A new Eco Centre is operating in the recreation area of Bratislava's Kamzík.
It will serve as a background for organising various courses and seminars related to nature protection for schools and the general public. The surrounding area also opened - an arboretum with dozens of rare trees, said Dagmar Schmucková, spokesperson for the capital.
Environmental education
Thanks to the new centre, the Municipal Forests company in Bratislava gained space for developing forestry pedagogy. The created lecture rooms will also be used for professional lectures or seminars on forestry topics.
"The idea of creating an eco centre in Kamzík, where it would be possible to offer programs to schools or the public regardless of the weather, arose in 2015. Since then we have been intensively dedicated to forestry pedagogy," said Municipal Forests Director Marek Páva, as quoted by the SITA newswire.
Municipal Forests implemented the project as part of the INTERREG V-A SK-AT cooperation program, along with the Austrian Vienna and Daphne - Institute of Applied Ecology civic association. The project was mainly financed from European funds.
The Eco-Centre consists of a trio of interconnected buildings covered with wood. The building is low-energy and works with rainwater, which is retained and returned to nature.
Weekend events for the public
The centre will mainly be in operation on weekdays, during which courses for children from Bratislava schools will be held.
On weekends, it will offer activities for the general public. Courses, trainings and professional meetings will cover various topics, such as forest care, beekeeping, getting to know plants and animals, or the idea of supporting biodiversity in the the precious natural area of the capital city. For example, beekeeping courses for beginners are on the programme in May.
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The arboretum will be accessible for walks outside of the course, especially in the afternoon and on weekends. The garden consists of more-than-century-old trees that are rare, for our territory exotic, planted at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.
The garden was originally owned and the arboretum probably built by the Pálffy family. It was inaccessible to the public for years, but reopened with the construction of the eco-friendly centre.
"The arboretum is also a small educational trail where you can see various rare cypress trees, white firs, deciduous larch trees, Douglas firs and many other trees," added Bratislava's deputy mayor for the environment, Jakub Mrva, for SITA.
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