Adaptation Strategy for Forestry and Hunting Management in the Period of Climate Change.
Hey, everybody! Here comes a new challenge from the forestry and hunting sector. Let me introduce you to the goal of our new project. With a team of experts from the Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague and representatives of the largest private forest owner in the Czech Republic, we are preparing a project called Adaptation Strategy for Forestry and Hunting Management in the Period of Climate Change. The site of the direct research is in the Pilsen region, near the Habr settlement near the village of Volduchy.
The aim of the project is to find out how to manage simply and efficiently in places where large-scale bark beetle and wind calamities have occurred. Since there is a high probability of a significant increase in the populations of various game species (roe deer, fallow deer, sika deer, European deer) in this area, the project aims to ensure proper hunting and forestry management at the same time.
Try asking yourself: how difficult would it be to hunt large numbers of game whose numbers are out of control in the same age in young forests established by standardised forestry practices? There is an easy answer. The game would be untractable and the damage it would cause would be unbearable. For such reasons, the project is based on differentiation of the emerging environment. One of the main facts is to ensure that there is enough food for the animals. Amongst the newly emerging stands of forest trees, game fields with a rich food supply will be established. The edges of these fields, the edges of forest roads and individual stands will be planted with fruit-bearing tree species. Sites with tree plantations without fencing will be supplemented with so-called nibbling trees — such as willow, birch, aspen — as a tool to increase the food supply and to reduce damage to target tree species.
Another element of the project is the increased monitoring of game using photo traps. Data evaluation and subsequent evaluation of the game census in the hunting area in two ways. Photo traps and census by certified method using thermal imaging. The aim is to efficiently determine the actual game numbers and to plan the relevant hunting levels.
On the basis of the evaluation of the above described procedures, locations in the hunting area will be determined where the so-called resting regime will be applied. Places where game will not be hunted. These places should be connected to the locations of game fields.
In context, all should provide the three basic attributes for a good quality wildlife life — tranquillity, cover, food. At the same time, wildlife should not cause excessive damage to forest tree plantations. The costs of restoration and subsequent care of forest plantations are extremely high in a post-calamity situation. The combination of the project measures should result in a demonstrable reduction in damage caused by animals nibbling and biting seedlings. This will also reduce the costs of protection against wildlife. If the game is given a rich food supply and resting areas, a balance will be struck between the fertility of the environment and the number of game (through strict adherence to hunting planning and implementation of the hunting plan).
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