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The project site is situated at the eastern edge of the Hortobágy National Park in the eastern part of Hungary. The entire project area (2,034 ha) falls within the EU priority habitat types Pannonic loess steppic grasslands (NATURA 2000 code: 6250) and Pannonic salt steppes and salt marshes (code: 1530). Both regionally and nationally, the sodic-lake sub-type is exceptionally valuable as there is only 2,600 ha left in the Carpathian Basin; the project is to restore 450 ha of this habitat.













Nagy-szik

The Nagy-szik constitutes a part of the chain of sodic lakes stretching from Hajdúnánás to Földes at the foothills of Hajdúhát. The site, in spite of its having been canalized, represents one of the units of this chain of lakes still in the best condition and was definitely shown as a sodic lake on military maps from before the 20th century. The drainage channel called Magdolna-ér intersecting the deepest part of the sodic lake was built in the 1980s, which ultimately doomed it to destruction. It was put under protection only as late as the early 1990s, then the entire area was integrated into the NATURA 2000 network.
Until the mid-1990s the area was home to one of the most valuable bird communities confined to sodic habitats in the Hortobágy (Little Ringed Plover – Kentish Plover – Avocet – Black-winged Stilt – Northern Lapwing – Common Redshank – Common Tern) , though from the 1980s in increasingly dwindling numbers. As a result of drainage, the unfavourably altered grazing system, pollution and further canalization these species have totally disappeared, and the population of some other, more common breeders (Northern Lapwing, Common Redshank) have also declined significantly.
The entire area is a “Pannonic salt steppes and salt marshes” habitat, despite the fact that the original shoreline of the sodic lake can still be seen today at the western edge of the area. At present, the site is covered with wormwood steppe grasses and alkali meadow. The latter zone is dominated by rush (Juncus) species and salt marsh grass (Puccinellia limosa), and, even in its dried out form is similar to the meadow zone of sodic lakes. In early spring intense salt efflorescence is still common on bare patches of soil, a phenomenon now rare elsewhere in the Hortobágy.

 

Magdolna-puszta

Magdolna-puszta constituted a part of the chain of sodic lakes stretching from Hajdúnánás to Földes at the foothills of Hajdúhát, too. Magdolna-lapos was also shown as a water body on military maps issued before the 20th century. The drainage channel called Magdolna-ér intersecting the deepest part of the sodic lake was built in the 1950s, and, by draining rainwater from Magdolna-lapos it dried out the area every spring as early as at the time of the establishment of the Hortobágy National Park in 1972. In the early 1980s further drainage channel systems were built by the Red Star Co-operative Society to drain the rest of the meadows. The area has been protected since the establishment of the national park, and very recently it has become a NATURA 2000 site.
After the Magdolna-ér was built the population of breeding aquatic bird species confined to sodic habitats (Northern Lapwing, Common Redshank) dwindled significantly, and as a consequence of further drainage activities in the 1980s these bird communities practically ceased to breed in the area.

Most of the site belongs to the category “Pannonic salt steppes and salt marshes”, and a small proportion consists of “Pannonic loess steppic grasslands”.

 

The main objective of this project in both of these sites is to eliminate detrimental factors, to restore the natural hydrologic cycles as well as to revive the traditional, workable grazing system.