Topic Archive Nature
Straw houses: new trend in Green Living
When it comes to housing most young Czechs dream of a trendy city flat but
some pioneers of Green Living are heading out of town to re-build country
cottages and acquire the skill of making their own home-grown produce. More
Agriculture Ministry sanctions on-farm slaughter of crocodiles
From March 1, the on-farm slaughter of crocodiles – and the processing of
crocodile meat for sale to consumers – will be allowed in the Czech
Republic. The Agriculture Ministry approved the regulation change following
consultation with Brussels when it became apparent that a crocodile farm in
southern Moravia housing more than 200 specimens had no legal way of
culling its crocs. More
Colts instead of rifles: NGO to introduce wild horses at former army bases
In the future visitors to the Czech countryside could come across a species
not seen in this part of the world for a great many years: wild horses. A
local wildlife organisation is at present preparing to import a small group
of Exmoor ponies, with a view to eventually introducing the hardy British
breed to former army training areas and unforested land in other remote
parts of the country. More
Budding landscape architect Viktor Filipi
According to an old Czech saying, ‘každý správný chlap’ (every real
man) should at some point build a house, father a son, and plant a tree.
Viktor Filipi, our guest in this edition of Czech Life, isn’t quite there
yet in the first two departments but the last category he knows a lot
about. The 24-year-old – a student in his final year in the Masters
programme in Landscape Architecture at Mendel University – began working
on his family’s garden more than ten years ago; just recently it was
voted by readers of idnes as “the country’s most beautiful”. More
Heat wave breaks all-time Czech temperature record
The Czech Republic has been hit with a severe heat wave. Currents of hot
air coming from north Africa via France and southern Germany raised
temperatures by to record-breaking highs this week, with a new record of
40.4 degrees Celsius registered outside Prague on Monday. While doctors
advise people to take extra caution to avoid problems, meteorologists warn
the heat will soon give way to heavy storms expected later on Tuesday. More
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
Czech scientists present unique trilobite specimens, attacked by an unknown predator
Czech scientists have found unique specimens of trilobites that suggest
something thought to be impossible – something was eating them. The small
animals were amongst the most successful in history, crawling along the
seabed for more than 270 million years. But during the Cambrian era, 500
million years ago, when neither fish nor cephalopods had developed, there
should have been nothing capable of sinking its teeth into their hard
shells. At a recent conference of international palaeontologists in Prague,
Dr Oldřich Fatka of the Institute of Geology and Palaeontology presented
evidence from more than thirty years of study, showing that even 508
million years ago there seems to have been a predator on the sea floor.
More
Science Journal
In this edition of Science Journal, two interviews with Czech scientists
who have recently published two very different articles in the prestigious
American journal Nature, one mapping biodiversity mathematically, and one
fighting HIV. More
Prague tortoise was thought to be “twin” of Pinta tortoise Lonesome George
The death of Lonesome George, the last remaining Pinta island giant
tortoise recently saddened legions of nature and reptile lovers around the
world. His unexpected demise in a reservation on the Galapagos Islands came
at the estimated age of 100 years or more. For quite some time, tortoise
experts believed that George might not be as ‘lonesome’ as previously
assumed: a Prague Zoo tortoise bore such close resemblance to George that
even reptile experts thought he might too be a member of the Pinta species. More
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