SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NATIONAL ECOLOGICAL NETWORK OF SLOVAKIA FOR THE EUROPEAN ECOLOGICAL NETWORK-EECONET

The ''EECONET design'' is the international project aimed at the devel opment of national and international ecological networks, with the pri mary aim to preserve the biodiversity and to stop the decline of the n ature in Europe, On the basis of international criteria, elaborated by the experts from Slovakia, we present the first proposal of the Slova k part of the EECONET with 21 proposed large scale core areas, includi ng the directions of new bio-corridors. The applied criteria include r epresentativeness of the West Carpathians, originality of the habitat, significance from the viewpoint of biodiversity, position and size of the area. Slovakia is a country dominated by the West Carpathians. Th eir most precious areas are situated on its territory. The specific ge nesis of these mountains provided conditions for the development of sp ecific coenoses and ecosystems, which are unique in the world.