Smolenice in winter. (source: TASR - Lukáš Grinaj)
We invited our copy editors to share their reflections on life in Slovakia over the past year. This letter is from Mark Taylor.
The first December weekend was a perfect time to remind me of some of the things I love about living in Slovakia. As I rode my bike along one of my usual routes over the Malé Karpaty, the sun shone brightly through the treetops, warming the road just enough to melt the frost ahead of me. In a couple of hours of riding, I saw more birds of prey than other vehicles. It’s genuinely a privilege to live within an easy commute of the capital city, but still close to the countryside, to real wilderness. Whether I am riding, or walking with my dogs, I regularly see deer or mouflon scattering through the woods. Occasionally in the higher mountains, we are lucky enough to spot the footprints of bears or even wolves.
This Christmas I travelled to visit my family, but at other times when visitors come to me, they are always impressed and delighted by the wildlife and the scenery here. The chance to be in a peaceful and unspoilt environment is just good for the health and the mind, even if you don’t see the owl or hear the woodpecker, there’s something precious about knowing they are around. But we must not take this for granted. Let’s choose to make this one of the country’s assets, to value and protect it.
My hope for the new year, and for the future of this beautiful country is that we will allow this wilderness to thrive. In an age when we see so many news reports about climate change and biodiversity loss, I feel Slovakia has the chance to be an example of sustainability. If we allow the hunting of wolves, or the clearing of forest for timber or new houses, then there may be short-term profit to be made, but the long-term losses will be dreadful. Slovakia’s natural heritage draws admirers from across the continent, and even further afield. We should value this and preserve it, just as keenly as we do a cobbled old-town square or the spires of a cathedral.
If you’d like to share your own letter to Slovakia for publication on our website, please send it to peter.dlhopolec@spectator.sk.
