Načeratice Hill

Načeratický kopec (Načeratice Hill) is located on the southeastern edge of Znojmo. The site is just three kilometers from the nearby barracks as the crow flies, which is why in the past the army actively used the hill as a training ground for tanks. The topology of the 'hill' is very diverse - gentle slopes give way to sheer ascents, while sandy-soil surfaces are punctuated with bare rock. Thanks to the army's presence, coherent grassland and areas of exposed soil can to this day be found here. However, when the army left at the beginning of the 1990s, the place slowly began to grow over, and brushwood and self-sowing shrubs are invading the surface of the plain.

The territory around Načeratice Hill is home to not exactly diverse, but highly specific fauna and flora. From among the plants that grow here, we may mention the Greater Pasque Flower, Burnet Rose, or Round-Headed Leek. Tiger moths, the Green-Underside Blue, and jewel beetles live in symbiotic community with them. Thanks to their presence, and because of the unique sandy character of the location, Načeratice Hill has been elevated to a Europe’s special area of conservation. However, there are on-going ecological processes that have imperiled these plant and animal species.

The project Natura in Green wants to put an end to the adverse impact of vegetative succession, and restore suitable conditions for endangered plants and animals. For this reason, management is carried out by using methods of removal of self-seeding shrubs and pasture of sheeps and goats (ca 10 ha of land).

Načeratice Hill in the Trip tips section