The Labské pískovce Protected Landscape Area is a large protected area in north-western Bohemia, declared in 1972 and today covering 245 km², which surrounds the Bohemian Switzerland National Park.[1]
The Labské pískovce Protected Landscape Area lies in north-western Bohemia, in the area of Bohemian Switzerland, adjoining the Saxon sandstone region on the German side of the border. The area is administered by the Administration of the Bohemian Switzerland National Park and the Labské pískovce Protected Landscape Area.[1]
History of the area's protection
Efforts to protect Bohemian Switzerland date back to the 1920s. As early as 1933, under the First Czechoslovak Republic, the first protected areas were declared here: Edmundova soutěska, Pravčická brána and Tiské stěny.[1]
The first proposal for large-scale protection of the whole area was made by Jan Čeřovský in 1953 in his diploma thesis on the forests of the Děčínské stěny, in which he proposed establishing a state-protected natural area. In 1956 the Saxon Switzerland protected landscape area (LSG Sächsische Schweiz) was declared on the Saxon side of the border. In 1963 the German writer Reimar Gilsenbach published a proposal for a nature park in the Labské pískovce in his book "Sächsische Schweiz"; according to the National Park Administration, he was probably the first to come up with the idea of a bilateral nature park in the Czech-Saxon Switzerland.[1]
The Labské pískovce Protected Landscape Area was declared by a decree of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Socialist Republic of 27 June 1972 (ref. no. 4.946/72 – II/2), covering 300 km².[1] In 1973 further small protected areas were established on its territory: Čabel, Nad Dolským mlýnem and Růžák, followed by Babylon in 1992. After 1992, in connection with the new Act on Nature and Landscape Protection, the Administration of the Labské pískovce Protected Landscape Area declared a number of further protected areas in various categories.[1][2]
Creation of the national park and the present form of the protected landscape area
After the creation of the Saxon Switzerland National Park on the German side in 1990, an opportunity arose to upgrade the protection of the core area of the Labské pískovce Protected Landscape Area to a national park. Preparations began in 1991. After many years of negotiations on the course of the boundaries, the Bohemian Switzerland National Park was declared by Act No. 161/1999 Coll., covering 80 km².[1] In 2002 the Ministry of the Environment approved by decree the zoning of the national park, which divides its territory into three protection zones; the first zone covers 1,736 ha.[1]
Since the creation of the national park, the Labské pískovce Protected Landscape Area covers 245 km² and is divided into four protection zones. New protected areas continue to be established on its territory today.[1] On the basis of a resolution of the Czech committee of the MaB programme, according to the National Park Administration, documentation is being prepared for the establishment of a UNESCO biosphere reserve, which is to include the entire territory of the national park and the protected landscape area. The most valuable parts of the area are also being prepared for inclusion in the European Natura 2000 network.[1]
Nature and the development of species
According to an assessment by the Administration's staff, published in the journal Ochrana přírody in 2022, the strengthening of nature protection after 1989 and the adoption of the new Act on Nature and Landscape Protection in 1992 led to an expansion of the Administration's legislative tools, but its influence on forestry and agriculture in the area remained limited.[2] According to the authors, this contributed to the disappearance of some species, for example the black grouse, the northern lapwing and the great snipe, as well as to the destruction of a site of the burnt orchid by rooting wild boar.[2]
At the same time, species previously exterminated have returned to the area on their own, for example the common raven, the red kite, the common crane, the white-tailed eagle and the corn bunting. The authors call the return of wolves, including documented breeding in 2021, a "zoological sensation". Plant species considered missing in Czechia were also recorded, such as the floating water-plantain and the slender St John's wort.[2]
According to the same source, at a number of sites it was not possible to prevent large-scale deforestation in connection with bark beetle infestation of spruce stands and the felling of old beech stands around 2009, especially around the village of Sněžník, where, for example, the black woodpecker, the grey-headed woodpecker, Tengmalm's owl and the stock dove lived. The authors cite as a success the prevention of a plan by the then regional management of Lesy ČR to fell old forest stands on the right bank of the Elbe canyon between Loubí and Hřensko, where a contour skid trail with extensive logging was to be built; according to the authors, this area is now the largest reserve in the region.[2]
From the outset the Administration has also worked to limit invasive plants, especially giant hogweed, knotweeds and Himalayan balsam, which according to the authors has been significantly reduced or entirely eliminated in a number of places. Care is also focused on blue butterflies, in which, according to the source, landowners have also taken part, and attention is permanently devoted to watercourses.[2]