80th site within the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme opened
The end of the year need not be all about hectic Christmas preparations. There is always breathing room to be found, for instance, to celebrate the opening of a new Closer to Nature site – the eightieth of its kind, marking ten years of collaboration between NET4GAS and the Czech Union for Nature Conservation (ČSOP). The honour of this milestone anniversary goes to a site which has been named ‘Dry Feet through Water’: an interactive trail leading through a system of small bodies of water below the Pasíčka wildlife rescue station and environmental centre.
The site is found in Pasíčka near Proseč in the Chrudim area, and consists of a set of small bodies of water that are criss-crossed by a short, interactive trail: Dry Feet through Water. Visitors who make the journey will first be greeted by the facilities of the local wildlife rescue station. Walking around the shelter and down the hill, they come to the first pond with an info panel, and are invited to pull a scorecard from a box. Walking along the trail, visitors are quizzed on various matters and may enter their answers on the scorecard. What animals can be encountered locally? What are the various stages of amphibian development? Whose eyes and footprints are shown in the pictures? Those who take a good look around themselves might find that Mother Nature provides a lot of clues! All it takes is to be silent and watch, maybe from the wooden resting places installed around the ponds. If one is lucky, one may spot the kingfisher in flight, the grey heron as it hunts for aquatic prey, or the grass snake as it takes to the water, or hear the croaking of frogs. The last panel is for you to check whether you'd make a good biologist and observer of nature.
Thanks to funding from the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme, the members of the local ČSOP chapter associated with the ‘Pasíčka’ wildlife rescue station and environmental centre were able to create the trail Dry Feet through Water. “Our aim was to create a nature-like habitat right next to the rescue shelter, so that visitors might get to see animals who have made this place their home of their own volition,’ says Josef Cach, chairman of the organization.
“Ten years of being a general partner to the ČSOP and the 80th site of nature within the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme: such is the impressive track record of our collaboration,” commented Zuzana Kučerová of NET4GAS, and added: “Look forward to further sites in the new year, as our collaboration continues.”
The site is close to ‘Pasíčka’, a wildlife rescue station and environmental centre that lies about one kilometre to the north of the municipality of Proseč (49.8166875N, 16.1102861E).
Dry Feet through Water in the Trip tips section
