The Bükk National Park Directorate is celebrating its 35th anniversary of its founding. Hungary has a unique abundance of natural resources, and national parks play a decisive role in their preservation. Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas recently announced that he would be visiting all of our national parks to promote the country's natural treasures and draw attention to their special role. The Minister will be visiting the Bükk National Park in February.

The Bükk National Park, which was founded in 1977, I a showcase for the unique natural treasures of the region of Northern Hungary. This was the first national park in Hungary that included highland areas. The Directorate operates on over 891 hectares, includes 9 landscape protection areas, 13 nature conservation areas and dozens of Natura 2000 areas.

Within the areas protected by the Bükk National Park Directorate we can discover the forest-steppe areas typical of the Hungarian Lowlands, the parkland forests of the Tisza river floodplains, and the diverse forest habitats, hilly meadows and moorland of mid-highlands. A quarter of Hungary's caves can be found in the Bükk Mountains, and a total of 1100 are found within the territories protected by the National Park, the most popular and famous being the Saint Stephen's Cave and the Anne's Cave.

The National Park is home to several unique plant and animal species, many of which are rare even in Hungary. The Directorate does everything in its power to protect these endangered species and their natural habitats. The flora of the Bükk Mountains alone include 1300 plant species, of which 18 exist only in this region. These include the Alpine rock-cress, the Armeria elongata, the Wall-rue fern, the Calamintha thymifolia, the Sorbus Hazslinszkyae, and the Viola biflora, or Twoflower Violet.

The region's bird and animal life is also exceptionally rich, with experts estimating the number of species living in the area at over 22 thousand. The regions is home to, among others, the Rosalia longicorn, the Wood Warbler, the Collared Flycatcher, the Black Woodpecker, the Stock Pigeon, and in older, quieter and more near-natural forests the White-backed Woodpecker, the Rock Bunting, the Eastern Imperial Eagle and the Peregrine Falcon.

The Bükk National Park boasts exceptional results in protecting endangered species. Successful programmes have been run to preserve a highly endangered species of lady's slipper orchid, the Cypripedium calceolus, and in preserving the natural habitats of certain species of endangered butterflies. The oldest endangered species protection programmes with most significant results concern the conservation of endangered birds, thanks to which populations of Saker Falcons have quadrupled, and the numbers of Eastern Imperial Eagles have increased tenfold.

In addition to programmes designed to protect endangered species, the Bükk National Park Directorate is a regular venue for ecotourism and habitat development projects, and for events designed to teach both children and adults about the importance of the environment and its preservation. There are currently several nature conservation development projects underway in the Park's territory, with a value totalling several hundred million HUF.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)