Habitat Reconstruction in the forests of the Körös Valley, Hungary

The fragments of floodplain forests (Fraxino - pannonicae -Ulmetum) along the River Körös were cut from the river by dykes during the river regulation works in the 19th century. The deteriorated groundwater conditions were worsened in a drought period during the 1980-1990’s that triggered action of the forestry service. Restoration of the river connection and the floodplain watercourse network provide surface water supply from the backwater of flood waves to the 2000 ha forest. The result of the habitat reconstruction work is a 38.8 km long water-flow and a water surface of 15.7 hectares, cc 400 hectares of the forest has a direct positive ecological impact.
The water supply of the floodplain channel network has another source as well. A smaller volume comes from a fishery. In case of this second source the nutrient content of the fishery is assimilated in the forest as an additional service. Previously this load were let back into the river directly.