First meeting held of the Natura 2000 Group for the Apuseni Mountains – Southern Carpathians Ecological Corridor

This Natura 2000 Group has been established, within the framework of the LIFE Connect Carpathians project, to promote collaboration between members in the management of the Natura 2000 sites to ensure connectivity of the landscape for large carnivores. 18 representatives of the 17 Natura 2000 sites that make up the LIFE Connect Carpathians project area met in Deva on the 26^th March 2015.

The project and the process of elaborating the regional species actions were presented by the project team and Hunedoara County Inspectorate of Gendarmerie “Decebal”, a key partner in the project, presented their role in the project. Additionally, the Executive Director of Hunedoara Environmental Protection Agency, and the Directors of Apuseni Nature Park and Retezat National Park, presented on their experiences in protected area management, the challenges they face on the elaboration and implementation of management plans, and the importance of stakeholder involvement. Open discussions, covering topics such as the harmonisation of forestry and hunting management plans with conservation objectives were then held.

The group agreed to support the principles of the implementation of an ecological network between the Apuseni Mountains and southern Carpathians and to collaborate on common objectives regarding the development of regional species action plans for bear and wolf and their implementation at the regional level.