Szénások European Diploma Area
<p class="Norml1" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="FR">The Szénások dolomite mountains in the Buda Mountains have been considered one of the most important domestic natural areas since the end of the 1800s. The associations are the habitats of many native (endemic) and relict species, of which the Pilisi flax (Linum dolomiticum) is the only one living here in the world. Its value was recognized by the Council of Europe in 1995 with the award of the European Diploma. In 2003, we received funding from the LIFE-Nature program of the European Community for nature conservation management.</span></p>
In order to protect Europe's natural heritage, the Council of Europe established the Europe Diploma in 1965. With the award, certain protected areas of European importance come under the patronage of the Council of Europe, which is renewed every five years. The Diploma can be awarded to protected natural areas that are extremely important for the preservation of Europe's geological, biological or landscape diversity. With the Europa Diploma, not only the unique biological or landscape values of the given area are recognized, but also the effectiveness of the nature conservation management carried out in order to protect them.
The application required to obtain the Diploma is submitted to the Council of Europe by the governments of the member countries. A group of experts examines the characteristics and problems of the area on site and makes a proposal to the Committee of Ministers based on this. Proposals for improving the management of the area and, where necessary, conditions are usually attached to the submission.
Protected declaration
Károly KÁÁN, who developed the basic principles of domestic nature conservation, proposed the designation of a reservation in a part of the Kis- and Nagyszénás in order to protect rare plants in his book "Nature protection and natural monuments" published in 1931. At the same time, the former landowner of Pilisszentiván, count IMRE KARÁTSONYI, took care of the protection of the Pilis flax.
Despite this, only after the World War, in 1951, were two smaller areas declared protected, which became part of the Buda Landscape Protection District established in 1978. In 1994, part of the area became a forest reserve. i.e. it was declared an area where no human (forestry) intervention takes place, so undisturbed natural processes can be studied.
Literature:
HUNKELER, P. (2000): European Diploma for protected areas. Questions and Answers 6. - Council of Europe, Strasbourg.
NATURAL VALUES
Plant life
Pilisi flax (Linum dolomiticum)
VINCÉ BORBÁS, an outstanding researcher of the flora around Budapest, is often referred to as the "most Hungarian botanist". He deserves the honorary title, as he described many native Pannonian plant species. He presented the most remarkable of his discoveries, the pilis lentic (Linum dolomiticum), at the meeting of the Natural Science Society held on January 13, 1897. BORBÁS's exceptional preparation shows that he also recognized that the closest relative of the newly found plant species is a flax species from Greece, Linum elegans. The memory of VINCE BORBÁS is still preserved by the Szénás today, and one of the most valuable dolomite mountains in the area is called the Borbás ridge. The bedrock of the region - the Triassic dolomite - forms a very diverse, dynamic surface divided by ridges and valleys, on which a mosaic of fresher and drier oak forests, karst-bush forests, steppe slopes and rock meadows has been created. The southern slopes with a dry, warm microclimate are only separated by a few meters from the cold northern sides, so the vegetation was able to survive the big climate changes with only a few meters of migration almost unchanged. In the cold northern valleys, those Ice Age plants that have already died out elsewhere in the Carpathian basin, today are high mountain species, have survived. These include the purple fescue (Festuca amethystina), the variegated reed tippan (Calamagrostis varia) and the gray thistle (Carduus crassifolius subsp. glaucus).
Native plants
The plants that survived in the shelters of the Dolomite mountains - in the refugiums - were isolated from their congeners and could become independent indigenous species. King István's carnation lives only in the dolomite rock meadows of the Transdanubian Central Mountains. The distribution area of the Buda mountain ash (Sorbus semiincisa) is the Buda Mountains and Pilis. One of the most famous native plants of the Hungarian flora is Pilisi flax (Linum dolomiticum), which is the only one in the world that lives here.
Forests
We find closed forests in the valleys of the Dolomite mountains. Beech, small- and large-leaved linden, and tall ash are mixed among the tree species that give the name of the association in the candle-stalkless oak groves. But the most spectacular tree species of the candle-oak stands is the bird cherry. In spring, we can even recognize specimens in white wedding dresses from the neighboring hilltop. Hikers find these forests beautiful, but conservationists look critically at the trees of the same age and the lack of dead trunks. These prove that the area was intensively managed for a long time. According to our hopes, in a few decades, the forest picture shown here will be revealed to us in many places: the fallen old beech creates the conditions for the existence of many living creatures, and in its place, young linden saplings will emerge in the open clearing.
Grasslands
The greatest value of the Szénás are the grassland communities serving as habitats for rare plant species. Open dolomite rock meadows were formed on the steep southern sides, closed dolomite rock meadows on the cooler, northern sides, and steppe meadows with orphan hair on the roofs. Secondary but species-rich mountain meadows, steppe meadows, and rock meadows formed on the mowing fields and pastures created by deforestation. The largest grassland area of this kind is Nagy-Szénás, but there are also extensive patches of grassland at the foot of Kutya-hegy. Today, these lawns are also the habitats of rare plant species such as the native sedge (Onosma pseudarenaria) or the sand iris (Iris arenaria).
Animal world
The invertebrate fauna stands out among the zoological values of the Szénás Europa Graduate Area. The diversity of the fauna is mainly due to the fact that the plant communities are also diverse: from old beech trees to open rock meadows, the area is inhabited by animals from many different habitats. The invertebrate fauna is characterized by a predominance of Mediterranean and continental species.
Saw-legged grasshopper (Saga pedo)
Europe's largest insect species. The northern limit of its distribution area is the Carpathian Basin, where it reproduces by virgin birth. It is a rare inhabitant of dry, warm, richly vegetated steppe meadows. Despite its huge size, it is difficult to notice, as its color and movement are like that of a branch moving in the wind. It leads a predatory lifestyle.
Barred Owl (Euxoa vitta)
Atlantic-Mediterranean butterfly species. Inhabitant of open limestone and dolomite grasslands, which occurs very sporadically in Central Europe. The population living in the area is relatively large and stable. Its caterpillar lives in short underground tunnels, from where it only rarely ventures out to pull nearby plants into its tunnel for food.
Libelloides macaronius (Libelloides macaronius)
A species of insect with a Mediterranean distribution, which, despite its butterfly-like appearance, is a member of the Lepidoptera order. The fast-flying adult insect is short-lived and swarms for a short time, so its presence is not easy to detect. It can be observed regularly in the area.
Our recommended study paths:
Jági nature trail (Pilisszentiván) >>
Nagy-Szénás nature trail (Nagykovácsi) >>
Our recommended presentation locations:
Pilisi Linen Visitor Center >> (Pilisszentiván, Bányász u. 17.)
Our temporary address: Német Nemzetségí Tájház (2084 Pilisszentiván, Szabadság út 86.)
Information (trails and visitor center):
Tóthné Becsei Katalin, +36 30 511 1802
Karlné Menráth Réka, +36 30477 6720
pilisilen@dinpi.hu
Részletek: