Hrádek Park in Třebíč Now Features New Educational Trail
This municipal park was founded in 1926 by the local club for the beautification of public spaces, under the rather extravagant name of "Masaryk Jubilee Orchards On the Castle Hill". Its wooded part segues into a steep rocky slope, the top of which affords a beautiful view of the town's monuments on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This south-facing slope of the Jihlava River Valley is a unique showcase of the variegated plant and animal communities endemic to rocky steppe habitats. Endangered species of both flora and fauna have taken refuge here, chiefly among them the chequered blue. Praying mantises and blue-winged grasshoppers can be found in robust numbers.
"We've homed in on this particular site based on a study that sought to identify valuable spots of nature within town boundaries," commented Václav Křivan of the Kněžice Chapter of the Czech Union for Nature Conservation. "In recent years, we've been conducting a number of conservationist interventions at points of particular interest across Hrádek Park so as to curb the spread of black locust, an invasive species. We will continue to fight this arduous battle," Křivan added.
The first panel on the approx. one-mile circular trail is found at the park entrance on Hrádek Street, near the former Youth Centre, and informs visitors about the history of the park, and about the discipline of dendrology. Additional panels have been placed on the edge of the southern slope along the footpath, and describe the animals and insects living in the park. The next station on the trail, near the remnants of a bastion, gives a botanical account of the place. The final panel, informing visitors about the local geology, is found near the river in Hassek's Garden, from where there is a beautiful view of the rock massif.
"The NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme wants to entice people to venture out into nature, and instil in them a desire to protect it. This is not about pristine places far away from human dwellings – it applies equally to nature within an urban context, nature that will be experienced all the more frequently by locals," noted Zuzana Kučerová of NET4GAS, the general partner of the Czech Union for Nature Conservation since 2007. The educational trail at Hrádek Park is the 85th spot of nature made accessible to the general public by the Union within the context of the NET4GAS Closer to Nature Programme.
