The Memorandum of Cooperation was signed on 23 June by Tomáš Vrška, Director of the Masaryk Forest School in Křtiny, and Dalibor Šafařík, Director General of the State Enterprise Forests of the Czech Republic. The agreement was created with the full support of Mendel University and the Ministry of Agriculture.
The School Forest Enterprise and the Forest Enterprise of the Czech Republic are united by the strategy of sustainable forest management with regard to their production and non-production functions, support for forestry education and the application of science and research in practice. All this, including consultation, education and promotion activities, will be reflected in the upcoming five-year cooperation. In the field of education and consultation, the plan is mainly to organise seminars, excursions and practical training using modern scientific knowledge.
“We are pleased that we can offer our colleagues from the Forests of the Czech Republic our experience in forest adaptation to climate change. New models of non-grazing, nature-friendly management are being tested in our research areas and then in operational practice. The fact that our colleagues, after training, will apply these models in normal operational practice on the state property entrusted to them will fulfil one of the missions of the school forest enterprise for which it was established a hundred years ago,” said Tomáš Vrška about the upcoming cooperation.
“There are a lot of common themes. But I see the cultivation of mixed and species-diverse forests prepared for climate change as crucial. This involves the maximum use of creative natural processes, the application of appropriate management models according to habitats and conditions, including grazing, as well as appropriate modern methods of rearing forest stands,” said Dalibor Šafařík. “I expect mutual inspiration and joint discussions on current topics such as increasing the biodiversity of forests or fulfilling the recreational function of forests,” he added. According to the Director General of the Czech Forests, the Memorandum is another expression of the “Lesočeska” support for forestry education and, through annual grants, for science and research, whose findings are applied in practice.
The Masaryk Forest School in Křtiny is part of the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology at Mendel University in Brno. The forest land of MENDEL covers an area of 10,205 hectares and forms a continuous complex immediately adjacent to the northern edge of the South Moravian metropolis. The forests are located at an altitude of 210 to 574 metres and are characterised by a considerable variety of natural conditions. At present, deciduous woods predominate with a representation of around 60 %.
The forests of the Czech Republic manage more than 1.2 million hectares of state forests, i.e. less than half of the country’s forests, and 38 000 kilometres of watercourses and streams.
Contacts for further information:
Monika Pevná, PR of ŠLP Křtiny; +420 607 937 551; monika.pevna@slpkrtiny.cz; Eva Jouklová, press spokesperson of Lesy ČR, s.p.; +420 725 257 900; eva.jouklova@lesycr.cz