Nature protection in the Czech Republic

The protection of nature in the Czech Republic is governed by the Law on Nature and Landscape Protection (Act No. 114/1992 Coll.) which addresses general nature and landscape protection (which deals with protection of the inanimate part of nature – protection of caves, careful use of natural resources, protection of woody plants outside the forest, etc.) and Special Nature and Landscape Protection orientated towards territorial protection and protection of flora and fauna.

Examples of woody plants protection outside the forest are memorable trees. Trees (or alleys) of extraordinary stature or age, trees that have a special habitus (general appearance), trees that are landscape landmarks, or trees reminiscent of a particular historical event or legend or trees accompanying a cultural monument (chapel, church, wayside shrine, natural spring). They are marked by signs with a small state emblem and the inscription memorable tree.

Territorial protection particularly deals with specially protected areas which we distinguish according to their size as either large-scale or a small-scale protected areas. Large protected areas are national parks (NP, see Fig. 5) and protected landscape areas (PLA, CHKO in Czech, see Fig. 5, 6). In the Czech Republic, there were 4 national parks and 25 protected landscape areas declared.

(http://www.ochranaprirody.cz/res/archive/300/036902.pdf?seek=1465902980).

Among the small-scale protected areas belong: National Wildlife Sanctuary (NPR), National Natural Monument (NPP), Nature Reserve and (PR) Natural Monument (PP).

Specially protected areas are marked with a sign showing the national emblem and a designation of the relevant protection category and its name.

The second main direction of nature conservation is species protection. It is dealt with by Decree 395/1992 Coll. (http://www.nature.cz/publik_syst2/files08/vyhlaska_395_1992.pdf)

It distinguishes three categories of protected species: § 1 – Critically endangered species, § 2 – highly endangered species and § 3 – endangered species.