In November, a field workshop was held for the students of the fifth year of the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences at the CZU Prague.
During the field training, students travelled across the entire Brdy part of the Hořovice division of Military Forests and Estates of the Czech Republic, from east to west. At seven stops, practical demonstrations of more close-to-nature methods of forest silviculture were prepared according to the principles proposed by the LIFE Adapt Brdy project methodologies. These ranged from cultivation practices in establishing stands in severely damaged areas, through nursery management in young stands up to 40 years old, logging activity in maturing stands, to forestry measures in reforestation, with maximum emphasis and support for natural regeneration and the use of replanting. The workshop ended at a demonstration facility where the transition to selective management is demonstrated.
Throughout the excursion, the emphasis was on the fact that close-to-nature management practices must be seen as comprehensive landscape management. Forest managers must balance game numbers with the forest ecosystem. There is also a need to manage water and increase the retention capacity of forest stands.