News

04.06.2019 Let us invite you to two events that will take place on 7 June. In the morning, we will open the 94th location called Raduň Wetland, and in the afternoon we will move to the Nový Jičín District where we will meet in the village of Libhošť. There will be another opening, this time of the second stage of the Cattle Trail renewal, which will be accompanied by an interesting program for adults and children. For more information, see the attached invitations.

09.05.2019 Among the countless hills of the Bohemian Central Uplands, one that goes by the name "Supí vrch" (Vulture Peak) rises above the hamlet of Lbín near Teplice. It is rather less well-known – in fact, on many maps, it is not even marked. According to local conservationists, though, the site is extremely valuable as a landscape feature and as an ecosystem, primarily thanks to the well-preserved rocky steppe habitat, which by recent accounts is home to twenty-two endangered vascular plant species. With this in mind, these local conservationists decided to make use of the possibilities offered by NET4GAS Closer to Nature and build an educational trail that would acquaint visitors with the attractions found on Vulture Peak.

02.05.2019 Let us invite you to the opening of this year's first NET4GAS Closer to Nature location to Vulture Hill (Supí vrch) in the Lbín municipality in the Ústí Region. The event will start on May 9 at 10:00 (Lbín bus stop).

31.01.2019 ET4GAS Closer to Nature is a long-standing success story: The programme has been running for twelve years now, enabling the Czech Union for Nature Conservation (ČSOP) to acquaint the general public with 92 valuable sites of nature, for the most part through educational trails, observation decks, lookout points, and other forms of mediated natural treasures, seen through an educational lens, or retold from the perspective of leisure and entertainment. Many locals, day-trippers, and tourists have since discovered these sites and made them their own. Few would guess, however, that the programme known as NET4GAS Closer to Nature goes further than that: it also promotes what is known as management projects – that is to say, practical measures aimed at the restoration of habitats or the stewardship for specific species. In the course of the last year, four such projects were successfully completed that deserve a closer look.

01.11.2018 In the centre of the Bohemian Forest nature conservation area, near the village of Borová Lada and at an altitude of 1,070 meters above sea level, lies an Alpine Lookout Point, from which one can see all the way to the peaks of the Alps, weather permitting. The Czech Union for Nature Conservation (ČSOP) restored this lookout point this year within the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme, adding a number of new elements.

01.11.2018 For the fourth time, NET4GAS is the general partner of the Conference Naše příroda ("Our Nature"), this time on the topic of Biodiversity of Agricultural Landscapes. It is held on 28 November 2018 in Olomouc. For more information, please visit www.konference-priroda.cz.

29.10.2018 ZO ČSOP Šumava invites you to an opening of the reconstructed Alpine outlook under Bukovec in the Protected Landscape Area Šumava - on November 1, 2018 from 10 am near Lipka - Borová Lada; GPS: 49°0'15.380"N, 13°41'35.178"E.

27.10.2018 Banner’s Well in the Oder Valley is the first stop along the Cattle Trail, which is newly accessible to visitors. Working within the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme, the Czech Union for Nature Conservation (ČSOP) has kicked off a long-term project that will take years to complete and that is aimed at restoring (and providing a unique and fresh view of) the natural and cultural heritage along the famous Cattle Trail, an ancient route for cattle drives that connected the Krakow area to Vienna several centuries ago.

27.10.2018 Within the context of the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme, the hiking public was presented today with the preserved remains of a medieval corduroy trackway in the floodplain of the Oder River near Nový Jičín, the site having been made accessible by members of the local Studénka chapter of the Czech Union for Nature Conservation (ČSOP). Ever since this trackway was first discovered, which is unique among European findings, local conservationists have been contributing to piecing its story together.

25.10.2018 On Saturday, October 27, ČSOP and NET4GAS will open two new locations in the Nový Jičín region: at 10 am the "Log road in Petřvaldík", a recently discovered European uniqueness the Odra River uncovered (at the pedestrian bridge over the Odra River in Petřvaldík, GPS: 49.7230603N, 18.1305006E) and at 1 pm the first stop of the "Ox trail", the Banner's well, which is located close to Šenov near Nový Jičín (GPS: 49.6178017N, 17.9741992E). The letter represents a multi-year project aimed at the restoration and unique interpretation of the natural and cultural heritage in the corridor of the famous Ox trail, an ancient cattle route that used to connect Krakow and Vienna centuries ago.

13.10.2018 For decades, people dug mineshafts into the local hillsides. Millions of tonnes of coal were brought to the surface. But come today and you will only find a few bumps in the terrain covered with hornbeam and birch; now, in autumn, you may want to collect a basketful of boletus, and marvel at how nature takes back what was once hers. This is the landscape around the villages of Chomle and Vejvanov in the district of Rokycany, and your guide through it is a new educational trail built by the Czech Union for Nature Conservation, marking the ninetieth site unlocked by the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme.

08.10.2018 Let us invite you to the opening ceremony of the 90th NET4GAS Closer to Nature site. This time we will set for Rokycany to Chomle, where the new Chomle and Vejvanov Permonians nature trail begins. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, October 13, at 9 am at Chomle Municipal Hall.

21.09.2018 This year, the members of the local chapter, Jaro Jaroměř, decided to erect a memorial for the spring gentian with the help of the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme, and to install an info panel that would remind visitors of the sad fate of what has become a rare and endangered plant.

03.09.2018 As the new school year has started, so have the annual competitions in the natural sciences organized by the Czech Union for Nature Conservation (ČSOP). The Environmental Olympics (going into its 24th year) will put the skills of more than five hundred high school students to the test. The Golden Leaf (now in its 47th year), which is dedicated to primary school students, takes it one further, welcoming no fewer than four and a half thousand children. Both competitions are held in every region of the Czech Republic, and children with the best results in the regional round will advance to the national round, at the conclusion of which the winners for the given year are chosen.

25.08.2018 Lipová, a municipality smack in the middle of the panhandle area known as Šluknov Hook, lies in the shadow of an imposing Baroque palace ruin with adjacent park and fish pond. Visitors are naturally drawn to the palace building and the beautifully restored gardens, but few would guess that the location has more to offer than the spirit of history – namely, a treasure trove of wildlife around the pond. For this reason, the members of the local chapter of the Czech Union for Nature Conservation (ČSOP), working with the Lipová town hall and drawing upon the support of the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme, have created a new educational trail that leads day trippers around the expanse of water and shows them the local secrets of nature.