Soutok in South Moravia: saving old oaks and a rare jewel beetle

In the Soutok protected landscape area in South Moravia, work continues to save old oaks and the rare oak jewel beetle. According to the area's administration, many old oaks are already nearing the end of their lives.

Tree mortality is rising because forests have become too dense and the groundwater table has dropped, a result of deepened river channels and a lack of rainfall. To grow the next generation of mighty trees, conservationists agreed with foresters long ago to leave trees standing in felled areas and to free them from neighbouring thickets.

Where work is under way

In the Soutok forest district the work is almost complete. Specialists are also treating trees in the Tvrdonice and Mikulov forest districts. The rescue programme for the oak jewel beetle also relies on these steps: this rare beetle depends directly on sunlight reaching trunks and branches.

The Moravian Amazon

The Soutok protected area was established in summer 2025 and is home to many species of plants, animals and fungi. In 2018 a new beetle species was described here, the Moravian skin beetle. The area has the country's richest population of rare butterflies, as well as 80 percent of the local fish species. 250 bird species live here, 140 of them nesting, including the rare eastern imperial eagle.

The area covers 125 square kilometres. It lies on the border with Austria and Slovakia around Břeclav and Lanžhot. The territory is called the Moravian Amazon.

Around Prague, based on reporting by ekolist.cz