The Journal is published by the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the Cave Administration of the Czech Republic, the Krkonoše Mts. National Park Administration, the Bohemian Forest Mts. National Park Administration, the Podyjí National Park Administration and the The Bohemian Switzerland National Park Administration. It has been published since 1946.
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Nature Conservation 3/2011 — 7. 10. 2011 — Research, Surveys and Data Management — Print article in pdf
The Šumava/Bohemian Forest Mts. National Parks Zonation or a Way Out and Back
The Šumava/Bohemian Forest Mts. National Parks zonation has been debated since the very NPs establishing and reflects views and opinions on nature conservation principles among various groups of experts.
The first zonation developed in 1991 fully respected the original intention of having a NP, i.e. leaving space to spontaneous processes in nature. At that time, the mostly non-intervention Zone 1 covered 22 % of the NPs territory, being divided into 54 units. In 1995, the zonation was dramatically changed, because the NPs senior managers supported the opinion that a European Spruce Bark Beetle (Ips typographus) outbreak can be reduced only by forest management measures, i.e. by extensive felling. Thus, only 13 % of the NPs territory was protected within the Zone 1, which was in addition fragmented into 135 patches. At most of them, affected trees had to be fallen and other forest management measures against the bark beetle had to be taken. The zonation has been valid, although its original intention was almost completely lost, particularly after the hurricane Kyrill in 2007. A proposal for delineating the Zone 1, developed in co-operation of NP Administration technical staff members and a expert panel established by the Deputy Minister of the Environment of the Czech Republic is based on the botanical, forest management and zoological criteria, carefully assessing the NPs values. Therefore, the proposed Zone 1 inludes both areas which should be immediately considered as non-intervention ones and those where single or temporary intervention measures should be applied (wetland restoration, complementation of missing tree species). Into the Zone 1, valuable permanently managed areas are proposed to be included, particularly grasslands which need regular mowing or grazing. The proposed Zone 1 covers 39.2 % of the NPs territory and is distributed in 10 units. It is supposed that the admittance to the Zone 1 outside the selected roads would be prohibited only at sites where it is necessary for rare species (the Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus or the Eurasian Lynx Lynx Lynx) or habitat (peat bogs) protection. The proposal would be a background for a working group drafting an act on the Šumava/Bohemian Forest Mts. National Park on behalf of the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic.