Sedmihorky wetlands - Example of good practice for water retention in the landscape
Published: Mar 22, 2023 Reading time: 3 minutesWater is becoming scarcer in the Czech landscape every year. Climate change brings periods of drought that we used to believe were restricted to faraway lands. Fortunately, there are many ways to retain water in the landscape and one of them may be the creation of a network of wetlands. The Sedmihorky wetlands near Turnov is an example of good practice.
As part of the LIFE WILL - Water in the Landscape and Soil project, which we launched with our partners last autumn, we took an excursion to the Sedmihorky wetlands on Friday 10th March. The purpose was to see an example of good practice for water retention in the landscape using a network of wetlands, i.e. using nature-based adaptation measures, as the project aims to do.
The Sedmihorky wetlands are located in a floodplain of the Libuňka River. In the last century, the local landowners tried to make economic use of the site, but due to the presence of several springs, the land remained waterlogged and was never usable. A few years ago, enthusiasts from the Sedmihorské mokřady Land Association decided to restore it to its natural state. They managed to restore 14 pools on less than six hectares, together forming a network of smaller and larger wetlands. Thanks to this restoration, the wetlands have become home to many species of birds, including ash cranes, amphibians such as tree frogs and fire-bellied toads, aquatic invertebrates such as molluscs, and insects.
The excursion to the Sedmihorky wetlands was attended by partner organisations the Beleco organisation and the he Association of Local Self-Governments of the Czech Republic , as well as the inhabitants of the Czech pilot villages where the LIFE WILL project is being implemented, i.e. Němčice u Kolína and Velvary in the Central Bohemia Region. The participants had the opportunity to see how to work with water in the landscape, how technically demanding the implementation of such a wetland is, and what kind of administration is needed to run it successfully.
Field trip to Sedmihorky wetlands
The LIFE WILL - Water in Landscape and Soil project is implemented by People in Need along with its partners Beleco z.s., the Association of Local Self-Governments of the Czech Republic and the Rural Parliament in Slovakia in three pilot municipalities throughout the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It aims to increase the resilience of inhabitants and agricultural landscapes to climate change by introducing nature-based adaptation measures at the local level. The project activities are funded by the and co-funded by the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic and the Central Bohemia Region.
