Land use in the Karavanke mountains

Associated persons Stefan Lieb
Clients Arge NATURSCHUTZ, Financing: INTERREG III A
Year 2005

The meadows of the Karavanke mountains have been farmed for centuries. The combination of special geological and ecological conditions here has created a unique habitat for a diverse range of plants and animals. The Karavanke mountains are renowned in particular for their fields of daffodils. The retreat of farming from this region will mean the loss of these precious areas. As part of the INTERREG project on the ‘protection of daffodils and biodiversity in the Karavanke mountains’, E.C.O. is investigating the changing land uses in the Karavanke mountains from 1953 to the present day and its effects on daffodil populations. Special protection measures are being proposed, some of which have already been launched in high-profile events, e.g. mowing days by landowners on the Slovenian and Carinthian side of the Roschitzaalm, planting campaign at the secondary school in St. Jakob in the Rosental valley. A brochure about the project can be obtained from Arge NATURSCHUTZ.