ABOUT VLS
Vojenské lesy a statky (VLS, Military Forests and Estates of the Czech Republic) is the second largest public state-owned forestry company in the Czech Republic and has more than 3 500 employees. It was established in 1928 and, with more than 90 years of tradition, it is engaged in forest management and hunting, as well as agriculture and fishing, in military districts and former military training areas. Thanks to this specific use, these areas were spared from the bustle of civilisation for a long period of time. Their settlement density is therefore much lower than what is normal in Europe.
VLS manages more than 1 260 km2 of forest land. The unique territory under VLS management is part of the best forested areas on the continent, and it is home to a number of rare species of animals and plants. VLS also provides specialised services for the Czech Armed Forces, mainly securing military facilities.
For more info about VLS, visit their webpage.
LIFE ADAPT BRDY INVOLVEMENT
The initial task of the Military Forests and Estates of the Czech Republic (VLS CR) is to establish demonstration areas and update the concept of hunting management as a tool to significantly reduce the number of ungulates. Reduced numbers of animals will subsequently lead to the natural restoration of trees suitable for the habitat without the need to apply protection against animal damage. It is important that the forest transformation takes place with an emphasis on retaining water in the landscape. For this reason, a study of water retention in the landscape will be carried out with subsequent restoration of the selected spring to improve the water balance in the entire area of 22,600 hectares. A spring suitable for restoration will be selected following the example of the LIFE for MIRES project (LIFE Trans-Boundary Restoration of Mires for Biodiversity and Landscape Hydrology in Šumava and Bavarian Forest), which is implemented by Šumava National Park.