Objectives

Within the habitat type Pannonic salt steppes and salt marshes (1530) sodic lakes and their catchment areas principally comprising lowland Pannonic loess steppic grasslands (6250) are the most vulnerable and at the same time the most seriously deteriorated habitats in the Carpathian Basin. Most of these sites had already been badly damaged and deteriorated when they were put under protection, and since then only conservation of the given conditions has been the main objective. An overarching, Basin-wide restoration programme for these sodic lakes has not been implemented to date, since it would require exact, accurately implemented actions by experienced specialists, due to the complex and extremely vulnerable nature of the micro ecosystem found here. Restoration projects carried out in the Hortobágy, especially the project No LIFENAT2002/H/8638 provided appropriate professional experience for sodic lake restoration endeavours that require subtle intervention techniques. The designated two project areas (Nagy-szik and Magdolna-puszta) are the most appropriate sites for restoration, since they are still exceptionally rich in natural values but at the same time were and still are prone to virtually all possible threats.        
The primary objective of the project is to eliminate unfavourable and detrimental processes affecting the project site, namely: draining of natural rainfall, dramatic decline in the size of seasonal water bodies, effluents getting into natural water bodies, decline in the numbers of grazing domestic animals and disappearance of traditional small-scale grazing systems, loss of biodiversity, conflicting interests of locals and conservationists, lack of possibility/infrastructure to raise awareness of natural heritage, lack of environmental education for stakeholders and the wider public, presence of anthropogenic pollution and human-induced stresses and unregulated access to the area.    
By implementing the planned actions, our further aims are to achieve an improved conservation status of the project site, that is, to promote the revival of sodic lakes and reverse the detrimental processes affecting these sites. Re-introduction of the traditional grazing system with the required stocking densities are of crucial importance to ensure an ecologically sustainable high level of grazing serving the long-term conservation of these sodic lakes. Awareness-raising campaigns are also considered an indispensable element, the basic principle of which will be the system “know – like – protect”, by which locals will be involved in the project as stakeholders, thereby strengthening the stewardship function of the conservationist organizations. By funding and lectures local inhabitants are to be sensitized to the importance of traditional animal farming and of the re-introduction of ancient cuisine, the latter indirectly promoting habitat protection. To revive the system disrupted mostly deliberately about 70 years ago requires slow, patient, tenacious work. The long-term sustainability of the program is ensured primarily by the continual education of the public that must not be terminated at the closing of the project.      
Great emphasis will be placed on dissemination of the project’s findings and results beyond the local community, on an international level, as it is to involve all EU-member, candidate and neighbouring states located in the Carpathian Basin, since the conservation of sodic lake habitats rich in endemic species of wildlife is mostly the task of EU-countries. Achievement of all these objectives will be most appropriately ensured by the publication of a handbook featuring the project’s results.                
Our ultimate goal is to set up a workable and exemplary model for the restoration of sodic lakes in the Carpathian Basin, and to ensure that increased attention be given to the protection and restoration of these most vulnerable sub-habitat types across Europe.