Description
In the Czech Republic, there have been recorded more than 6,000 obstacles on watercourses greater than 1 meter, which generally represent an impossible barrier for fish migration. Yet, fish represent an important bio-indicator group in evaluating the quality of surface waters and are one of the monitored groups of organisms eg. under The Water Framework Directive. Although, the negative influence on the ecosystem of flowing water is well documented, the solution to this problem is still insufficient. The overall objective of the project is to develop strategies to reduce the impact of fragmentation of river networks in the Czech Republic on the basis of high quality, comprehensive and current data. The aim is focused on documenting the state of fragmentation flows in order to develop a procedure for removing barriers to further expansion of knowledge about fish migration, including evaluation of the effectiveness of existing fish passages implemented. The main outputs of the project will be strategies for reducing the impact of fragmentation of river networks in the Czech Republic, together with the user module in the form of a database migration barriers and a set of support and methodological materials for target groups, which involve primarily public administration, but also the general public. The Donor partner - Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) - is a leading national institution with focus on applied ecological research. Within the project workshop, NINA will introduce a method of monitoring and type of fragmentation in Norway, and will consult the design of monitoring and data analysis. NINA has already been cooperating with the beneficiary for a long time. This project might lead to future fruitful work. The transfer of know-how with the Norwegian partner could help the protection of nature as well as the economics of nature protection, and thus help to reduce economic disparities in the EEA.
Summary of project results
The realization of the project has resulted in significant knowledge improvement in the field connected to the project outcome, which have not been verified by the practice before the project. The overall objective of the project was to develop strategies to reduce the impact of fragmentation of river networks in the Czech Republic on the basis of high quality, comprehensive and current data. A strategy for reducing the impacts of fragmentation of the Czech river network (as a complex output of the project) has been developed as an actual document which will be further consulted and discussed with the central water authorities within the framework of the III. Water Management Planning for the Plans of the Sub-basins of the Czech Republic. Within the project, there were four areas of project activities solved: 1 - documentation of fragmentation status of selected watercourses – new data on passportization of migration barriers were gathered; 2 - enhancing knowledge on fish migration - Based on all of these obtained data, conceptual documents were created, new data entered into the online system and occurrence maps were created; 3 - assessing the efficiency of current fish transitions - fish monitoring was carried out by advanced monitoring methods on 4 selected watercourses; 4 - feasibility study of migration at migration barriers at following locations Kamenice River, Střekov on Labe River and the weir in Pavlína valley were created. Through the newly created database, all data are accessible to professionals and to the general public as well as to administrative authorities - water and environment and to nature protection institutions (research institutions, universities, etc.).
Summary of bilateral results
The project was realized in cooperation with the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, which is a leading national institution with focus on applied ecological research. The partner participated in the project mainly via consultations on the installation and calibration of monitoring facilities, where intense communication between the project partners and NINA were necessary. Further, a workshop, which was divided into a presentation and field inspections took place in Norway on 16-20 October 2016. On 9 - 11 November 2016, a representative of NINA participated on a seminar on migration of migratory obstacles in watercourses, where they also presented their contribution. Part of the bilateral cooperation was based on consultations on monitoring systems of selected localities and further communications over collected data and their evaluation (interpretation). Cooperation with the Norwegian partner can be viewed as highly professional and beneficial to both institutions. The exchange of knowledge and experience enriches both the Czech and Norwegian teams. In Norway, for example, it often does not have to address the limited spatial possibilities for implementing specific measures, which are not taken into account in their methodological documents. When used in the Czech conditions without the necessary modifications, distortion may occur. Future cooperation is highly expected. The necessity of the next cooperation is partially among others in the context of the further evaluation of the data collected on running systems in order to ensure the sustainability of project outputs and outputs.