Past and Present Our Waters are in the Hands of Man

Throughout history Hungarys hydrography has changed almost beyond recognition Water reservoirs and fishponds took the place of swamps whereas the lick Puszta itself lies where the biggest floodplain once was Today 75 of Hungarys lakes are artificial and the 90 of the floodplains are no more But the wildlife had to adapt to this rapidly changing world or else they would have faced extinction Surprisingly these artificial waters provide the last refuge for some rare waterbased biomes The late floodplains give temporal shelter for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds during winter But this world is now controlled by man not by nature