Debrecen "Big Forest" NCA
The Hungarian botany started from here. The first famous botanist was Peter Méliusz Juhász. Sámuel Diószegi and Mihály Fazekas followed him. They were the people who started to examine and investigate the flora of the Big Forest in Debrecen. The botanists made the first notes of the flora. The results were fundamental of Soó Rezső's research which made the Hungarian botany known in foreign countries.
The Big Forest was the inside possession of Debrecen and the citizens in the city were proud of the beauty of the forest. The area of the forest was 1360 ha at the beginning of the 20th century but its area increased by about 1287 ha in 1934. Firstly the forest was protected in 1939. But a great part of the forest disappeared during the Second World War. The Environmental Minister extended the protection to the whole body of the forest in 1992. Today the area of the forest is 1000 ha. Twenty years ago 40 % of the forest were acacia and 40 % were oaktrees. But the oak part of the forest did not contain oaks over 80 years. 20 % of the remaining part consisted of poplar species, Field Maples, Red Oaks and Black Pines. Later as the ground water level decreased continuously and drastically, the habitats changed too and caused adverse conditions for the revival of the oaks. A committee of experts was established in May, 1995. The committee of the Big Forest helps the management of the forest not only with professional advice but also reexamines the forestry plan of the future. The committee tries to avoid felling the trees, deep-ploughing and they want to reduce the area of acacia and pines in the future. Nevertheless it will be taking decades to change the tree species under the present conditions. The specialists woho work in the Committee of the Big Forest have organized projects to protect the wildlife like places of refuges and wintry places for bats and dens for songbirds. Among the projects you can find the methods how to reproduce and develop the rare and endangered plant species.
2. Designation and characteristics of the area
The setting of the forest is close to the city. The forest has tasks of forestry, nature conservation and even recreation. So the committee of the Big Forest suggested that the management should form a memorial forest, woodland and a forest park. The Sámuel Diószegi Educational Centre was placed at the edge of the forest. Tourists, students can walk along the "Lily of the valley" and the "Bulbous corydalis" paths and they can study the wildlife of the forest.
Unfortunatelly the forest has lost its old value of the fauna and flora, too. The Spring Bulbocodium, Snowdrop, Hungarian Meadow Pasque Flower, Cowslip, Showdrop Windflower,Broad-leaved Helleborine, Sandy Iris disappeared. Today the following species can not be found at all: the Lesser Meadow Rue, Columbine Meadow Rue, Lesser Butterfly Orchid, Peucedanum alsaticum, Peucedanum oreoselinum, Gas-plant Dittany.
The most valuable species at the ground level of old oak patches have already remained. Characteristic species of mesophyte oak forests are the Common Dog Violet, Yellow Archangel,Lesser Periwinkle, Lily of the Valley which blooms in a large number in May. Later Lords and Ladies form interesting patches with blurred, spotted, off-white petals. Two months later the colour of the ground changes to redcurrant red because of the crop of Lords and Ladies. The occurence of some species like dark-purple Dusky Cranesbill, Narrow-leaved Bittercress, Pteridium aquilinum, are usually domestic in hills. The presence of these species in the Big Forest can occount for the microclimate, specific soil and sandy dune surface. The view of the forest changes seasonally. After the winter the first fresh patches are formed by large groups of the azure spring Squill. This nice vision melts away with the golden Yellow Anemone by early April. Later the carpet of the spring becomes brightly coloured and then the whole vision disappears. In July the small pink-white petals and black-green leaves of the Enchanter's Nightshade change the carpet of the forest again. Later the bottom of the forest is covered with the yellow petals ofJupiter's Distaff.
From the group of insects the Long-headed Grasshopper, Praying Mantid, Great Capricorn Beetle, Purpuricenus kaehleri, Calosoma sycophanta live here and the occurence of the troxbeetle is very rare in Hungary.
The avifauna completes the changable view of the forest. Jenő Nagy wrote down about 68 bird species of the forest in 1937. Thirty years later the number of bird species decreased. During the next ten years the number of birds was on the decrease again. In the last decades the predators decreased. The Booted Eagle, Red-footed Falcon, Lesser Spotted Eagle disappeared. The Black Kite used to have about 8-10 nests. The Levant Sparrow Hawk Lewant Sparrow Hawk has not been observed for years. Whereas this bird brooded first in Hungary in 1957. The Raven, Red Kite, Woodcock has gone. The Roller has not been seen for decades. Unfortunatelly the Night Jarmoved to an other region. The Collared Flycatcher and Wren became brooding species. TheHoney Buzzard has been living here for a long time and Goshawk, Common Buzzard, Black Woodpecker have settled down again. Almost every species of woodpeckers can be found in our forest: Green Woodpecker, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Syrian Woodpecker, Nuthatch and Wryneck.
Among the mammals the Eurasian Badger should be mentioned that has appeared in our forest again. The presence of the Wild Boar, Beech Marten, Common Dormouse are very common here in addition to the large number of Roe Deers.
