Environment & Progress – 13/2009, Cluj – Napoca MANAGEMENT PLAN CONSIDERATIONS FOR RÂPA ROŞIE NATURAL RESERVATION Andreea Ioana POP 1 , Dan TURTUREANU 2 , Doradia FOLFA 3 1 Faculty of Environmental Science, Babes-Bolyai University, no. 30 Fantanele Street, Cluj Napoca, ROMANIA: (+40) 752 957954, E-mail: andreeapop12@yahoo.com 2 Forest Research and Management Institute, no. 65 Horea Street, Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA Tel: (+40) 747 921987, E-mail: turtureanudan@gmail.com 3 Faculty of Biology and Geology, Babes-Bolyai University, no. 44 Republicii Street, Cluj Napoca, ROMANIA: (+40) 743 458378, E-mail: dacidblade@yahoo.com Abstract: The present paper presents a description of the Natural Reservation Râpa Roşie. Because of the need to protect this area, in recent years this has produced the need for a natural reservation. Although each Natural Reservation is different, many important values remain the same. Therefore, there are different reservations with different types of natural protection, like: geological, landscape and a range of biodiversity protections (flora and fauna), pedological and speological protection. Of national importance, Râpa Roşie is located near Sebeş, in the centre of Romania. It exhibits spectacular forms of natural soil erosion of the Secaşelor plateau, an area measuring over 25 ha (fig. 1),(Borza Al. 1959). The reservation is home to many rare plant species, such as Cotoneaster integerrimus, Centaurea atropurpurea, Dianthus serotinus, Cephalaria radiata and Asplenium adiantum-nigrum. Although founded as a National Reservation decades ago, it was only recently proposed as a Natural 2000 site. Keywords: Râpa Roşie, management plan. 1. Introduction The management plan for Râpa Roşie is extremely important for this reservation, as it may be the only way we can monitor the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ elements and hence implement a workable strategy to address them. Therefore, we can now identify the needs for this reservation and implement them within the management plan. The import of certain objectives for the implementation of this management plan is a critical component for a successful system. Once we determine the principal objectives, we can then quickly see the problems or the benefits within the reservation perimeter (Appleton M.R., at all, 2001). An important objective in this management plan is: evaluating the human impact upon biodiversity parameters and identifying viable solutions for decreasing these negative effects. In order to identify the main objectives, we made a comprehensive study and reconstruction of this area to conclude the following: The study of biodiversity from the Râpa Roşie (Fig.1.) reservation includes, bird cataloguing( Tab.2.), amphibian and reptile inventory, flora and habitat study(Tab.1.). - We used the acquired information for additional databases and further monitoring activities. - We studied the geology and geomorphology types of soils (Bleahu M., at all Vl, Fl,1976). - We identified the points for S.W.O.T analysis, which detected both the strong and