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Inappropriate forest management activities, above all clear-cutting, are recognized as the major threats to an iconic orchid species—the lady's slipper orchid (Cypripedium calceolus), the flagship species of nature protection in Europe. Although clear-cutting in protected species' localities is strongly regulated in many European countries, salvage logging is allowed in some circumstances (e.g., following windstorms, and insect outbreaks) and can threaten C. calceolus populations. In this paper, we review a database of recently registered populations of this species in the Czech Republic and study historical maps, to better understand the history of local habitat conditions and assess threats to C. calceolus populations by bark beetle outbreaks. We found that about one-third of the C. calceolus populations have suffered in coniferous or mixed tree plantations with a high proportion of spruce trees, which are forests with a high risk of bark beetle infestation. We review bark beetle management measures and distinguish management efforts in areas with known C. calceolus populations that result in no damage to the population and, at times, improve habitat conditions for the species. Thus, the bark beetle—usually understood as the enemy—can be transformed into a savior if smart management measures will replace the panic salvage logging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appropriate management of European spruce forests in this time of climate change is a significant challenge. Uniform principles of quality forest practice must be applied, essentially in forests that are valuable from a conservation point of view. However, this may be problematic in protected areas with mixed ownership and disparate priorities. Managerial decision‐making is often based on personal knowledge, previous experience, priorities other than conservation, or political influence. Clear management guidelines at the European and national levels are lacking in many protected areas. In this article, we use data from the Šumava NP to elucidate varied management approaches applied by state and private municipal owners in forests of high conservation value. We used high‐resolution aerial photographs to evaluate the effects of forest management practices applied, and compared the status of spruce habitats before and after a major windstorm and large‐scale bark beetle outbreak. We found that follow‐up forest management measures have significantly affected forests in the Šumava NP negatively. However, changes are not equally spread across the area of study, with forest ownership important for the type and intensity of changes. Kašperské Hory Municipality, managed their forests more as a productive commercial forest as contrasted to the state owned forest. We compare our findings with experiences from other Central European national parks with similar forest management challenges. Options for improving and unifying the management of conservation‐valuable forests held in state and private ownership are discussed in the conclusion. Wide political consensus and stability together with long‐term mutual trust and a willingness to collaborate among conservationists, forest managers and forest owners were recognized to be essential for the successful achievement of conservation goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question, whether the forest management adopted in several European national parks following natural disturbances (windstorms, bark beetle) is in the long term the optimal one is currently widely discussed in a pan-European context. Instead of a clear management policy, however, only non-compulsory recommendations are suggested and management directives are missing. For example, it is established that non-intervention management is optimal for preserving biodiversity in mountain spruce stands, as logging diminishes biodiversity, but no such recommendation has been passed on to the managers of these stands. In the absence of such guidance park managers adopt various suboptimal strategies, which depend on who owns a particular area of the forest (private or state-owned) and their priorities. Here we present an example of this: the differences between the management practices applied by state and private owners in the central part of the Šumava NP. Using aerial photographs, we evaluated the effect of these practices by comparing the status of Natura 2000 habitats in 2004 (when the Natura 2000 area was designated), with that in 2011 (four years after the Kyrill wind storm, when the post-wind storm activities had more or less finished). The private owner logged and removed trees from significantly larger areas than the Šumava NP Authority. However, even management by the Šumava NP Authority was sometimes suboptimal: they managed some valuable habitats in a similar way to those of lower conservation value. We conclude that a clear definition of the long-term management strategy for national parks, obligatory on all owners, is critically important for the management of Natura 2000 habitats. A consensus of state representatives, regional politicians, scientists and all other stakeholders, expressed in obligatory international directives, is needed in order to guarantee that in the future the status of Natura 2000 habitats will still be favourable (required by the Habitats Directive, Article 6). Specifically, the managers of Natura 2000 sites would appreciate clearer European Commission guidance on how to maintain the favourable status of the stands in the areas under their control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]