Authorities Seek to Keep Core of Maštale Nature Reserve Under Strict Protection

The Nature and Landscape Protection Agency has proposed keeping the core area of the Maštale nature reserve in the Chrudim region under strict protection as a nature reserve, while the surrounding buffer zone would be shifted to a more relaxed protection regime. This was announced by Josef Rusňák, director of the agency's East Bohemia branch.

Maštale is best known for its rock formations. The reserve covers more than 1,000 hectares between the villages of Proseč, Budislav and Přílouky and is crisscrossed by a network of hiking trails. The area was granted special protected status back in the 1990s.

What the agency is proposing

According to Rusňák, the rock formations and gorges themselves should remain a strict nature reserve, while the surrounding belt — mostly pine plantations used for commercial forestry — would be reclassified under the milder status of a natural monument. The agency justifies this split by pointing to the differing natural value of the two parts of the territory and the different forestry management each requires.

Earlier, the regional environmental department had considered an option that would have roughly halved the protected area. However, according to Martin Vlasák, head of the regional department, no concrete proposal is ready yet: the region is still consulting with landowners and the ministry, and reaching a final decision will take at least six months.

Litomyšl's position

The town of Litomyšl, which owns 180 hectares of forest within Maštale, has objections to the agency's proposal. Deputy Mayor Radomil Kašpar said the town would like to be able to carry out ordinary forestry work, including timber harvesting, on part of the territory — but the agency's proposal, in his view, turned out to be stricter than expected.

Until the region decides on revising the reserve's boundaries, the 2023 decree governing management rules in the various zones remains in force. In the most valuable Zone A, any intervention is completely banned, while in Zones B and C economic activity is permitted under certain conditions. Litomyšl is pushing for further easing of the rules specifically in these two zones so it can carry out necessary forestry work.

Petr Novák, head of Litomyšl's municipal forests, acknowledged that the current restrictions have seriously hampered the town's work: "We were essentially unable to do anything there. Every action required an exemption request, which took six months to a year to process, and by the time the permit was granted, it had already lost its purpose." He added that this also harmed the very thing being protected, since the town could not remove hazardous trees in time.

Around Prague, based on reporting by ekolist.cz