The impetus for the day-long event was the long-awaited move by the Czech Society for Ornithology (CSO)—the presentation of its strategy for developing its bird parks in the coming years. There are currently four in existence, but ornithologists would like to establish a fully functioning bird park in every region in the Czech Republic by 2042.
The CSO introduced the idea of bird parks in 2006 and established the first one two years later. Today, it manages projects in eastern and northern Bohemia and in southern and central Moravia. In the oldest of them, the Josefovské meadows bird park near Jaroměř, the positive impact of these sites is already evident.
“Over the last 10 years, the number of bird species here has increased by a quarter, from 143 in 2012 to almost 200 species today. Among this number are rare and endangered species. For instance, for the common redshank the Josefovské meadows are the only nesting site in East Bohemia. The number of frogs and newts has increased exponentially, and endangered plant species are also thriving.” (Source: CSO press release, July 18th, 2022, author Věra Sychrová)
The meeting also focused on the recently published EU proposal for a comprehensive nature restoration law (more about it here) and how private capital could be involved in ecosystem restoration in the future.
This was the reason why the founder of Refugium, Prokop Svoboda, was invited to the meeting. We are very happy that we got this opportunity to share our views with our partners from the CSO, the Minister, and other participants.
(Opening photo – from left: CSO director Zdeněk Vermouzek, MEP Alexandr Vondra, CSO vice-chairman Tomáš Pospíšil, Minister of the Environment Anna Hubáčková, real estate entrepreneur Prokop Svoboda, manager of the Kosteliska bird park Gašpar Čamlík. Photo: Ludmila Korešová)