Dobročský prales, the Dobroča primeval Forest (source: Sme- Ján krošlák)
THIS YEAR Slovakia is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the creation of two of the country’s best known primeval forest reserves. The jubilee will be noted over the course of the year with many events including Forestry Days, the Environfilm movie festival and World Environment Day.
The forest reserves, Badínsky in the Kremnické Hills and Dobročský near Brezno are among the most important of Europe’s forest reserves sites. Both were created in 1913 when Slovakia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The head of the Slovak Nature Preservation Unit Milan Boroš said that the forests’ importance stems from their diversity, beauty and that the fact that they are natural laboratories where naturalists can trace the mechanisms of forest habitats and learn how they are impacted by changes in climate.
The Environment Ministry’s spokesman Maroš Stano told the SITA newswire that the celebrations will culminate in autumn with field workshops in both forests and a competition for best gamekeeper.
The TASR newswire wrote that the Badínsky forest’s natural reserve offers a unique demonstration of the highest stage of the evolutional systems of beech forests before they were impacted by human activities. The Dobročský reserve is a remnant of the Carpathian forests, which have evolved on Slovak territory for thousands of years including the so-called Dobroč fir which is among the most massive trees in Europe.
