From natural flood basin to cultural landscape- The Szigetköz protected area (Hungary)

’Szigetköz’ is the largest island in the Carpathian basin. Due to the variety of natural conditions, the flora and fauna appear in quite individual forms. The most valuable natural formations of the region are the mortlakes, the floodplain forests and their flora and fauna. Anthropogenic activities have resulted in considerable changes and as s a consequence, in this region the landscape has changed, and due to the regulation of waterways, the region has become a cultural landscape. The former large areas of forests and open woodlands nowadays accommodate cultivation, and, in parallel with that, the originalvariety of species has also become rather poor. But the transformation is worth discussing not only from the viewpoint of flora and fauna, but also since the society of the inhabitants has also changed. Old crafts looking back on great traditions, mainly processing local resources, have disappeared (loach catchers, marsh-dweller hunters and fishers, trough-makers/monoxylon carvers) or have become crafts of minor significance (basket makers). In addition to biodiversity, cultural variety has also become poorer.