Invasive plant monitoring
Podyjí National Park took sole responsibility for monitoring the river valley for infestations of the Himalayan Balsam and other invasive plants. The National Park staff used a boat to monitor the occurrence of the plant along the river banks, especially in areas that are hard to reach overland. Today, staff from Thayatal National Park is also part of the boat crew, and monitoring from the river is conducted once a year. The measures to eliminate invasive species are implemented several times during the year (2 to 6 times). The Himalayan Balsam occurs on both sides of the border, but Podyji National Park has greater capacity in implementing the measures. The participation on monitoring and management has thus been divided in accordance of capabilities of both national parks.
Thayatal NP co-funded the purchase of a boat to be used for riverside monitoring by Podyjí NP staff. To be able to cross the border regularly for monitoring, the European Schengen system, i.e. in this case open borders for passenger traffic, was a facilitating condition.
Initially, monitoring occurred at a small scale only on the Czech side. Eventually it became apparent that it was necessary to monitor Himalayan Balsam on both banks and on both sides of the border to get the necessary data to inform eradication efforts.