Meadow of Látrány Nature reserve (Natura 2000)

Látrány-puzsta has numerous special natural values in the North-Somogy area.

The communities in the sand puszta which came into being on the former dunes of Lake Balaton largely differ from those in the surrounding loess areas. The sand dunes, the spaces between the dunes and the wide valleys of the periodical streams make the surface stirring. The meadows of the dry sand puszta alternate with wet meadows, grasslands and small forests.

In the first place traditional ley farming influenced the landscape and played a key role concerning the preservation of the varied natural values. The area was used both as pasture - for sheep and cattle – and as grassland. The first one was typical of dry meadows, the latter one of wet meadows and grasslands.

The flora of the relatively small – scarcely 230 hectares – nature reserve is extremely rich, the number of the protected species is over thirty, several of them are represented by ten or even one hundred thousand pieces. Some species can be found only in this region, such as Menyanthes (Menyanthes trifoliata), the marsh grass of Parnassus (Parnassia palustris), the strawflower (Helichrysum arenarium), and the fragrant orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea).

Concerning the fauna the extremely rich insect world and the numerous protected species should be mentioned. Species of European importance like the marsh fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia), Large copper (Lycaena dispar), the scarce large blue (Maculinea teleius), Dusky large blue (Maculinea nausithous), or Cucujus cinnabarinus are especially important.

Tukora farm, which can be found in the area, is especially important in the industrial history. Péter Tukora, the former owner operated a water mill at the beginning of the 20th century. The mill can still be seen in good repair.

Lake Balaton and the fishponds of Irmapuszta (Ramsar Convention)

The convention which most people know as Ramsar Convention or officially: the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat signed in Ramsar on 2 February 1971 and the regulation XLII 1993 about the publication of the consolidated structure

with prior amendments of 3 December 1982 and 28 May-3 June 1987 (earlier regulation 28 1979 about the publication of the treaty) define the regions we simply call Ramsar regions.

Ramsar Convention has the goal to protect wetlands with the help of the contracting parties working together and creating the legal and institutional framework. The treaty has set up a list ’Wetlands of International Importance’ and each contracting party designates at least one wetland to be included in it. The treaty does not wish to prohibit but it aims at wise and sustainable use and protection of the wetlands, which, of course, means different use in different regions. The Convention Secretariat is based at the headquarters of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Gland, Switzerland.

Hungary selected 19 regions for the Ramsar list until 2003, which is a territory of 154 147 hectares. In 2003 Upper Tisza was listed as a Ramsar region of 22 310,7 hectares, Csongrád - bokrosi Sós - Tó sodic-alkaline pans of 770 hectares and Böddi - szék and Sóséri - puszta of 2734 hectares. As defined by the Convention, wetlands include “areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres”.

According to the report 8004/2003. KVVM (Ministry of Natural Resources) 23 regions are officially registered on the Ramsar list at the moment.

Lake Balaton

 Lake Balaton is the largest freshwater lake in Europe, which has been a Ramsar region since 17 March 1989.

Lake Balaton stretches across three counties Zala, Veszprém and Somogy. It is the only Ramsar region which is only temporarily protected as it can be used without restrictions in the summer season.

There are large reed beds along the shore of the 59 800-hectare wetland.

There are several outlook towers on the beach where you can watch nesting water birds.

Eutrophication is speeded up by the high phosphorus concentration thus almost 2000 algae species can be observed in the lake.

During the bird migration in winter flocks of water birds rest on the water of Lake Balaton, such as the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), the Eurasian coot (Fulica atra), the Common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), the Eurasian wigeon (Anas penelope), the common pochard (Aythya ferina), and the Taiga bean goose (Anser fabalis).

Protected and specially protected water birds also appear in the region, such as the Nothern shoveler (Anas clypeataa), the Greater scaup (Aythya marila), the Tufted duck (Aythya fuligula), the Velvet scoter (Melanitta fusca), the Smew (Mergus albellus), the Greylag goose (Anser anser), the Mute swan (Cygnus olor) and the Black-throated loon (Gavia arctica).

The flora and fauna of Lake Balaton are endangered by the high concentration of organic matters mentioned above, which is caused by overdosing fertilizers in the area and tourism due to which the ecosystem of the lake is out of balance.

Overfishing and reed harvesting also cause unnecessary damage.