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This environmental fact opens the door for an attack against National Park management and argues for the free intervention in core zones on behalf of protection of
the Green Šumava wilderness construction. To save Šumava Mts. means to maintain
the whole area by human intervention and by the way to ensure individual economic
and political benefits to a group of interested politicians and/or landowners.
There occurs following key duality points that exist in excited debate about wilderness in Šumava Mts. showing the power of this cultural construction and its
misuses.
4.1 Wilderness Under Human Control
The paradox of dualism grows into a curious situation when many people and foresters do not believe in the power of the wilderness to regenerate itself without the
help of man. This “help” means to cut down trees after a bark beetle attack, applications of pesticides, etc.
Dualism in the cultural construction of wildness in Šumava Mts. takes the paradoxical form of arguments against the existence of National Park as such, against
the Park management as well as against the Ministry of Environment. It has gained
political support in the post-communist economic lobby, including some majors of
local villages in Šumava Mts. Nature needs our help fits into our cultural construction of what should be the “right” wilderness in Šumava Mts. Nature without human
intervention is weak and nature in great transformation is not what we want to see
and consume.
4.2 Wilderness Is Endangered by Strong Protection
The discourse in newspapers use wording like “bark beetle apocalypse” in headlines. This has been repeated several times by the governor of the South Bohemia
region where the Šumava Mts. are located. “Thousands of dead hectares”, “We can’t
handle calamity” are the other headlines in Czech newspaper (MF Dnes 2019a, b).
The fact that the forest is spontaneously regenerated does not fit into this picture and
even fake photographs of the core zones have been used.
4.3 Cultural Construction of Wilderness in Šumava Mts.
Is Static
There are no natural processes like an extinction of one ecosystem, its transformation and natural restoration in the politically presented construction of Šumava Mts.
In this construction, there are no natural disturbances such as destroyed forests after
Social and Economic Conditions for Wilderness Protection in Europe: Case of Šumava…
This environmental fact opens the door for an attack against National Park management and argues for the free intervention in core zones on behalf of protection of
the Green Šumava wilderness construction. To save Šumava Mts. means to maintain
the whole area by human intervention and by the way to ensure individual economic
and political benefits to a group of interested politicians and/or landowners.
There occurs following key duality points that exist in excited debate about wilderness in Šumava Mts. showing the power of this cultural construction and its
misuses.
4.1 Wilderness Under Human Control
The paradox of dualism grows into a curious situation when many people and foresters do not believe in the power of the wilderness to regenerate itself without the
help of man. This “help” means to cut down trees after a bark beetle attack, applications of pesticides, etc.
Dualism in the cultural construction of wildness in Šumava Mts. takes the paradoxical form of arguments against the existence of National Park as such, against
the Park management as well as against the Ministry of Environment. It has gained
political support in the post-communist economic lobby, including some majors of
local villages in Šumava Mts. Nature needs our help fits into our cultural construction of what should be the “right” wilderness in Šumava Mts. Nature without human
intervention is weak and nature in great transformation is not what we want to see
and consume.
4.2 Wilderness Is Endangered by Strong Protection
The discourse in newspapers use wording like “bark beetle apocalypse” in headlines. This has been repeated several times by the governor of the South Bohemia
region where the Šumava Mts. are located. “Thousands of dead hectares”, “We can’t
handle calamity” are the other headlines in Czech newspaper (MF Dnes 2019a, b).
The fact that the forest is spontaneously regenerated does not fit into this picture and
even fake photographs of the core zones have been used.
4.3 Cultural Construction of Wilderness in Šumava Mts.
Is Static
There are no natural processes like an extinction of one ecosystem, its transformation and natural restoration in the politically presented construction of Šumava Mts.
In this construction, there are no natural disturbances such as destroyed forests after
Social and Economic Conditions for Wilderness Protection in Europe: Case of Šumava…