Kvilda, South Bohemia, Sept 1 (CTK) – The Sumava National Park (NPS) in south Bohemia’s mountainous border area plans to revitalise 2,000 hectares of peatlands in a project that also involves the adjacent Bavarian Forest National Park, the Czech and Bavarian environment ministers announced yesterday.
The project worth 140 million crowns is aimed to support water retention in the landscape and bar water fluctuation.
The Czech Environment Ministry has approved the project and it will apply for a subsidy from the European LIFE programme, Minister Richard Brabec told journalists at a meeting also attended by his Bavarian counterpart Ulrike Scharf.
The revitalisation of Sumava peatlands is scheduled for 2017-2023.
Brabec said local nature is short of water due to a decline in precipitations in recent years, a trend that is expected to continue.
“The renewal of the natural water regime is the absolutely the most effective way to retain water in Sumava. No other measure can retain so many millions of cubic metres of water than the renewal of peatlands,” Brabec said.
The revitalisation of peatlands is a joint project of the NPS and the Bavarian Forest park.
In future, they plan to jointly focus on data of the local forest structure and the populations of tetraoninae birds, and create a cross-border map and a digital model of vegetation of the joint area.
NPS spreads on more than 68,000 hectares. It was established in 1991.
The Bavarian Forest National Park, established in 1970 and extended in 1997, has the area of 24,250 hectares. Together with the adjacent NPS, they form one of the biggest bilateral national parks in Central Europe.
($1=24.286 crowns)
