Nature and Landscape Management

The Dyje/Thaya River, together with the Morava River, is surrounded by the largest and ecologically most valuable floodplain complex of Central Europe. By straightening its course in the 1970s and 1980s, the Dyje/Thaya River was shortened by nearly 3.2 km. At the same time, dikes preventing floodings were built on both banks along the state border stretch of the river. These measures had to stabilise the border between Austria and Czechoslovakia on the one hand, and to ensure prevention and control on the other. The whole border stretch being 16.5 kilometres long was for a long time closed by the Iron Curtain. After the above water management measures, there were more than 20 remnants of the original river bed were preserved in the floodplain: these are backwater river branches/cut-off arms or oxbows of various character. Over the years, however, all these fragments of the original Dyje/Thaya riverbed became strongly silted, thus developing themselves towards a rapid termination. The modified river bed caused by puncturing the branches displayed low morphological value and straitening the watercourse contributed to accelerating water outflow from the landscape there. From a point of view of climate change adaptation, this was an unsatisfactory situation. Therefore, the river management authority proceeded to restoration measures.

Since establishing the Šumava/Bohemian Forest Mts. National Park (hereinafter ŠNP) in 1991 game and its management have been an important part of forest management there. The first NP’s Management Plan (Kučera et al. 1992) dealt extensively with the issue. According to its authors, Red deer (Cervus elaphus) numbers were extremely high within the whole NP and keeping and breeding of trophy game was preferred. Moreover, it was clear at that time that due to red deer’s migratory behaviour its management should not be limited only to the NP’s territory but it should be connected with that on the entire Protected Landscape Area’s territory as well as with the whole Šumava/Bohemian Forest Mts. foothills including the Bavarian side. 

According to experts, the current European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) plague is unprecedentedly the greatest in the Czech Republic’s history: it avoids neither the Jeseníky Mountains Protected Landscape Area (PLA,) in northern Moravia). In the time full of changes and twists, it has generated a number of issues and questions for forest managers, nature conservationists, and the general public; it stirs emotions and it is the subject of media discussions, where opinions are often mistaken for facts. The aim of this article is to take a closer look at the course of the European spruce bark beetle outbreak in recent years in the Jeseníky Mts. PLA, primarily through specific numbers.

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.

Ten years ago, the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic (NCA CR) began to conclude agreements on management through public contracts, setting up both management measures to be implemented and providing landowners or tenants with a subsidy / subvention. Consequently this practice has been step-by-step applied also by other State Nature Conservancy authorities, particularly Regional Offices. At present the agreements on management are one of the principal and commonly used tools in cooperation with land managers. The NCA CR is currently taking active steps to further expand the type of cooperation with landowners, our most important partners in practical nature conservation.

Shepherd dogs guarding livestock are rightly recommended as the most effective measure against grey wolves (Canis lupus) attacking livestock. Farmers are often criticized for hesitating to acquire shepherd dogs. However, few people can imagine the long and challenging journey to a reliable working shepherd dog.

The Moravský kras/Moravian Karst (central Moravia) is the most important karst area in the Czech Republic. In addition to underground karst phenomena, we can also find surface aboveground karst phenomena there, which include sinkholes and limestone pavements. All these karst phenomena are legally protected. The uniqueness of the area is also confirmed by the only internationally protected underground wetland in the Czech Republic, which is the Podzemní Punkva/Punkva Subterranean Stream Wetland of International Importance (Ramsar Site). The karst environment needs our protection, not only below the surface but also at ground level, from where nitrates and pesticides from intensively managed karst plateaus enter the underground areas. These substances pollute groundwater, which is used as a source of drinking water and harbours a lot of animals. Changes in management around the sinkholes and above the caves implemented in 2019 and 2020, resulted not only in positive shifts in the agricultural landscape, but they also significantly contributed to improving the quality of drip water that seeps down to the caves through the soil and rocks.

Mineral and rock mining carried out for centuries has had significantly negative impacts on the landscape and the environment in the Czech Republic. By size, the most extensive destruction in the whole country has been caused by surface open-pit brown coal mining in the Krušné hory/Ore Mountains Foothills Basin, also known as the North Bohemian Basin. More than 400 km² have been affected by mining and by related infrastructure and industry there. Nowadays, when a termination of active brown coal mining termination in the Sokolov and Most Basins¹ has been in sight, the future use of the closed quarries is being discussed extensively. Experts have long been aware of the great scientific significance of abandoned non-reclaimed excavations and spoil heaps. Therefore the question of applying ecosystem restoration to the above post-industrial habitats has been even more urgent than ever before.