New Nature Reserve Established on the Ploučnice River in the Kokořínsko – Máchův kraj Protected Landscape Area

A new nature reserve, "Meanders of the Ploučnice and Svitávka," has been established within the Kokořínsko – Máchův kraj Protected Landscape Area, safeguarding the floodplain of the Ploučnice River between Bořeňov and the railway bridge on the Liberec–Česká Lípa line near Vítkov, the Czech Nature and Landscape Protection Agency reports.

This is one of the country's few remaining intact river floodplains, where, unlike most Czech rivers, the channel has never been artificially regulated, allowing the river to retain its natural dynamics. Besides the Ploučnice itself, the reserve also encompasses stretches of its tributaries, the Svitávka and the Hradčanský stream.

According to the agency, the area is home to numerous rare and protected plant and animal species, including several protected at the European level. The Ploučnice itself hosts a substantial population of the rare club-tailed dragonfly (Onychogomphus forcipatus), along with several species of stoneflies and mayflies, plus the freshwater pearl mussel, a tiny mollusk that survives only in clean, unregulated waters. Otters are regularly spotted along the river, and the floodplain is gradually being colonized by the European beaver. Several amphibian species breed in the river's oxbow lakes and backwaters, including the alpine newt and the European tree frog, a species rarely found in this region.

"The new nature reserve 'Meanders of the Ploučnice and Svitávka' marks the 30th small-scale specially protected area within the Kokořínsko – Máchův kraj Protected Landscape Area — a fitting gift for the 50th anniversary of its founding. This year, in fact, six of Czechia's protected landscape areas are celebrating round anniversaries. Their importance to nature, local residents, businesses, and tourists is being highlighted throughout the year by numerous events held under the banner of the 'Year of Protected Landscape Areas,' an initiative supported by the Czech Commission for UNESCO," said František Pelc, director of the Czech Nature and Landscape Protection Agency.

The reserve remains open to visitors. Since the vast majority of the new protected area was already part of the strictest, first-degree nature protection zone within the landscape area, practically nothing will change for ordinary tourists now that the reserve has been formally established.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by ekolist.cz