10.   DIVERSITY OF WILDLIFE AND LANDSCAPES

to guarantee the preservation of semi-natural communities;

to protect and preserve valuable species and habitats;

to preserve cultural landscapes characteristic of each region, taking into account the historical structure of land use and the existing elements of landscape;

to preserve and protect historical and cultural heritage.

taking into account the general picture when trying to link manmade constructions and the landscape. It is essential that the buildings would harmonize with the landscape;

preserving the transitional areas between plant communities when structuring the landscape. The edges of the fields and especially the shores and banks of water bodies must not be cultivated. The habitats of many plant and animal species are situated in these areas, and at the same time these are the buffer zones for non-point pollution from the fields;

increasing the variety of landscapes. If there are only a few natural communities in an agricultural landscape, their number must be increased. For example, reservoirs which have been built for collecting water give quite a new appearance to the whole landscape and create different habitats;

preference should be given to more complex structures. If we have a choice whether to preserve sites of greater or smaller complexity, the first should be preferred. For example, a group of trees should be preferred to a single tree, multilayer forest should be preferred to a group of trees, etc.

to liquidate production facilities, silage depots, etc. in a state of decay;

to manage also of areas, which are left out of use and preserve the openness of landscape where necessary;

to improve the look of farm houses by using appropriate building materials;

to properly manage the storage sites of agricultural and other machinery;

to promote land use for recreational purposes by establishing hiking trails, places for resting and staying overnight, showing the sights and taking care of valuable recreation sites;

to mow the roadsides and banks of the roadside ditches, to put the surroundings of production facilities in order.

formation of buffer zones along the water bodies which means leaving areas with natural communities along water bodies (ditches, rivers, rivulets, lakes, springs) and also managing these areas. Patches at the shore provide habitat for many plant, bird and animal species. Shores with natural communities serve as buffer zones for the non-point pollution originating from the fields and help to decrease pollution of surface water bodies. Shores if they are appropriately cared for improve the diversity of landscape and biota;

preservation of single landscape elements (springs, ancient trees, boulders, stone fences, ponds, old riverbeds, hedges, single trees or groups of trees, dunes, beach ridges, etc.). They all add to the value of landscape also for the holidaymakers and this is becoming even more valuable in the situation of continuous urbanization;

 preservation, maintenance and restoration of semi-natural communities (alvars, wooded, floodplain, coastal and dry meadows, forest pastures);

preservation of natural communities within agricultural landscape (fens, transitional bogs, mires, wetlands). For successful pollination of field crops it is necessary to have appropriate habitats for the pollinating insects. The inhabitants of natural and semi-natural communities are in many cases the natural enemies of agricultural pests. In case areas of cultivated fields alternate with natural and semi-natural communities, the need for chemical plant protection decreases;

leaving belts of natural plant cover between the fields and maintaining these belts. These so-called "green corridors" preserve the safe environment for animals, making it possible for them to move around cultural landscape safely;

avoiding fertilization and plant protection products at the edges of the fields to preserve the stability of the surrounding landscape;

carrying out agricultural works in time. It would be reasonable to avoid ploughing too early in the spring, because it would cause soil compacting and has a negative impact on the soil community. Roadsides and the edges of fields as well as natural and semi-natural grasslands should be mown as late as possible. Mowing too early destroys the habitats of birds breeding there;

planting new hedges, trees and groves and making new ponds to improve the variability of landscapes;

preserving and taking care of sites of historical and archaeological heritage (sacrificial stones, stone burial places, sacred groves, etc.).