The Třeboňsko Protected Landscape Area lies in the South Bohemian Region at an altitude of 410 to 550 metres. It was declared on 14 March 1980.[1] According to the Nature and Landscape Protection Agency of the Czech Republic, today's landscape was shaped by a combination of circumstances: a distinctive geological development, the cultivation of the wetland landscape by people who developed fishpond farming, and the preservation of this Renaissance-era landscape.[1]
Nature and Landscape
Older rocks were flooded by fresh water and covered by a thick layer of sediments. The Lužnice then carved meanders, cut-off bends and pools into the flat terrain, which are gradually overgrown by peat moss. The subsoil of the Třeboň Basin consists of Moldanubian rocks.[1] The natural axis of the area is the Lužnice, which rises in Austria, enters the Czech Republic near České Velenice, and flows through the protected landscape area for a length of 75 km.[1] Most of the territory lies in a mildly warm and mildly humid zone with mild winters, and according to the agency the climate of the basin part is to some extent distinctive, particularly because of the large extent of water surfaces.[1]
Forest land covers 32,314.62 ha and makes up 47 percent of the area. Traditional peat extraction by strip-cutting allowed rare communities to survive, such as light-loving species growing on peat wetlands.[1] The area is characterised by oak-lined avenues along fishpond dams as well as solitary large trees.[2]
Protected Areas
The area contains 33 small-scale specially protected areas: four national nature reserves, nineteen nature reserves, two national nature monuments and eight nature monuments.[1] The Natura 2000 system includes 17 sites of European importance and one bird area, which have been designated within the territory since 2004.[1][2] On 3 October 1995, the Ministry of the Environment approved a zoning scheme with three zones of graduated nature protection.[2]
Protection is ensured by the Nature and Landscape Protection Agency of the Czech Republic through the Třeboňsko Protected Landscape Area Administration, which exercises state administration, cares for valuable sites and monitors selected species. Together with partners, it is also preparing a concept for visitor management, in which individual areas are assessed according to their vulnerability and the impact of visitor numbers.[2]