Territorial system of ecological stability as a part of land consolidations (cadastral territory of Galanta – Hody, Slovak Republic)

A major worldwide problem, especially from the perspective of preserving biodiversity and ecological stability (ES) of the landscape, is the significant gradual degradation and loss of habitats. In the context of ever-changing global conditions, the preservation of healthy ecosystems and their valuable services as well as the interconnection of patches of existing habitats should be encouraged. In Slovakia, conception of the Territorial System of Ecological Stability (TSES) was developed. Biodiversity conservation can be created by means of an integrated approach to management of the landscape and careful spatial planning respecting TSES. Land Consolidation (LC) projects, of which TSES constitutes a key part, are amongst the real planning and implementation tools in the Slovak Republic. Thus, TSES represents a real tool for implementation of landscape changes in order to strengthen ES and biodiversity of the landscape with regard to the current European trends in biodiversity policy. This article describes a Local Territorial System of Ecological Stability (LTSES) project developed as a part of LCs in the cadastral territory of Hody (Galanta, Slovak Republic). The aim was to create a functional proposal of LTSES with all basic types of proposals to strengthen biodiversity and ES of model territory – proposal for establishing new eco-stabilising elements – groups and strips of non-forest woody vegetation (NFWV), proposal for ecologically optimal land use, proposal for eco-stabilising measures in forest ecosystems and proposal for hydro-ecological measures.