Nature and Landscape Management

The fire that struck České Švýcarsko/Bohemian Switzerland National Park (northern Bohemia) in the summer of 2022 had spread across an area of approximately ten square kilometres. In the aftermath of the fire, a wide range of societal and professional questions emerged concerning the extent to which similar events can be prevented in the future without compromising the fundamental purpose and mission of National Parks.

In May 2024, a public-law agreement was formally signed between the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic (NCA CR) and the majority landowner Štěpán Bečvář on cooperation in the management of one of the most valuable areas within Český les Mts. Protected Landscape Area, namely Nemanický potok/Nemanice Brook Floodplain Site of European Importance (SEI, western Bohemia). Pursuant to Act No. 114/1992 on Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection, as amended later, SEI is the term for Site of Community Importance, SCI, later Special Area of Conservation, SAC, under the European Union’s Habitats Directive). The Niva Nemanický potok/Nemanice Brook Floodplain SEI has official label as CZ0324026.

The area above the confluence of the Morava River and the Dyje/Thaya River (South Moravia) is unique in many respects. By Central European (indeed European) standards, it is an area exceptionally rich in biodiversity. The species diversity stands out all the more when one considers that the area in question is, in terms of habitats, relatively uniform compared with other national biodiversity hotspots such as the Pálava Hills, Podyjí/Thaya River Basin, or the Český kras/Bohemian Karst.

Water management interventions/modifications carried out in South Moravia during the 1970s and 1980s provided some benefits, but they also resulted into drastic changes in the area’s original conditions and character. They caused extensive environmental damage, either by the direct destruction of valuable habitats or by alterations to the hydrological regime there.

In June 2024, a two-phase “consilium/review board” attended by leading experts was held in the Jeseníky and Krkonoše/Giant Mts. on the needs and possible ways of preserving and restoring biodiversity in the Alpine zone in both mountain ranges. The reason for convening this consultation was the ongoing changes in the vegetation of the Alpine treeless habitats over the last decades. Their probable drivers include the abandonment of long-term farming after the displacement of the German population after World War II and other societal changes in the 20th century, as well as in the increasingly rapid and pronounced global changes, particularly the increase in temperature and high atmospheric nitrogen deposition.

Changes in the woody plant species composition and simplification of forest habitat structure are the accompanying features of forest management in the Czech Republic over the last two centuries. In addition to forest management itself, the reduction in the size of habitats that are little affected by human activity is also related to the overall human use of the landscape. 

Brown coal or lignite surface/open-pit mining, together with subsequent infrastructure and industry, has damaged the landscape in the region below the Krušné hory/Ore Mountains (northwestern Bohemia) over an area of over than 300 km², including structural changes in the human settlement pattern. 

The Czech Republic’s ecological network consists of a system of large core areas (protected areas, biocentres) interconnected by linear ways or routes (biocorridors) or stepping stones. It is thus a spatial network of landscape elements ensuring the preservation or improvement of the state of species populations and habitats, and thereby the health of ecosystems, including the processes taking place in them. It essentially strengthens the resistance and resilience of the landscape structure, and the sustainability of renewable natural resources during ongoing climate change.

In the Czech Republic there may seem to be a wide range of conceptual, strategic and other documents focused – either primarily or as part of a broader spectrum of interests – on nature conservation and landscape protection.

The Dolní Kralovice serpentinites are located in the eastern part of the District of Benešov (Central Bohemia). The serpentinite body is relatively extensive, being 3.5 km long and 1 km in width. About half of the area is protected as the Hadce u Želivky National Nature Monument (NNM) and the Želivka Site of European Importance (SEI, pursuant to Act No. 114/1992 on Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection, as amended later, the term for Site of Community Importance, SCIs, later Special Area of Conservation, SACs, under the European Union’s Habitats Directive), while the other half is part of a commercial forest. Since 2016, restoration of the entire site has been underway, with the aim of harmonising management both within the above Specially Protected Area and beyond it. Discussions are also ongoing with the owner, Forests of the Czech Republic, state enterprise, regarding transfer of land outside the SEI to special purpose forests.