BREITE ANCIENT OAK TREE RESERVE

__________________________________________________________________

For MET Guided Tours to sites of special interest see: About the Area 
__________________________________________________________________

To view Breite Newsletter 2009 see: Newsletter PDF
__________________________________________________________________

October 2009

AN OAK TREE FOR EVERY PUPIL 

Our story - like that of the ancient oak trees on the Breite plateau - started with acorns. Three years ago, in the autumn of 2006, one of our first actions as custodians of the Breite Ancient Oak Tree Reserve was to gather ten thousand acorns from the plateau, and plant them in the nursery of the Sighisoara forestry department, where they were well cared for and grew into vigorous saplings. 
 
The idea of the "Oak Tree for Every Pupil" campaign bloomed very early on, as a way of captivating the minds and hearts of Sighisoara's young generation, and involving them in the conservation of the Breite reserve. Its aim was to foster a long-term emotional bond between each pupil and one particular tree - which they would plant, protect and care for, helping it to reach a ripe old age. Today's children may not see their tree become as ancient as the others on the plateau (some of which are thought to be over 700 years old) but their children and grandchildren might carry on the legacy.

Another goal was to restore the age continuity and tree density of the Breite plateau, ensuring a succession of oak trees of different ages. This ancient wood-pasture landscape is suffering from a wide generation gap - there are veteran oaks of nearly 800 years and many between 300 and 500 years, but very few younger ones. Many areas of the plateau are completely devoid of trees. That is why, as part of our five-year management plan, we are planting 500 oak saplings and, at the same time, protecting another 1500 naturally-seeded ones from grazing animals.

The campaign started with presentations delivered by our biologist, Dr. Tibor Hartel, in 11 local schools. He talked about the importance of preserving oak trees and the multiple values of the Breite plateau for the local community - cultural and natural, historical, economical and emotional. More than 500 pupils and 20 teachers signed up to take part in the planting marathon. 

On Saturday the 24th of October, under a warm autumn sunshine, more than 100 students, together with parents and teachers, lined up on the road to Breite, where they were given a short practical instruction by Nicu Deac, head of the Sighisoara forestry office. Dressed in custom-made T-shirts and caps, the children grabbed saplings, spades and buckets, and set to work, while the local Sighisoara TV station filmed their efforts. Sunday and Monday continued in much the same way.

The story does not end here. Once all the trees are planted, a small weather-resistant plaque with each child's name will be placed on each planted sapling. Each student will receive a diploma, with a photograph of their young tree, and a full list of all participating children and schools will be displayed at the Breite visitor centre. Our rangers will build a protective fence around each young tree. But, most importantly, we will stay in touch with the children, give them regular updates on their oak, and encourage them to visit and care for it as long as possible.
 
We would like to thank all the participating schools - Colegiul Naţional Mircea Eliade, Liceul Joseph Haltrich, Grupul Şcolar Agricol, Grupul Şcolar de Industrie Uşoară, gymnasiums Aurel Mosora, Miron Neagu, Nicolae Iorga, Octavian Goga, Radu Popa, Victor Jinga and Zaharia Boiu, the Sighisoara Children's Club - and our generous donors:

To view slide show see: Transylvania Breite oak planting Oct 2009 

To view local TV report see: Realitatea TV 

To read a report of the project in Romanian: Raport detaliat al activitatii puteti citi aici

The campaign was supported by a grant from Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway through the EEA Financial Mechanism, as well as the Foundation for Partnership under their "Green Spaces" programme and the French hotel chain Accor under "Plant for the Planet".

       
________________________________________________________________ 
 

ACTIVITY REPORT BREITE 2008

1. Visitor centre and guards’ shelter

In 2008, with financial support from Horizon Foundation, we built an ecological log cabin with green roof and compost toilet faciilties in the Breite reserve, to serve as a shelter for our reserve guards as well as an information point for visitors. The planning permission was obtained in February and works started in April.

The cabin has a surface area of 50 sqm, with two rooms, a toilet, and an open terrace for visitors. Water for the toilet & basin is collected from rainfall, and sewage is treated as compost. The whole building is built entirely with natural materials – stone, wood and clay – using traditional masonry and joinery techniques.

Information boards will be displayed in the open terrace area. In time other parts of the building may also be developed for public use.

2. The Civil Society Gala Award

The initiative to restore the wetlands of the Breite reserve, supported by Manfred Hermsen Stiftung from Germany, won first prize in the “Protection of the Environment” category of the Romanian Civil Society Gala. The project was part of the implementation of the Breite management plan under the joint custody of the MET and the Sighisoara Local Council.

The jury of the competition noted the fact that this habitat management intervention was accompanied by educational activities with pupils from Sighisoara.

The results of the intervention are already visible. A detailed report of this project will be available shortly.

3. Protection of the Reserve

In May a third guard was hired, ensuring that the reserve is permanently protected. We obtained a £5000 grant to organise a training course for our rangers and improve visitor management.

We are discussing a potential cooperation between our Breite team and the UK’s prestigious Woodland Trust, which manages over 19,000 hectares of woods and wooded parks, aimed at improving our public and visitor management in the reserve.

4. Information Board

A notice board was placed on the Breite plateau, containing a map and a summary of the most important Protection Rules of the reserve. This way we hope visitors will be more aware of the valuable status of this protected area and ensure their impact on the habitat and its biodiversity is minimum.
The strictly protected areas at the southern end of the plateau are now clearly marked.

5. Research

A group of teachers from the Alexandru Papiu Ilarian National College of Targu Mures, coordinated by Dr. Petru Istrate, proposed a research project on “Ancient trees and their saproxylic fauna in the Transylvanian deciduous forests - Romania”, with funding from the People’s Trust for Endangered Species UK. From their point of view, the Breite plateau near Sighisoara is an area of remarkable interest: the centuries-old hollow trees shelter a diverse fauna of saprxylic coleopters, with many rare species living in the decaying wood that have not yet been studied in Romania. The discovery of these bio-indicative species confirms the Breite’s value as a natural ecosystem with low human impact levels. The project runs until December 2008.

In October, two students from Germany accompanied by forestry expert Rainer Barthel studied the condition of the forest-meadow ecotone of the Breite reserve, as part of a research programme funded by NABU – Naturschutzbund Deutschland. The study’s results will help us understand the factors that cause excessive hornbeam growth in certain areas as well as those that lead to a low or high viability of naturally seeded oak saplings. The German researchers donated a bat detector to the MET's conservation and ecological education team.

6. Grassland Conservation

This autumn we started the experimental scything of certain areas of high biodiversity value grasslands on the plateau, a measure which will help us improve the conservation situation of plant species of special interest such as the Marsh Gentian (Gentiana pneumonanthe) and the Great Burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis). Both species are threatened locally by the expansion of the Tufted Hair Grass (Deschampsia cespitosa), caused by the desiccation of the plateau as a result of the artificial drainage ditches dug in the 1970s. After the target flowers dropped their seeds, our local workers cut the grass in 4m wide and 200m long strips, leaving 4m wide un-scythed strips in between as control plots. This alternation will allow us to monitor and evaluate the success of this management intervention in the future.


7. Grazing

According to the management plan of the Breite reserve and taking into account its traditional character, controlled cattle grazing was with small herds was introduced experimentally in zone A of the plateau (the northern side). The plant diversity in this area is reduced, making it suitable for grazing.

Initial observations reveal that the cattle grazed selectively leaving the clumps of Deschamptia coespitosa (invasive weed) untouched and favouring fresh grasses. Moreover, a slight expansion of weeds (nitrophile species) was recorded in the grazed areas probably because of cow manure.

To obtain scientifically viable results, grazing needs to continue in larger herds (50-100 cattle) on the same areas, and its effects must be continuously monitored.

8. Promoting Breite as a destination for eco-tourism

In April the MET launched the Saxon Greenway project, with financial support from the Foundation for Partnership and Vodafone. Its goal is to promote sustainable tourism by including Sighisoara, the Breite reserve and the Saxon villages in the European Greenways network, which encourages non-motorised tourist trails. The project was launched with a thematic trip for Sighisoara pupils along the first section of the proposed route, including a walk through the medieval citadel and nature orientation exercises on the Breite plateau.

________________________________________________________________

Breite Newsletter 2008 / PDF
________________________________________________________________

ACTIVITY REPORT BREITE 2007

The Mihai Eminescu Trust and the Sighisoara Local Council submitted their joint proposed management plan for the Breite reserve at the end of March 2007. After twelve months of on-the-ground research and a wide public consultation process, our team, led by local biologists Cosmin Ioan Moga and Tibi Hartel - put together a 101- page document comprising a detailed geographical, biological, historical and cultural description of Breite, an evaluation of existing and future threats, and a set of proposed management measures. Once officially approved, a summary of the management plan will be made public on the Breite website, www.breite.ro

Last autumn the MET and the Sighisoara Forestry Office collected around 10,000 acorns from Breite and planted them in the local nursery. Around 5,000 saplings have come out and some of them will be re-planted on Breite, while others will be available for purchase. Any income from sales will be used to fund management measures. A new set of protection rules was approved, explaining clearly which activities are permitted inside the protected area (the full text is available in Romanian on the website).

Immediately after receiving custody of the reserve, the MET employed two full-time guards to watch the plateau and inform visitors about the new protection regulations. Since then, we have not had any severe cases of tree vandalism, although poaching and illegal woodcutting still go on in the surrounding forests. We put up an information board inside the reserve and a sign on the main road between Sighisoara and Medias. Sadly, the information board was vandalised soon after being placed, but we are preparing a new, sturdier one.

The MET obtained an €11,000 grant from the German foundation Manfred-Hermsen-Stiftung, which will help us close the artificial drains created in the 1980s and restore the water balance of the plateau. Workers from Sighisoara and the nearby villages have been employed to clear the spreading hornbeam saplings - an urgent measure for the preservation of the wood-pasture habitat with ancient oak trees created by Saxons in the Middle Ages. Without this, the surrounding forest would pervade the plateau and suffocate the old oaks.

This year 14 hectares will be cleared, using manual mowers. We are happy to be able to offer a few jobs to people from surrounding rural communities, such as Saes. Ornithologist, PhD student and local teacher Cosmin Ioan Moga has become manager of Breite, in charge of all administrative and scientific tasks.

TO GRAZE OR NOT TO GRAZE? Or, rather, to what extent to graze? Undoubtedly there was grazing on Breite in the past, but is it now the best - or only - way to prevent the encroachment of the surrounding forest and restore the wood-pasture habitat on Breite? According to our experts, beyond the oak trees, the value of Breite is in its patchwork of plant associations, some of which may be averse to grazing. To conserve biodiversity and restore the habitats, a variety of measures are necessary, including clearing of hornbeam saplings, closing the artificial drains to retain humidity, hand scything and, of course, some controlled grazing. For more details on this debate, please visit www.breite.ro.
______________________________________________________________

Education

Tuning young minds to the vital need of protecting natural ecosystems is a key goal of the Breite management team. Under the watchful eye of biologist and teacher Tibi Hartel, 215 pupils visited the reserve in the 2006-2007 school year, in seventeen groups. The older children made observations on wet areas, plant cover and oak trees, while the younger played in nature's midst. Students from Sighisoara made scientific presentations about Breite at several national and international conferences: November 2006, Salgobanya, Hungary; May 2007, Pitesti, Romania;
June 2007, Sighisoara, Romania.
______________________________________________________________

Research

One of the MET's main obligations as custodian is to gather, improve and enrich existing scientific data about the Breite reserve. Last year we focused mainly on field research aimed at producing a well-informed management plan and creating a point of reference against which to monitor future developments. The resulting management proposals were disseminated in academic circles, at the World Congress of the International Association of Landscape Ecology (8-12 July 2007), where they received positive feedback.

In February last year four Ural owls (Strix uralensis) were seen on an 800m stretch of the plateau. Although Romania is at the southern limit of these birds' geographic range, their density around Sighisoara is quite high. A Hen Harrier female (Circus cyaneus) was seen hunting for prey on an October evening, in the northern part of Breite. This particular microhabitat is similar to the typical feeding and breeding environment of the species: open marshy areas with high grasses. This proves Breite is not only an important area for locally breeding species, but also a vital source of food for passing birds of prey. Though not protected in Romania, the dormouse makes a shy appearance among hornbeam leaves. This is a strong argument in favour of preserving a few patches of hornbeam on the plateau, providing shelter to a number of species.

Lowland hay meadows with Alopecurus pratensis and Sanguisorba officinalis are protected under European legislation. S.officinalis is still well represented in parts of the Breite plateau. Also known as, it is of critical importance for the endangered butterfly Maculinea teleius. S.officinalis requires careful management and may be sensitive to intensive grazing.
_______________________________________________________________

Public Awareness

A comprehensive public consultation process was conducted throughout the year prior to completing the management plan. We held meetings with the main stakeholders, public and televised debates, a series of radio shows and articles in the local press, and a questionnaire was filled in by a representative section of Sighisoara's population. The questionnaire is still available on www.breite.ro The UK's prestigious Ancient Tree Forum affiliated to the Woodland Trust, which advocates better protection and best conservation practice, specialist research and increasing people's enjoyment of ancient trees, has publicised Breite on its website,
www.woodland-trust.org.uk/ancient-tree-forum. This autumn we produced a new information board with details of visiting regulations and a map of the plateau showing strictly protected areas, where entrance is only allowed by foot and in small groups.
_______________________________________________________________

Acknowledgements

Since taking over custody of Breite, the MET has spent around 38,000 US$ for its management. This would not have been possible without the generous help of our donors and supporters. Most of the funding came from the Packard Humanities Institute in California, with further contributions from German foundation Manfred-Hermsen-Stiftung and Horizon Foundation of Holland, to whom we are most grateful. We would like to thank all those who adopted oaks (for more details on this scheme please email lholban@mihaieminescutrust.org) and the experts who offered their knowledge and advice free of charge: George Peterken, Alexandru Ioan Toth, Bill Parker and Owen Mountford, to mention only a few.

__________

UK Registered Charity No: 1107300

© Mihai Eminescu Trust 2002