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What is the problem? Czech forests are in a dismal state. After decades of improper forest management focused on quick timber production, forest managers and environmentalists battle with the consequences. Catastrophic windthrow damage, engrave-beetle disasters and game overpopulation are just a select few that can be attributed to years of misplaced policies. Czech forests are primarily monoculturual, composed of spruce trees planted in batches and hence of the same age. The species is in most places secondary and unsuitable in altitudes below 1 000 m. These are typical prerequisites for an unstable ecosystem, making Czech forests dull, lifeless and hugely vulnerable to natural disasters and calamities. The woods that spread over the Jested Mountain Ridge in Northern Bohemia are no exception and suffer from these ills as well.What is the project? Unhappy about the situation, we decided to launch a slow and elaborate transformation of a forest stand near the city of Liberec. We founded a land-trust and through purchases and donations obtained stands suitable for revitalisation.Why such a name? We decided to call our project The New Virgin Forest. While we understand that a real virgin forest comes about through complete absence of human intervention, we are hoping that after a while, it will be capable of taking a life upon itself and developing into one.The locality - New Virgin Forest The woodland area can be found on the Ještěd Mountain Ridge in Northern Bohemia, at altitudes of 710 - 840 m. It consists of four separate locations that spread over 25 hectares of land. The original New Virgin Forest takes up 5.5 hectares.As recently as after World War II, much of the area was covered by meadows, with forests occupying a smaller portion of the land. Later on, however, most of the meadows were replaced by spruce plantations that grow here to this day. Rowan trees and maples can be found sporadically, mostly surviving from times before the spruce trees came. Beech trees are rare. Practically all the trees have damaged roots, peeled and eaten away by overpopulated deer. The spruce population is dense and many trees were broken during a sharp winter several years ago, making it difficult to walk through. You can find little else on the ground other than needles and moss. Our aim is to cut down some of the spruce trees and plant hardwoods and firs in their place so that the composition of wood species approximates the natural state. This should in turn enable a gradual return of plants and animals that could not survive in the original conditions. We have now expanded the project to the remaining 20 hectares of forests purchased.Arguments on behalf of the New Virgin Forest The New Virgin Forest will be:
Project budget The cost of buying and transforming one square metre of forest is approximately CZK 12 (0,4 EUR).How is the project financed? The establishment of The New Virgin Forest could not do without donations made by individual donors. By December 2008, over 4000 people contributed the total sum of CZK 2 340 000 (EUR 90.000) to the foundation of the New Virgin Forest. State subsidies ? CZK 275 000 (EUR 11.000) - covered the cost of fencing that protects seedlings from the woodland animals.You too can help change the fate of a specific forest. Support expansion of The New Virgin Forest
Phases of the project (launched in June 2004) What has already been done?
What still lies ahead? To gradually cut away some of the spruce trees by the end of 2010 and sow or plant out approximately 60 000 firs, beeches, maple trees, and other original species. To maintain the fencing, monitor development, and plant out the last individuals between 2010 and 2050. |
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