The awards were presented by František Pelc, Director of the NCA CR, and Michal Komárek, Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague.

The NCA CR Award went to Matyáš Malý for sustainable agricultural management in the České středohoří/Central Bohemian Uplands Protected Landscape Area (northern Bohemia) and his significant contribution to the extensive restoration of steppes in the Milá Nature Reserve [1]. Another recipient was the Czech Union for Nature Conservation Salamandr Local Chapter for 25 years of intensive nature and landscape protection, conservation and management in the Beskydy Mountains (northern Moravia and Silesia), particularly for the restoration of meadows, wetlands, and forests, and for bringing local people together in conservation and management of the mountain range [2]. On behalf of the recently deceased Tomáš Rothröckl, founder of the Podyjí/Thaya River Basin National Park (South Moravia), the award was accepted by his son Tomáš [3]. 

“In 2026, we are celebrating the Year of Protected Landscape Areas, as six of them are marking significant anniversaries. We want to show that nature cannot be protected in the long term without cooperation with the people who live in the landscape. This year’s awards are a perfect example of that. Matyáš Malý is a small-scale private farmer who has carried on a family tradition and contributes to the maintenance of the unique landscape in the Central Bohemian Uplands through his sustainable farming practices. The Czech Union for Nature Conservation Salamandr Local Chapter has been involved in the restoration of meadows, wetlands, and forests in the Beskydy Mountains for twenty-five years. And Tomáš Rothröckl has dedicated his entire professional life to protect, conserve and manage the Podyjí/Thaya River Basin landscape, while also playing a significant role in integrating Czech Republic´s nature conservation into international structures. They have all demonstrated how important activities at the local level are for maintaining nature and landscape heritage,” František Pelc, Director of the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, says.

The Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic Award aims to highlight notable individuals and initiatives that help improve the state of nature and the landscape within the country. A list of past winners is available at aopk.gov.cz/web/cz/cena-aopk-laureati.

Anyone can submit nominations for the next edition to the email address karolina.sulova@aopk.gov.cz.

Photo by Tomáš Junek

Notes:

[1] Matyáš Malý farms 135 hectares of agricultural land, a large portion of which he owns personally. His property includes Milá Hill (Nature Reserve, European Union´s Natura 2000 network´s Site of Community Importance), with adjacent grasslands at its foot. He has long collaborated with the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic and actively participates in landscape management. As part of landscape management programmes/schemes, he is restoring broad-leaved steppe grasslands on his own land and on leased land by cutting back self-sown trees, mowing, and practicing extensive grazing with sheep and goats, as well as building two pools; in the Škarpy (Hliniště) area, he actively supports an introduced population of European ground squirrels (Spermophilus citellus). The farmstead that serves as the base for his operations has been monitored long-term for the presence of the Barn owl (Tyto alba), which nested there as recently as 2015 and is currently observed there. As part of the LIFE+ Steppes of the Louny Uplands project, he participated in the extensive restoration of the steppes on Milá Hill and now maintains them through sheep and goat grazing.

[2] The Czech Union for Nature Conservation Salamandr Local Chapter is a professional nonprofit organization that has been protecting, conserving and managing nature and the landscape in the Beskydy/Moravian-Silesian Mountains for 25 years. From the very beginning, it has focused on conserving meadows, wetlands, and forests in the Beskydy/Moravian-Silesian Protected Landscape Area and the surrounding region; in the non-forested areas alone, it currently manages dozens of sites on a regular basis. In cooperation with the Oseva PRO Research Institute, it deals with maintaining seeds of local meadow species and reintroduce them to sites where restoring biodiversity would otherwise be unreasonably time-consuming or impossible. They involve a number of companies in volunteer planting efforts aimed at changing the forest structure. They also participate in long-term monitoring, particularly of butterflies, developed several exhibitions and also built some uniquely designed nature trails/educational paths. 

[3] www.casopis.ochranaprirody.cz/rozhovor/rozhovor-s-tomasem-rothrocklem-202501, mzp.gov.cz/cz/pro-media-a-verejnost/aktuality/archiv-tiskovych-zprav/odesel-tomas-rothrockl-1955-2026