NET4GAS Closer to Nature Program celebrates ten-year anniversary
This year marks ten years since NET4GAS began supporting nature conservation projects. Since 2007, when the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme was established, the company has helped dozens of non-profit organizations and projects for which the motto "Closer to Nature" is an integral element of sustainable development and social responsibility. For ten years now, NET4GAS has been the general partner of the Czech Union for Nature Conservation (ČSOP), who, as the company's expert guarantor, vouches for the appropriate use of the funds granted. The cooperation has enabled 80 sites of nature across the entire Czech Republic made available to the public, offering more than 600 accompanying features to visitors.
Why nature conservation?"NET4GAS is the exclusive operator of the natural gas transmission system, and natural gas is the most environmentally friendly of all fossil fuels. We have been developing a responsible policy of nature conservation that is at the heart of our business operations as well as of our corporate philanthropy programme 'NET4GAS Closer to Nature' – a programme that makes us one of the largest corporate donors in the realm of nature conservation in the Czech Republic," says Zuzana Kučerová, promotion specialist at NET4GAS.
The Czech Republic has an abundance of beautiful natural sites, but many of them are not accessible to the public, not a few are neglected, and not all of them are known. With this in mind, the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme seeks to support and promote the revitalization of such valuable sites, and to open them for ordinary citizens. In the words of Jan Moravec of the ČSOP: "The way to protect rare and valuable sites of nature is not to put up fences and prohibit access, but rather to get to know them, to adopt them, and to make them a source of pride." The idea behind the programme is not only to entice the general public into going out and exploring nature, but to awaken an interest in nature conservation, and to foster reverence and esteem for nature. The sites are oftentimes home to rare or endangered species of flora and fauna. NET4GAS thus contributes to the creation of educational trails, observation points, wooden walkways, or game elements in the great outdoors, as well as to the direct nature conservation and environmental education.
Since 2007, the Czech Union for Nature Conservation has, with the support of the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme, managed to build the following features at a total of 80 sites of nature across the country:
- 475 info panels
- 77 benches and other seating facilities
- 59 game elements
- 12 walkways made of cut logs
- 11 wildlife watching platforms
- 10 scenic lookouts / panoramic panels
- 8 canopied springs
- 6 geocaching hides
- 3 shelters for bivouacking
More information about the programme and about the sites that it has unlocked can be found on the website www.closertonature.cz, which serves as the communication platform for the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme.
