The Protected Landscape Approach - Centre for Mediterranean ...

The Protected Landscape Approach: Linking Nature, Culture and Community
However, while the Jizera Mountains Protected Landscape Area and Frýdlantsko region are
typical of Sudetenland regions in the Czech Republic, the White Carpathians region (on the
Czech-Slovak border) did not experience such a drastic population shift in modern history. 2
The clearances and resettlement of populations in Sudetenland regions such as Frýdlantsko
during the middle of the twentieth century have had an impact on its landscape and social
dynamics, and these pose special challenges to involving communities in stewardship.
Through two case-studies of protected landscapes in the Czech Republic we explore
differences and common features of landscapes with dramatically different post-war histories.
The differences include continuity of settlement, social conditions and environmental chal -
lenges. What these two cases have in common is that they are pioneering rural sustainability by
testing various models of partnerships between local communities, land-owners, farmers,
entrepreneurs, NGOs and state administration. In both regions, the role of NGOs has shifted
significantly over the last decade from watchdog and nature conservation management to more
proactive innovators and coalition-builders for sustainable development at the regional level.
The landscape of the White Carpathians
Stretched along the Czech-Slovak border at the western edge of the Carpathian Mountain
range, the White Carpathians are a patchwork landscape of rolling mountains, fields, deciduous
forests, fruit orchards and flowering meadows. The area’s unique cultural and natural features
have gained it international recognition as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (1986), and desig -
nation at the national level as a Protected Landscape Area (1979–1980). Today (following the
sep ara tion of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic in 1992) the CHKO Bílé Karpaty/Biele
Karpaty is a transboundary Protected Landscape Area, in keeping with a Category V desig -
nation, and encompassing 435km 2 of cultural landscape on the Slovak side and 715km 2 on the
Czech side.
Centuries of human settlement and cultivation have shaped this region and its landscape,
best known for its traditional hay meadows, 250 varieties of fruit trees, and over 30 rare species
of orchids. The landscape and its features have, in turn, left a deep imprint on the lifestyles of
the people in the area, shaping their livelihoods and their vibrant culture and traditions. Under
Communism, part of the area was spared the social and ecological effects of the regime’s
campaign for collectivization and industrial agriculture. Since 1989, accelerated changes in the
region have led to the collapse of agriculture and local industry. Unemployment in many
villages is high and, drawn by new opportunities elsewhere, young people are leaving the area.
The two larger cities of the region, with their relatively low unemployment rates of around 8%,
attract people from the poorer villages, but even this migration does not stop the net population
loss from the region as a whole. Those who remain typically are not inclined to continue
2
The social situation of of the present-day Czech Republic has been strongly influenced by de -
velopments after World War II. As a result of both international agreements and national decisions,
most of the German citizens from border areas with a majority German population (the so-called
Sudetenland) were forced to leave their historical homes. New settlers came to live in the area, without
any relations or roots there. The centuries-long continuity of families in these mostly rural areas was
severed in a year, and still, almost 60 years later, there are significant differences between the
Sudetenland regions and other regions of the Czech Republic, where continuity had not been
interrupted.
134