Conservation Parnassius Apollo Tender

Start Date 01092021End Date 31032028Total Budget 4828915 EU Contribution 2897324 PROJECT DESCRIPTIONBACKGROUNDThe European Red List of Butterflies shows negative trends for over 30 of European taxa. One of the most threatened butterflies in Europe is the Apollo butterfly Parnassius apollo hereafter P. apollo which is vulnerable and SPEC3 in Europe. Its numbers have decreased during the last 25 years by 20-50. As a result P. apollo was the first insect to be included on the CITES list. The species has also been included in Annex IV of the EU Habitats Directive in Annex II of the Bern Convention and in the Red Book of Animals in Poland as critically endangered in Czechia as extinct and in Austria as near threatened. Also according to Habitats Directive Article 17 reports for the Continental bioregion its condition is assessed as U2 unfavourable - bad for Czechia and Austria. In these countries the population is obsolete virtually extinct occurring only in small isolated populations of less than 100 specimens which is not enough to sustain the population. In Poland the FV favourable status in the Alpine bioregion is due to the success of restoring and stabilising a single population in the Pieniny Mountains. In the Polish part of the Continental bioregion the species has become extinct and work is currently underway to reintroduce the population in the Sudety Mountains. The most important reason for the species decline is habitat loss and fragmentation due to 1 changes in the use of agricultural areas 2 drainage of wetlands 3 invasion of alien plant species and 4 expansion of urbanised areas roads and recreation infrastructure. P. apollo acts as an umbrella species for protecting biodiversity at ecosystem level and in habitat mosaics. However conservation of ecological corridors conflicts with urban planning. In Czechia attempts to re-establish the population were made at the beginning of the 20th Century but now the Moravian population is on the verge of extinction and no local breeding farms exist. In Austria breeding material exists for all P. apollo subspecies.OBJECTIVESThe main objective of the LIFE Apollo2020 project is to recreate the Apollo butterfly Parnassius apollo populations in the Sudetes and White Carpathians in the Continental bioregion and to strengthen the Austrian Alps population in the Alpine bioregion. During the project 3 additional breeding farms and 3 new functional sites will be created to anchor the populations under natural conditions as well as at least 38 stepping stone sites to secure species migration corridors between the new sites. The project is the first to implement pilot actions for further population development in the two bioregions.Specific objectives are to1 Improve protection of Apollo butterfly breeding habitats and feeding grounds i.e. to recreate andor maintain a good condition conservation status i