St. Vitus Guild educational trail reopens after 13 years
The educational trail, which leads through a section of a former military training area, is about one kilometre long and is punctuated by a total of nine info panels. Starting near the northwestern corner of the Cech motocross track (49.9330028N, 12.6363897E), 150 m south of the road from Drmoul to Tři Sekery, it runs along the country road for about 250 m before making a right turn and taking visitors over footpaths and boardwalks to a gazebo at the very heart of the area. Bold hikers with sturdy footwear won’t have to retrace their steps to get back to the road: departing from the gazebo at the end of the trail, they may instead venture out “into the wild” heading east, where they have the opportunity to spot a fair number of natural ponds, overgrown to various degrees, and to experience first-hand the rugged character of the local terrain.
What do we want to show people at St. Vitus Guild?
This area, which life science considers invaluable thanks to its diversity, was brought into being by military activities. One finds small pools of water, dry hillsides and bushes that are home to a large number of fascinating and rare animal and plant species. Some of them are featured by the educational trail. In addition, the info panels explain why human intervention is important: mowing, cutting back shrubbery, grazing livestock, excavating ponds, or indeed navigating the terrain with quad bikes. In this way, the trail seeks to debunk the myth of pristine nature. To the contrary: the rich local diversity of species is conditional upon similar interventions, and would otherwise cease to exist. “We are engaging in these interventions on a volunteer basis, and anyone who wants to join us is very much welcome. We do hope that our educational trail may, among other things, attract new prospective volunteers for conservationist work,” says Kateřina Dvořáková of ČSOP Kladská.
Why the re-opening?
The educational trail was built in 2011 by the Berkut chapter of the ČSOP as part of the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme. However, the trail has since been subject to the ravages of time. “Our friends from ČSOP Berkut currently have their hands full, particularly with the rejuvenation of the Bečov botanical garden, which is why we agreed with them that our Kladská chapter would adopt and refurbish this trail,” explains Kateřina Dvořáková. “Landscapes change over time, and so does our understanding of how to interpret our natural heritage, which is why we decided to take on this renovation project from the bottom up, changing both the contents and the graphic design of the info panels.” To make them particularly sturdy, the environmentalists opted for special direct metal printing. These panels ought to last for the next twenty years. They also rerouted part of the educational trail. This refurbishment, like the original trail, was able to draw on financial support from the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme. Then, as now, the boardwalk was commissioned by the municipality of Trstěnice.
