In Central-European conditions, the vast majority of vegetation tends to gradually turn into forest. The maintenance of valuable and species-rich forest-free areas is thus dependent on constant and repeated human interventions to prevent this natural succession. In the past, forest-free areas were dependent on natural factors - such as fires, population explosions of some tree pests, and grazing by large herbivores. At present, these factors have to be replaced by human activities in most cases. Three basic approaches for maintaining non-forest habitats (regulatory or maintenance management) are used at the sites within the project:
1) disturbance of vegetation and upper soil layers using military equipment,
2) grazing by “wild“ horses,
3) grazing by a mixed herd of sheep and goats.
An essential prerequisite for the introduction of maintenance management is clearing areas of advanced succession (clearance management) at several project sites.
