News

30.08.2019 About a kilometre east from Strakonice, within the intensively farmed alluvial plain of the Otava River, one finds the Hajská Pools nature reserve. Dozens of pools of water are scattered across a little less than seven hectares, and are inhabited by many rare plant and animal species. Onyx, the local chapter of the Czech Union for Nature Conservation, decided to highlight the biodiversity of the site, and in collaboration with the South Bohemian region and the city of Strakonice, and with funding from NET4GAS, created an educational trail into the heart of this green oasis.

26.08.2019 Let us invite you to the opening of a new educational trail Tůně u Hajské, which will take place on Friday, August 30, at 1 pm near the village of Hajská near Strakonice. We will take you through the 95th NET4GAS Closer to Nature site, this time a natural monument with dozens of pools and wetlands that provide the environment for many protected plants and animals. We look forward to meeting you there. 49°15'34.340"N, 13°57'0.285"E

07.06.2019 The Cattle Trail is becoming a major thoroughfare: after last year's festive opening of the first waystation – Banner's Well – today marks the addition of another three: Sedlnice Snowdrops, Roveň Forest, and the Sad Tale of the Old Na Lapači Road. In this manner, the Czech Union for Nature Conservation (ČSOP), drawing upon the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme, has launched a project that will keep it busy for several years, and that focuses on the restoration and unique interpretation of natural and cultural heritage within the corridor known as the Oxen Trail – an ancient pastoral route that centuries ago connected the Krakow area to Vienna.

07.06.2019 The Raduň Wetlands, with their system of pools, are found on the northern edge of Raduň, a municipality a few kilometres south of Opava. As little as 15 years ago, it was non-existent – today, it is a vital sanctuary for numerous amphibians and other protected wildlife. How and why the Raduň Wetlands came into existence, and what hidden wildlife treasures can be discovered here, can be gleaned from newly installed info panels and other educational elements, courtesy of the NET4GAS programme Closer to Nature.

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.