More about the Project

LIFE Corcontica
Project for the restoration of meadow and small stream habitats in SCI Krkonoše Mountains.

Basic information on the project

Number of the Project: LIFE11 NAT/CZ/000490
Coordinating Beneficiary: Krkonoše Mountains National Park Administration
Associated Beneficiaries: DAPHNE ČR – Institute of Applied Ecology
Ministry of Environment
Total Budget: € 3, 588, 573
75% of the budget is co-financed from the LIFE+ Nature programme
25% of the budget is co-financed by the project beneficiaries
Period of Realization: 2012 - 2018

Why LIFE Corcontica?

The project acronym is derived firstly from the name of the LIFE+ programme. The Latin word Corcontica means the Krkonoše Mountains. The project title is “Grasslands and streams restoration in SCI Krkonoše: Future of Nardus grasslands*, Dwarf Gentian* & Bullhead”.

What were the origins of the project proposal?

At the origin of the project there was an idea to restore life to the Krkonoše Mountains meadows and small streams. A lot of the traditional mountain meadows and small streams in the Krkonoše Mountains degraded in the past decades. The LIFE Corcontica project should stop this trend and help to bring back their former diversity. Help is need also for individual plant and animal species and their habitats, e.g. bullhead. The regime of small water streams will be adjusted to stabilize their flow and enable the migration of the bullhead along the entire length of these streams.

Project objectives

The overall project objective is to create suitable conditions to ensure a favourable conservation status of the grassland habitats of Community importance 6510, 6520, 6230* and of the species of Community importance Dwarf Gentian* and Bullhead in SCI Krkonoše and thus contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and to the performance of the Natura 2000 network functions.

Explanatory notes:
6230* - Species-rich Nardus grasslands, on siliceous substrates in mountane areas (and submountane areas, in Continental Europe)
6510 - Lowland hay meadows (Alopecurus pratensis, Sanguisorba officinalis)
6520 - Mountain hay meadows
* priority habitats according the Habitats Directive

What do we plan to achieve?

- improvement of the mountain meadows management
- preventing invasive plants spreading
- supporting traditional mountain meadow management practices
- finding new ways to sell farm production (pellets, wool, meat, etc.)
- creating favourable life conditions for the bullhead
- protection and restoration of Gentianella bohemica on mountain meadows

What are the expected results?

There are 29 selected meadow enclaves where restoration of structure and species composition will be realized. The overall target area is 425 ha, out of which 215 ha is the 6230* habitat, 179 ha is the 6520 habitat and the rest of 31 ha is the 6510 habitat.

Farm plans will be prepared registering 10, 000 ha of the above mentioned 6230*, 6510 and 6520 habitats. Suitable management methods will be introduced in these areas to provide for a stable to increasing representation of the target species.

At two sites of Gentianella bohemica a minimum threshold of criteria for viability of its population according to the Czech action plan will be reached. This species will be repatriated to one other site.

150 km2 of small water streams will be managed in suitable way in SCI Krkonoše Mountains. 2 to 5 km of small water streams will be revitalized. 5 to 15 migration barriers will be cleared. More than 100 km of small water streams will be re-inhabited by bullhead. The project expects 5% to 10% increase of the bullhead population, which makes hundreds of individuals. The bullhead population will be also supported by regulation of fishery management at selected water streams.