Petition: Save the Moravian Amazon

The phenomenon of large lowland rivers is significant here. It is the only natural habitat for several species of fish such as sterlet, White-eye bream, ziege (sabrefish), common zingel, streber, schraetzer (striped ruffe), Balon’s (Danube ) ruffe and Volga pikeperch (zander) or the gastropod Theodoxus danubialis. Rivers in the 20th century suffered fundamentally from the regulation and the construction of dams. The Dyje River was shortened from 52 to 42 km and the Morava River from 47 to 31 km in the Moravian Amazonia. The character of the river Dyje was at least partially retained as a meandering stream. At present, the greatest danger for this area is probably the Danube-Oder-Elbe canal which would lead to further degradation of the Morava River. Also efforts to construct weirs are threatening the area because they would further fragment the river. On the contrary, the revitalization of the rivers Morava and Dyje and the linking of dead arms with the main streams are desirable.

Also the wetlands are unique here. It is the only habitat for  Danube crested newt  or Carabus clatratus in the Czech Republic. Also it is the only place in Moravia where pan-European protected  Graphoderus bilineatus was found. The construction of dams and regulation of rivers are causing problems for wetland fauna and flora. The level of underground water level was decreased and the natural cycle of floods was changed. Small floods were reduced and large floods are coming irregularly which leads the wetlands to long draughts or long-lasting flooding.

Wet meadows are home to many unique plant and animal species. Large summer snowflake (Loddon lily) blooms here. The growths of Euphorbia palustris and Euphorbia lucida, both of them endangered and protected species, provide the only habitat for the even more endangered longhorn beetle Oberea moravica or to wasp-like butterflies Chamaesphecia palustris and Chamaesphecia hungarica. It is the only place in the Czech Republic where locust  Ruspolia nitidula survives.

Most of the meadows in the floodplain were ploughed during the intensification of agriculture. Before the area was leveled by mud, ground elevations (clods) covered a substantial part of the Moravian Amazonia. It is one of the reasons why the dry vegetation on the clods supports a wide range of unique plant and animal species even though the clods area is limited. We can find there Iris arenaria or it is also the last known locality of locust Platycleis montana or Anisoplia bromicola. The main risks to the remnants of xerophilous vegetation are afforestation (most of which have already been afforested by pine trees) and overgrowing by self-seeding vegetation. The remaining areas require sensitive and adequate care and it is necessary to increase the overall dry land area.

Forests cover most of the Moravian Amazonia and they are also their neuralgic point. In the past the density of the forests was low but when the intensification of forest and agricultural management began in the 19th century then the density of the forests started to grow. Even in the 1930s less than half of the forests of the Moravian Amazonia were sparse. Today it is barely 5% and thick and shady forests are spreading further. The area is unique on a European level by the amount of old trees, especially large oaks, and the endangered organisms which these trees are hosting. Pan-European protected species such as  stag beetle Lucanus cervus, great capricorn beetle, Osmoderma eremita or one of the most beautiful and most endangered European beetles Eurythyrea quercus are tied to these old trees. Of the hundreds of other species tied to old trees let’s mention at least antlion Dendroleon pantherinus and ant Liometopum microcephalum. Unique is also the flora of lichens and fungi. The Moravian Amazonia is also the last place in the Czech Republic where elm trees are still growing abundantly.  So all beetles solely tied to elms – five species of Eurythyrea, two species of longhorn beetles, two species of Curculionidae and five species of Scolitus – survive here as the only place in the Czech Republic. But the elms, especially the older ones, have been declining for a long time.

Big oaks and solitary elms disappear without replacement. They are a remnant of forest management that has not been practiced in the area for more than a century. Decreasing of old trees accelerates forest thickening and it is causing decreasing of groundwater level. Without proper forest management and planting of solitary trees on the meadows the old trees will soon disappear and the fauna and flora tied to them will soon disappear as well. But the main problem is extensive logging and agriculture. Most of the older growths have already been harvested and logging continues. Logging is usually followed by soil preparation for agriculture plantations. Only a small fraction of the forest area is protected from logging in the reservations. In the long term, the problem is the extensive agriculture which creates plantations and not forests in the full meaning.

The territory of the Moravian Amazonia is not effectively protected although it is part of the Lower Morava Biosphere Reserve (BRDM) and there are two wetlands of international importance (the so-called Ramsar Sites) and most of the territory is occupied by European important sites (EVL Niva Dyje, Lednice-zámek and Soutok – Podluží; together occupy 87.0% of the area) and three bird areas (PO Pálava, Lednice ponds and Soutok-Tvrdonicko). Only nature reserves and memorials where forest management can be regulated provide effective protection. But they occupy only a ridiculous fraction of the area. A total of 9 small specially protected areas have a total area of 316.6 ha, i.e. 2.2% of the area (in the capital city of Prague the area of protected areas is 5.59%)!

Efforts to protect the Moravian Amazonia date back to at least the 1970s. In the early 1990s the Moravian Amazonia was included in the original design of the Pálava Protected Landscape Area under the auspices of WWF. It was planned to announce a trilateral national park and so far the last futile attempt was six years ago.

Today it is negotiated a declaration of a network of small-scale specially protected areas (MZCHÚ), which should occupy about one third of the area of the Moravian Amazonia. However, their announcement (and the final form and scope) encounters slow action of conservation institutions and especially resistance of State Forests.