Czechia Tallies Results of Rare Gentian Count

The Nature and Landscape Protection Agency of the Czech Republic (AOPK ČR) has released the first results of its annual nationwide count of rare gentians. Despite a severe summer drought that has left meadows in many regions short, sparse and parched, some sites turned up a surprisingly large number of flowering plants.

Drought thins out the meadows

This year, slow grass growth meant that in some places the spring mowing was skipped altogether — yet the meadows still ended up low and dry, and some gentians withered before they even flowered. According to AOPK ČR, the situation is nonetheless noticeably better than during the extreme droughts of 2015 and 2018.

A record and sharp swings at Kopičácký Pond

The richest site in the country for the marsh gentian remains the Kopičácký Pond national nature monument. The first few dozen flowering plants were found there back in 2009, and six years later their number had grown to 126. A real boom came in 2024, when 41,688 gentians bloomed there — but just a year later the count had fallen to 7,634, and this year specialists counted 16,191 flowering plants. "Such sharp year-to-year fluctuations in numbers are typical for gentians," explains Helena Neuwirtová, coordinator of AOPK ČR's nature conservation programmes.

Why gentians nearly disappeared

Gentians, the agency explains, nearly vanished from Czech nature along with their traditional keepers — sheep, goats and regular haymaking: without grazing and mowing, meadows are quickly overtaken by stronger competitors. The Kopičácký Pond reserve is maintained by AOPK ČR, where the grass is mown regularly and the soil is further loosened by the hooves of grazing animals, which helps the seeds germinate.

Separate rescue programmes are in place for three gentian species in Czechia. "We focus above all on caring for the sites where gentians still grow, and we also carry out research and monitoring of all known locations. We are reintroducing carefully timed mowing and grazing, and loosening and raking out the sward so that gaps remain in it and the moss layer doesn't grow too thick," says Jana Neuwirtová of AOPK ČR.

Where else gentians grow

The Bohemian gentianella is now found at 41 sites, mainly in the Šumava area and the foothills of the Novohradské hory. The marsh gentian survives at the last 59 locations — chiefly in the lowlands and hills of Czechia — while Sturm's rough gentianella grows in only eight places in the west of the country. The protection of these rare plants is also supported by the European Prospective LIFE project.

Around Prague, based on reporting by ekolist.cz