The Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area is the largest karst area in Czechia, north of Brno, declared in 1956 as the first protected landscape area in Moravia. It covers 96.8 km² and has more than 1,100 registered caves.
The Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area lies on a belt of limestone north of Brno in the South Moravian Region. It is the largest karst area in Czechia. It consists of plateaus dotted with circular depressions called sinkholes, which are separated by deep canyons.[2] The altitude of the area is 216 to 546 m.[1]
Designation and protection
The protected landscape area was declared on 28 August 1956, the first in Moravia. A new declaration with adjusted boundaries and zoning took place on 18 March 2019, effective 1 April 2019. The area grew slightly, from 92 to 96.8 km², and some territories of lesser natural value were removed and replaced by others. The zoning changed thanks to progress in the mapping of caves.[1] The mission of the protected landscape area is to preserve the landscape and natural heritage in the best possible condition for future generations.[1]
There are 19 small-scale specially protected areas in the region: 12 nature reserves, 4 national nature reserves, 2 national natural monuments and 1 natural monument. It also includes one site of European importance in the Natura 2000 network.[1] The area is managed by the Moravian Karst PLA Administration, part of the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic.[1]
Geology and caves
The foundation is limestone, which was deposited less than four hundred million years ago from the calcareous shells of marine organisms and calcareous mud. The rock dissolves in water, and so sinkholes, rock towers, canyon-like valleys called žleby and labyrinths of caves came into being.[1] Water from the Drahany Highlands disappears at the limestone boundary into swallow holes and returns to the surface after several kilometres at springs.[1][2]
The most extensive is the Amatérská Cave system, where more than 50 kilometres of passages have been mapped. Amatérská Cave itself measures about 30 km and is the longest known cave in Czechia. The Rudické propadání – Býčí skála system is 13 kilometres long, and the longest cave in the south of the karst is Ochozská, with just under two kilometres. More than 1,100 caves are registered.[2]
Nature
Limestone gives rise to fertile soils with species-rich plant communities. In biogeographical terms the area lies at the meeting point of the Pannonian and continental regions. Elements of the Bohemian Massif reach in from the west, thermophilic Pannonian elements from the south and species of the Carpathian forests from the east.[1] Among cave dwellers, 26 bat species have been found here out of the 27 recorded in Czechia. Cortusa matthioli grows in Czechia at a single place, in the Macocha Abyss.[2]
Traces of ancient times
The limestones contain remains of organisms, for example corals and ammonites. Bones from the ice ages, those of mammoths, cave lions and cave bears, also found their way into the caves.[1] People also used the caves as a home or shelter. The administration describes as unique the find of a hundred-thousand-year-old Neanderthal jaw from Kůlna Cave and also the engravings of horses and bison found on horse ribs from Pekárna Cave.[1]
Visitors
The area attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.[1] The Moravian Karst Nature House is a visitor centre at Skalní mlýn. From there, visitors set out to the Punkva Caves and Macocha Abyss.[2]