We, the participants of the summer camp “ŠUMAVA 2003 – No forest, no future”, spent a week in the beautiful Czech mountains discussing the ways to help forests, working in the forests and hiking in the mountains. We were 37 people from 8 countries – Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Malta, Sweden and the Czech…
Tag: Sumava
Dealing with threats linked to forests
When dealing with the major threats to the forest there are a number of factors that must be taken into account. In this report we will discuss these threats, highlighting the principle ones. We will then look at the preventive measures in place at the moment and their effectiveness. To conclude we will suggest some…
Maltese Forests
It has been calculated through geological methods that during the Neolithic ages almost half of Malta was afforested. As soon as humans set foot on our islands, the effect on forests started being felt. Like other neighbouring Mediterranean countries men started herding goats. Thus men cut trees for his own use and goats ate everything…
Forest : raising awareness
Introduction We don’t have to stress the importance of education and raising awareness concerning nature topics. This things should be done all the time and towards every single living person on the planet. Of course there are already many projects, activities, campaigns etc. who do so. The problem is that these efforts usually only reach…
European and international policies on forest protection
A. SITUATION AT THE MOMENT In the world, 1/3 of the land is covered by forests. 9,4 millions hectare forest per year disappear. ¼ of the world’s population depends on forest resources for a living. In Europe, forests are growing slowly. 36 percent of the land is covered by forests. There is an increase of…
The biodiversity of forests
Biodiversity is the name given to the range or number of species or subspecies found in a particular area. Why is biodiversity so important? Because when a habitat’s biodiversity is disturbed it undermines the ecosystem. Biodiversity provides species for food, fuel, fibers and medicinal properties. The removal of one or two species from a food…
A cure-all for hangover
Neither shower, nor cabbage soup, nor any other natural or artificial means of mitigating hangover could have served as a better refreshment for the persevering few than Mr Frantisek Urban’s lecture on the last working day of our camp. ’What was his secret recipe?’ you may like to know. Well, the ingredients I noticed were…
Sumava : two speakers to be remembered !
For the participants of the Sumava summer camp, entitled “No forest, no Future”, Monday 4th August was crucial in developing their understanding of this national park. The previous day’s lecturer, Mr. Patrick Moldan, had highlighted the different approaches and attitudes taken to the Sumava National Park, and the political situation behind these attitudes. On Monday,…
My Sumava experience
We’d been travelling for about 3 hours on tiny, curvy roads in the middle of nowhere when the bus stopped. In spite of what everyone thought, it wasn’t because the old bus had given up on us, the reason it stopped was that we finally had gotten to Sumava. I was surprised when I saw…
No forest – No future
The Šumava 2003 project started in fact already in December 2002 at the annual FYEG meeting in Gent. The Czech Young Greens presented there their idea and seven other countries decided to join it. Then some countries withdrew but other joined. Thus at the preparation meeting in March 2003 in Prague met representatives of these…