Monitoring of Species and Habitats of Community Interest

The project on External Monitoring of Species and Habitats of European Interest focused on conducting repeated monitoring of habitats and species of European interest.

The project comprised three tasks. The first involved analyzing the results of previous monitoring, and based on the analysis, to propose adjustments to the monitoring methodologies for species and habitats of European interest—covering a total of 75 habitat types and bryophytes, as well as 147 animal species.

As part of the second task, a proposal was prepared to expand the network of permanent monitoring sites (PMS) in Slovakia—specifically, 106 new permanent monitoring sites for 79 habitat types and species.

The key task of this project was the actual implementation of monitoring at the permanent monitoring sites. During each visit, a detailed monitoring record was compiled, containing data and characteristics regarding habitat types and species populations.

The monitoring results were used to prepare a report on the status of habitats and species of European importance in Slovakia, a requirement under the Habitats Directive. The PMS network covers all known occurrences of animal species of European importance and the known distribution of habitat types of European importance.

Collaborating organizations: National Forestry Center of the Slovak Republic; Center for Plant Biology and Biodiversity of the Slovak Academy of Sciences; Zamenis s.r.o., SON, and others.

Photo: Bat monitoring in the Schöpfer adit