The Biharugra Fishponds are one of the most valuable bird habitats in Hungary. Biharugra Fishponds comprise a low-lying flood-plain situated between Körösnagyharsány and Mezõgyán in the eastern part of the country. This large system of fish-ponds is managed for conservation, and is surrounded by extensive saline grasslands and arable fields. The Fishponds are regarded as important wetland habitats in Hungary as they support significant proportion of threatened breeding waterbirds and large concentrations of migratory waterfowl.

There is a long-lasting and widespread conflict between conservation and fish-farming in Central and Eastern Europe. Under these economic pressures fish-farmers started to look for alternative uses of their fishponds. Many of these alternatives do not support biodiversity and can be less supportive of biodiversity values than the fish-farming that they replace.

The demonstration project at the Biharugra Fishponds will explore ways to introduce nature friendly fish farming techniques to benefit both conservation efforts and local user needs. In the wider surroundings, uncoordinated development of tourism is also a cause for some concern. The project aspires to contribute to the protection of these fish-ponds as important breeding and stop-over sites for migratory waterfowl in Central Europe, and will experiment with the set-up of a sustainable development model to be later replicated beyond the project area.

Magyar Marártani és Természetvédelmi Egyesület (MME) is the national executing agency for the WOW demonstration project at the Biharugra Fishponds.  

PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

Goal: The conservation of wetland biodiversity and the sharing of benefits with the local community.

Outcome 1.  Improved conditions for threatened waterfowl at the Biharugra Fishponds.

This will entail habitat improvements such as i.e. restoring an artificial island and re-flooding of some abandoned small ponds. 

Outcome 2.  Apply a nature friendly fish-farming strategy and disseminate best practice experiences amongst other fish-farmers in the region.

The project aims to develop new and to enhance existing nature friendly fish farming techniques and guidelines. This will entail a collaborative effort between MME, research institutions, fish-farmers and conservation authorities in order to demonstrate and further develop the economic values of the proposed alternative uses for the ponds. The project will also organize seminars to disseminate and review the results of the project.

Outcome 3.  Establish basic conditions for eco-tourism and visitor management.

As part of this outcome, the project is going to build a visitor centre and provide assistance to local entrepreneurs to secure investments in the tourism sector. This will be strengthened by liaising with tourist agencies.

 PROJECT PROGRESS (Latest update)

• PROJECT PROGRESS UPDATE [ December 2008 - PDF Format] 

ADDITIONAL PROJECT INFORMATION:

• DEMONSTRATION PROJECT DOCUMENT [PDF Format, 1 MB]  
• LOCAL IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES 
• DEMO PROJECT TEAM 
• OTHER PROJECT PARTNERS   

 

LOCAL IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES:

 

BIRDLIFE HUNGARY (Magyar Marártani és Természetvédelmi Egyesület (MME)

MME is a Hungarian NGO collecting data on the status of birds and their habitats, coordinating the Important Bird Areas Programme for BirdLife International in Hungary.

 

 

For more information please see: http://www.mme.hu/

 

DEMO PROJECT TEAM:

 

 

Director of MME (Magyar Marártani és Természetvédelmi Egyesület)

 

 

 

 SIMAY GABOR

 

 Gabor is the manager of the demonstration project held at the Biharugra Fishponds.

 

 

For more information please contact:

Halmos Gergő, Email: [halmos.gergo@mme.hu] | Tel: +36 1 275 62 47 | Fax: +36 1 275 62 67

Simay Gábor, Email: [limnodromus@freemail.hu] | Tel: +36 20 322 5787 |

 

 OTHER PROJECT PARTNERS: