Podrobné vyhledávání v článcích

Although the first national list of Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) was adopted by the Government of the Czech Republic following the country´s accession to the European Union in 2005, the question of its representativeness for species and habitats of European importance, and therefore the sufficiency of the EU Natura 2000 network of protected areas in the Czech Republic, has not yet been closed by the European Commission. Over the course of the Natura 2000 network´s existence, the Czech Republic has tried to deal with the identified shortcomings in particular with three major additions, most recently in 2016. Nevertheless, we are now awaiting another more extensive update of the national SAC list. The proposed amendment and the reasons for its development are explained on the following pages.

It is no secret that there hardly is any other issue in biology which has been full of contradiction as the species, whether as a concept, category or taxon in systematics. The continuing debate which set of individuals could be considered the species resulted in at least 35 various concepts: although most species concepts have strong implicit similarities and they in some extent overlap each other, some of them exclude others (ZACHOS 2015, 2018b). It is necessary to mention that many of them in the fact do not define what species are or should be but rather provide differently complicated approach how to delimitate them (MAYDEN 1997, QUEIROZ 1998, 2007, STEWART 2018, REYDON & KUNZ 2019). Taking into account the extent of the debate the following reflection offers only a glimpse of the topic from a point of view of nature conservation, not an exhaustive analysis. 

Every cave represents a unique natural phenomenon, preserving the complex links between living and non-living nature. They often contain paleontological findings as well as archaeological monuments connected with the development of the humans. The remains of animals get into the caves through the sinking of debris and alluvium. Some animals use caves for hibernation, others as shelters, dens, and food stores. And some find death underground after being caught in a natural trap...

Lowland wetland meadows are among the most endangered habitats in the Czech Republic. The main drivers of their decline and loss include particularly decline in traditional management measures, targeted draining, consequent overgrowing by natural self-seeding as well as spreading aggressive plant species the latter excluding wild plant and animal species there. Thus, suitable meadow wetland management should aim namely at maintaining an open character of the above habitat effectively provided by grazing and mowing.. Although it may not be apparent at first glance, these measures can also significantly affect small water bodies in the immediate vicinity of the managed area. The article presents the project entitled Management measures and assessment of their impact on meadow wetland biodiversity and it introduces the pilot results of water body hydrobiological monitoring in a meadow wetland near the village of Krumvíř (South Moravia).

The Nature Restoration Law sets a challenging (and if fulfilled, probably effective) goal of implementing measures to improve the state of natural habitats by 2050 wherever it is needed, and by 2030 on at least 20% of EU land and sea areas. Formal implementation of established (technological) procedures for the restoration of forest habitats, only applied within the prescribed territorial scope, is not sufficient for truly improving the condition of forest habitats and the populations of wildlife bound to them. If we are to achieve real restoration of nature, how the Nature Restoration Law is implemented, will be very important. Not only in the case of forests (but especially with them), we should significantly employ the creative forces of nature itself and, simultaneously, sensibly use an active management approach.

The Czech Republic, like other EU Member States, should produce a specific proposal to increase the coverage and protection, conservation and management intensity in protected areas by the end of 2022. This follows from the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 (hereinafter, the 2030 Strategy), which considers effectively managed protected areas to be one of the key tools to halt the loss of biodiversity and, inter alia, expects to protect 30% of the land, of which one third strictly. The contributions of individual Member States should take into account different conditions and reflect their real importance for the biodiversity conservation. What can we realistically offer in the given time horizon? This is still a subject of professional debate. This article aims to summarize the starting points, the current state, quantify the possible liabilities and, thus, contribute to this discussion.

On 22 June 2022, the European Commission published a draft Nature Restoration Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council. It brings a legislative instrument to fulfil the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 adopted two years ago, which includes a plan for nature restoration and is one of the pillars of the European Green Deal. The European Commission thereby fulfils its task arising from the strategy, to submit a legally binding proposal for objectives in the field of nature restoration (restoration of disturbed ecosystems). The dramatic increase in extreme weather events, risks and threats in the area of living standards, security and social peace significantly increases the urgency of implementing measures aimed at restoring ecosystems, as a prerequisite for ensuring long-term food and energy self-sufficiency as well as human well-being.

In 2022, half a century has passed since the colourful limestone landscape nor far from Prague was declared as Protected Landscape Area (PLA). The Český kras/Bohemian Karst is a textbook of changes in nature from the sea with trilobites almost half a billion years ago, to the current overgrowing the landscape and decline in rare species. In contrast to mountainous and remote protected areas, the nature and the landscape have been co-created and shaped by humans over many thousands of years there, and it would be incorrect to consider nature conservation without humans, land managers, and visitors. The article presents half a century of rapid social changes as well as changes in the landscape and nature in this picturesque, dynamic and at the same time in some aspects stable area. Stable with respect to the fact which phenomena have been preserved under the title of the PLA, particularly by recovery and replacement of traditional management.

Dear readers, 

You have got a special English issue of Ochrana přírody/Nature Conservation Journal published by the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic. The Agency traditionally submits each year a selection of articles from the previous year translated into English and publishes it as a supplement aiming at sharing the experience with colleagues from abroad, thus at least partially overcoming language barrier which can be fully removed neither by automatic translators. 

The European Union has been aware of the specific geopolitical status of Africa and its extraordinary importance for protection and conservation of biodiversity including natural ecosystems as well as of need to support sustainable economic prosperity there. The European Green Deal states: “The EU will launch a “NaturAfrica” initiative to tackle biodiversity loss by creating a network of protected areas to protect wildlife and offer opportunities in green sectors for local populations.” The article aims at proposing possible measures to meet the above high ambition.