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The Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences of CZU in Prague, together with Czech Television and other partners, filmed a documentary dedicated to the future of Czech forests. In it, leading scientists talk about the challenges today‘s Czech forests face and describe technologies that can help them on their way to regaining their health. The film premiere, with a voice-over by actor Aleš Háma, was broadcast by Czech Television on March 21 at 9:10 p.m. on ČT2.

Hydrogel, drones and bark beetle repellents, but also the largest forest fire in the modern history of the Czech Republic, which hundreds of firefighters fought for three weeks. The future of Czech forests, which in recent years have been struggling with the dangers of climate change, is in the hands of practical Czech foresters and scientists. A new documentary by the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, CZU in Prague, which was produced for Czech Television in cooperation with CZU Forests, Hradec Králové Municipal Forests, Olomouc Archbishop‘s Forests and Estates, and the Wood for Life Foundation, poses difficult questions regarding the health and sustainability of Czech forests, and finds answers to them not only in the world of current scientific discoveries and technologies.
„The documentary is mainly intended for the general public with an interest in nature. In it, we try to describe who foresters are and what their job is. At the same time, to present the current findings of forestry science, which play a key role in the future of our forests, in a comprehensible way,“ explained Professor Róbert Marušák, Dean of the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, CZU in Prague. „We need to tell people that foresters are definitely not pests, but quite the opposite. Without them, they would not have a number of services that are often taken for granted,“ added Milan Zerzán, Director of Hradec Králové Municipal Forests.
The film premiered on 21st March at 9:10 p.m. on ČT2. The documentary is now available to the public on the YouTube channel of the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences of the CZU in Prague and on the platforms of Czech Television. i„The date for the premiere was not chosen by chance. On 21st March we celebrate the UN International Day of Forests, and on this occasion it was more than appropriate to present to the public what current scientific knowledge is used by today‘s modern forestry in an era of changing natural conditions caused by ongoing climate change,“ explains the author of the film‘s topic, Radim Löwe from the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, CZU in Prague.

Scientists from the Department of Forest Ecology at the Czech University of Life Sciences are studying old forests in the Jizera Mountains, Brdy and Erzgebirge, which have preserved the history of the functioning and development of forest ecosystems. 

Watch HERE.

In the Czech Republic, timber is transported on forest roads and public roads. This is done by normal tractor units with semi-trailers or trailers, or by special timber lorries. There are currently almost 1,400 kilometres of motorways and 54,500 kilometres of main roads in the Czech Republic. In the light of these numbers, it may be surprising for some that the network of forest roads for transporting timber is almost 39,000 kilometres long. At the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences of the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, we realize that high-quality project preparation for the construction of forest roads has a fundamental influence on well-spent investments and on their long-term service life, which is why we deal with forest roads as part of our studies as well as science and research. We implement some projects directly in forests belonging to the Czech University of Life Sciences (Lesy CZU). 

Silviculture is a traditional forestry discipline that deals with the possibilities of influencing and regulating the development of forest stands to meet various human needs. These range from the production of renewable wood raw material to, for example, fulfilling the soil protection or recreational functions of forests. 

In the video, you will see the development of forest measurement equipment, from simple wooden tools to digital callipers. Now, tree measurement can be done using automatically controlled drones; these are able to fly through the forest and provide information about the position, height, and width of individual trees.

Due to global climate change, there are increasing demands on the development of technological processes and final products with the lowest possible number of negative impacts on the environment. The goal of the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, CZU is the development and production of wood-based products as a fully renewable raw material, using sophisticated production technologies. 

When human outdoor life came to a sudden halt during Covid’s lockdown, it seemed as if the time for nature’s reclamation of water, land and air had arrived. Penguins ventured for a walk on the streets of Cape Town. Nocturnal animals could be observed in broad daylight. Whales, undisturbed by the noise of ship engines, started to roam larger territories, finally able to communicate across much longer distances.

While nature and wildlife have at least temporarily profited largely from the global slowdown, its downside is felt by city dwellers like crows, that have suddenly found their reliable food source of trash cans to be empty. Presenting in-depth research of scientists from all over the world, this documentary reveals how animals have conquered deserted spaces, how their behavior has changed during and after the lockdown and what conclusions can be drawn for a peaceful and increasingly closer coexistence of humans and wildlife.

Trailer HERE.

African swine fever is a devastating disease of domestic and feral pigs, which has spread from Eastern Europe to the west since 2007. This disease causes almost 100% mortality, especially in domestic pigs. From a global perspective, it significantly affects domestic pig farmers and the pork market. This video shows how wildlife management science helped in the eradication of African swine fever in the Czech Republic. Scientific outputs represent a very important basis for crisis management. Their use in the fight against African swine fever in the Czech Republic is one such example. Based on scientific knowledge, new measures were applied and were very effective. Proof of this is that the crisis plans from the Czech Republic have been taken over up by most European Union countries. In September 2018, there was a case of African swine fever in a wild boar population in Belgium. The Belgian state authorities used the same model as in the Czech Republic and their approach was also successful. The last positive case of wild boar was found in November 2019, and it really looks like they managed to stop the infection. The Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences CZU in Prague continues to test measures for the spread of dangerous diseases of in wild animals and applies scientific outputs in practice.

This movie entitled "Borderless forest" was produced within the project SUSTREE "Conservation and sustainable utilization of forest tree diversity in climate change“, Project Number CE614 (Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE). The film draws attention to the current issue of the reproductive material transfer within Central Europe, especially to legislative barriers of transfer, but also points out the problematic sharing of evidence on available reproductive material. SUSTREE does not target the introduction of exotic forest tree species but rather recommends the use of adaptive capacities within domestic tree species that form the basis of currently developed delineation models. The extreme climatic conditions of recent years underline the need for wider European cooperation at the level of practical management of forests and shared registers of reproductive material.

How do primary forests deal with climate change? Will they be in danger in the future? As a result of extreme temperature increases, natural disturbances such as storms, droughts, fires and bark beetle attacks are increasing. Is this surge of natural disruption vital to the forest? In an effort to clarify this issue, we first looked into the past. How often did Boia Mica forests have to fight with bark beetle or drought over the centuries? And how fast these primary forests recover? The result is clear. We found that these ecosystems can recover quickly after disruption. Our data show that primary forests were often affected by disasters in the past. But primary forests did not suffer permanent damage. This amazing ability to regenerate is one of the main differences between primary forests and forests that are managed by people.