonomic groups and species across large landscapes, the low acceptance of these disturbances as part of natural dynamics and rewilding tools is a key driver of the legal loss of primary forests and wilderness in Eastern Europe.
Despite the relatively small total area of these valuable ecosystems, they are directly endangered - especially by salvage logging. Road construction has increased accessibility to mountain wilderness areas that were largely protected for centuries due to their inaccessibility.
At wildE’s Green shoots webinar on 9 January 2024, we heard from Martin Mikoláš and Rhiannon Gloor, from the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague. They discussed safeguarding the pristine wilderness of the Carpathian Mountains in the context of new research on the ineffectiveness of protected area management in Europe. This example and new extensive study underscores the importance of conservation strategies to halt the rapid disappearance of the last of temperate Europe’s primary forests and their unique biodiversity.
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Watch the recording below
