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strictly natural zones areas in order to cope with the calamity so as to allow its natural regeneration and reforestation. Foresters and municipalities, on the other hand,
prefer intervention, i.e. cutting down and then planting new trees. They believe that
Šumava has lost its status as wilderness due to the precedent of human interventions
and cannot cope by itself with the current situation (Bláha and Kotecký 2015).
3.1.2 Bark Beetle Attack
The traditional forestry approach to reduce the activity of the bark beetle was
applied in NP between 1995 and 2006. This involved the cutting down of infested
trees even in non-intervention zones, which lead to forest thinning or creating clearings. In 1999, Friends of Earth, along with scientists and several local people, organized a peaceful blockade impeding logging in Trojmezná Old Growth Forest—the
largest and most valuable remainder of an old growth montane spruce forest (Solar
and Galland 2002). Because of the blockade of logging, Friends of Earth stopped
extensive cutting in waterlogged natural forests around the Vltava river headspring,
one of most attractive places for tourists. The NP director was removed by his superiors and felling in non-intervention zones was restricted in the following years.
This approach was also applied in the case of windfalls which occurred after the
extremely strong Kyrill storm in 2007 (Bláha and Kotecký 2015).
3.1.3 Zonation
A new zonation proposal has recently been prepared and is undergoing debate.
According to the proposal, the area of non-intervention zones would rise to 27.7%
of the total area of the NP. It would comprise the stands left without human intervention for more than 5 years, including areas disturbed by the storm Kyrill in 2007 and
the subsequent bark beetle calamity (2009–2012). In view of a new enormous bark
beetle calamity in other parts of Czech Republic as well as in other Central-European
states, the administration of South Bohemia launched a campaign against the nonintervention management in Šumava NP once again in order to save the forests from
“apocalypse” due to the spreading of bark beetles from non-intervention zones into
neighbouring forests.
4 Discussion
Understanding and defining wilderness is not something stable like physical laws as
it is changing over time and from nation to nation as was mentioned in the first part
of the chapter. Wilderness means different things to different generations. The sixteenth century first settlers in the US perceived wilderness as something negative,
whereas the present generation values and protects the same places. The shift in the
Social and Economic Conditions for Wilderness Protection in Europe: Case of Šumava…
strictly natural zones areas in order to cope with the calamity so as to allow its natural regeneration and reforestation. Foresters and municipalities, on the other hand,
prefer intervention, i.e. cutting down and then planting new trees. They believe that
Šumava has lost its status as wilderness due to the precedent of human interventions
and cannot cope by itself with the current situation (Bláha and Kotecký 2015).
3.1.2 Bark Beetle Attack
The traditional forestry approach to reduce the activity of the bark beetle was
applied in NP between 1995 and 2006. This involved the cutting down of infested
trees even in non-intervention zones, which lead to forest thinning or creating clearings. In 1999, Friends of Earth, along with scientists and several local people, organized a peaceful blockade impeding logging in Trojmezná Old Growth Forest—the
largest and most valuable remainder of an old growth montane spruce forest (Solar
and Galland 2002). Because of the blockade of logging, Friends of Earth stopped
extensive cutting in waterlogged natural forests around the Vltava river headspring,
one of most attractive places for tourists. The NP director was removed by his superiors and felling in non-intervention zones was restricted in the following years.
This approach was also applied in the case of windfalls which occurred after the
extremely strong Kyrill storm in 2007 (Bláha and Kotecký 2015).
3.1.3 Zonation
A new zonation proposal has recently been prepared and is undergoing debate.
According to the proposal, the area of non-intervention zones would rise to 27.7%
of the total area of the NP. It would comprise the stands left without human intervention for more than 5 years, including areas disturbed by the storm Kyrill in 2007 and
the subsequent bark beetle calamity (2009–2012). In view of a new enormous bark
beetle calamity in other parts of Czech Republic as well as in other Central-European
states, the administration of South Bohemia launched a campaign against the nonintervention management in Šumava NP once again in order to save the forests from
“apocalypse” due to the spreading of bark beetles from non-intervention zones into
neighbouring forests.
4 Discussion
Understanding and defining wilderness is not something stable like physical laws as
it is changing over time and from nation to nation as was mentioned in the first part
of the chapter. Wilderness means different things to different generations. The sixteenth century first settlers in the US perceived wilderness as something negative,
whereas the present generation values and protects the same places. The shift in the
Social and Economic Conditions for Wilderness Protection in Europe: Case of Šumava…