Archive: Nature | Nature Nature
New Šumava National Park head raises eyebrows with plans to downgrade conservation status
The Šumava National park is one of the Czech Republic’s indisputable
natural treasures. A vast 100km long stretch of forest running along the
south-western border of the country, the area has been protected since the
early 1960s and a nature reserve has existed within this zone since 1991.
But, the reserve’s new head Jiří Mánek has announced controversial
plans to weaken environmental protection there. More
The Four Corners of the Czech Republic, Pt. I: The Bohemian Forest
Borderlands are fascinating areas where cultures either meet and
intermingle, or in some cases are cordoned off to coldly stare at one
another. The Czech/German/Austrian tri-border has experienced both. Over
the last century it went from being an imaginary line through the woods to
a literal Iron Curtain and back again. What’s emerging here today is a
cross-cultural region deep in the Bohemian Forest National Park. More
European Commission weighs in on Šumava logging
The European Commission has asked the Czech government to halt logging in
the Šumava National Park. Czech authorities resumed felling bark-beetle
infested trees in Šumava this week to prevent the spreading of the beetle
infestation. But the European Commissioner for the Environment says logging
should cease until the government justifies the move. More
Mycologist Jan Borovička on mushrooms and where to find them
With mushroom season in full swing, our guest in this edition of One on One
is Jan Borovička, a leading member of the Czech Mycological Society, who
combines a very Czech hobby of mushroom picking with his profession of
geochemist at the Czech Academy of Sciences. How has the internet changed
mushroom picking? Why are mushrooms safe to eat even after Chernobyl and
Fukushima? And, most importantly, where are the best spots to find them?
These are some of issues we discussed with Jan Borovička, who says this
year’s mushroom-picking season did not start out that great.
More
Science Journal
We’ve heard the politicians and the eco-activists’ views on the Šumava
– but what do the scientists say? And by the way, how do cells read DNA?
That’s what we’ll be trying to get our heads around this month on
Science Journal.
More
Politicians wade into bark-beetle fray
A continuing standoff between ecological activists and loggers in the
Šumava National Park is continuing to heat up. For more than a fortnight
now activists have been chaining themselves to trees slated for felling –
stressing that logging commissioned by the park in protected areas is
illegal. Under existing regulations, they have argued, trees in the nature
reserve must be allowed to decay naturally. The park management has
countered by saying that only felling will prevent further locations from
being devastated by the bark-beetle. The dispute has now divided senior
politicians, some of whom are calling for immediate talks to try and
resolve the dispute. More
Environmental activists losing ground at Šumava National Park
The number of environmental activists holding a blockade in the Modrava
region of Šumava National Park to prevent felling of bark-beetle infested
trees swelled on Tuesday morning in reaction to Monday’s forced
evacuation by police. However logging continues and the protesters have
been losing ground, both literally and legally as a regional court and the
Czech Environment Inspection Office found nothing amiss with the
management’s policy. More
Šumava activists stay put as park warns of fines and damages
Environmental activists are into their fifth day blocking loggers’ access
to planned cutting in the Šumava National Park. While there has been no
altercation as yet between the environmentalists from Hnutí Duha and the
park management, the latter is firm on cutting right now to stem the local
bark beetle infestation. The director of the park says that for every tree
it cuts it may be saving eight others, and that another 30,000 trees are
otherwise in danger. As far as the environmentalists are concerned though,
the management has no permit to cut in the primary protected zone, where
they have positioned themselves, and are in direct breach of the law. As
police and the environmental inspection investigate who is in the right,
the number of protesters in the forest is swelling, as I was told by
Mojmír Vlašín of Hnutí Duha, one of the half-dozen activists who
started the protest last Friday. More
Mycologist Jan Borovička on mushrooms and where to find them
With mushroom season in full swing, our guest in this edition of One on One
is Jan Borovička, a leading member of the Czech Mycological Society, who
combines a very Czech hobby of mushroom picking with his profession of
geochemist at the Czech Academy of Sciences. How has the internet changed
mushroom picking? Why are mushrooms safe to eat even after Chernobyl and
Fukushima? And, most importantly, where are the best spots to find them?
These are some of issues we discussed with Jan Borovička, who says this
year’s mushroom-picking season did not start out that great. More
Environment minister scales back controversial plans in battle against bark beetle
The Environment Minister Tomáš Chalupa has changed plans by the head of
Šumava National Park on how to battle the bark beetle, issuing a decision
on Thursday that will still allow the manual felling of trees in the
park’s most environmentally-sensitive and protected areas but will ban
the use of heavy machinery or chemicals. Proposed intervention to fight
devastation by the bark beetle in the national park had been at the
forefront of a highly public battle between the park’s director, Jan
Stráský, and former colleagues, scientists and specialists who formed a
shadow council to express opposing views. More
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