Keywords

1 Historical Background of the Current Composition of Czech Forests

The Czech Republic (CR) is an inland central European country located in a temperate zone. The current composition of Czech forests is not natural but it is a result of long-term historical development. The forests used to be a natural climax cover on the majority of Czech territory before the outset of agriculture (around 6000 BC). The development of agriculture triggered deforestation by burning them. The burning of forests took place particularly in the most fertile lowland areas and along the most important rivers. These areas are located in Polabí and Poohří in central Bohemia, and Podyjí, Úvaly (valleys) in southern Moravia (Kadrba & Bičík, 2010) where the low density of afforestation is evident up to the present (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
A map of the Czech Republic showing the distribution of forests.

A modified illustration Kde jsou v Česku lesy? by author Fakta o klimatu, licensed by CC BY 4.0. Available: https://faktaoklimatu.cz/infografiky/lesy-cr-mapa. Data source Copernicus—CORINE Land Cover, National Forest Inventory (Land Use) (Kde jsou v Česku lesy, 2022)

Distribution of forests in the CR from author Fakta o klimatu.

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Green color represents forests (36.8%), gray color stands for agricultural land (40.8%), grass vegetation (9.4%), settlements (8.6%), water areas and wetlands (1.3%), and others (3.0%).

Original forests consisted of oaks, beeches, and firs, which covered mostly highlands and mountains. Until around the tenth century, forests covered approximately 80% of the territory (Lipský, 1999). During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the population grew thanks to a prospering agriculture which resulted in the expansion of settlements to less accessible areas in higher altitudes which consequently implied deforestation of these areas (Beranová & Kubačák, 2010). An important milestone regarding the area of protection of forests came in 1350 when the constitutional project, Maiestas Carolina, was issued and prohibited the burning of forests (Ledvinka, 2020). Nevertheless, there was no additional care for the forests, and they were used only for logging, and grazing livestock. Their regeneration took place only in times of war, from which the most significant was the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648), and during disease epidemics (Beranová & Kubačák, 2010). Since the end of the seventeenth century, forests were heavily exploited by logging due to developing industry. During the Age of Enlightenment (eighteenth century), the first forest protection laws were created, but at the same time, natural deciduous forests were replaced by coniferous species, especially spruce, due to the demand for flat quality wood for construction purposes and developing industry.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, the afforestation of the Czech lands was historically the lowest (it accounted for less than 29% of the total surface of the country) (Jemelka, 2016). The trend of deforestation changed at the turn of the century and the number of forested areas started to increase which can be attributed to three main factors. Firstly, the development of fertilizers, pesticides, and breeding helped to gain higher production in smaller areas. Areas in less favorable conditions that were not used anymore were reforested. Secondly, wood was replaced by fossil fuels for heating purposes and by iron and concrete for construction purposes. And lastly, the creation of forest protection laws—e.g., a ban on grazing in forests, a ban on building houses from flammable materials, or an order to replace every felled tree with a newly planted seedling (Kadrba & Bičík, 2010).

During the nineteenth century, forests in the borderlands, highlands, and mountains benefitted from the development of transport because food started to be imported from more fertile lowlands, where it was easier and more efficient to cultivate. The end of the conflict with the German dictatorship caused leaving of German citizens from about a third of the Czech territory after WWII which also contributed to the afforestation of the borderlands as the abandoned territory was either naturally revegetated or intentionally grassed over and afforested (Zelinka, 2021). The rise of the percentage of the forest continued growing after the fall of communism. The food market opened up to competition from abroad, and the need for local production dropped sharply which resulted in decreasing the share of arable soil. Ecological services of forests began to be recognized and agricultural and ecological policies started to support afforestation. The main milestones in the development of the Czech forest are summed up in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2
A diagram showing the timeline of major milestones in the history of Czech forests, including the introduction of protection laws, expansion, deforestation, and afforestation. The image highlights the significant increase in the percentage of forested land from 20% in the eighteenth century to around 80% in the twentieth century.

Timeline of the main milestone in the history of the Czech forest. *c.–century

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2 Forestry and the Current State of the Forest in the Czech Republic

Currently, forest covers more than one-third (36.8%) of the country (Kučera & Adolt, 2019). More than 70% are coniferous forests consisting of 50% Picea abies; 16% Pinus sylvestris; Larix decidua, and Abies alba. 27% are deciduous species comprising mainly Fagus Sylvatica (9%) and Quercus robur (7%). The rest is composed of mixed forests.   The distribution of coniferous forests varies in individual regions. Approximately 53.79% of forests of the CR are owned by the state from which 44.4% are possessed by the state-owned enterprise (SOE) Lesy ČR (Forest of the CR, SOE) and the difference is divided between military division (4.70%) and Ministry of the Environment (3.65%) (Ministry of Agriculture, 2021).

Forestry has been interwoven with wood processing since long centuries ago making wood production a forestry priority (Vyskot, 2003). These circumstances shaped the composition and structure of Czech forests and up to this day, one of the main priorities remains commercial wood production. Despite this fact, the ecological importance of forests was acknowledged and since 1986 forest health has been systematically monitored throughout the CR as a part of the International Co-operative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (Forestry and Game Management Research Institute) . The consistent and coordinated monitoring of forest health at the European level was triggered by the sharp deterioration of forest health in European countries in the early 1980s which was a result of the long-term harmful effect of air pollution (Ministry of Agriculture, 2019). Notwithstanding the improvement of the air quality and related impact on the forest state, the Czech forestry sector has been experiencing a complicated situation in recent years. The main harmful factors can be divided into abiotic and biotic. Abiotic factors were primarily the aftermath of storms and winds which had caused tree uprooting in large areas, and the drought. The biotic factors were presented by damage caused by the outbreak of bark beetle. The damage inflicted by biotic factors was substantially higher than by abiotic factors (Knížek & Liška, 2020). Since coniferous monocultures did not support ecosystem stability, the vitality of the Czech forest was debilitated within the whole country and the outbreak of bark beetle reached a calamity state in almost all the regions (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3
Four photos. The first is of a thick growth of thin-stemmed trees. The second and third photos depict the damaged tree, and the fourth photo is of a large area of land with very few trees.

Bark beetle infection in a spruce monoculture a monoculture of Picea abies; b a tree infested by bark beetle; c bark fallen off infested trees; d aftermath of bark beetle calamity

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3 Forest Fires and Their Incidence in the Czech Republic

The Fire and Rescue Service of the CR defines a forest fire as a fire in the natural environment. Namely, fires of forest cover, bush and dry grass that are uncontrolled, and freely spreading in mentioned settings. It is also a fire that breaks out in a forest and spreads in the forest and to other forest lands or breaks out in other lands and spreads into a forest and other forest lands (FRS of The Moravian-Silesian Region, 2022).

Firefighters in the CR consider forest fires as one of the most difficult kinds of fires to extinguish due to the large and often inaccessible areas fires can spread on, a potentially insufficient amount of water at the site of the fire, low bearing capacity of forest roads and the terrain, and possible abrupt change of climatic conditions (wind) (Francl, 2007). From a point of view of extinguishing fires, CR benefits from a densely fragmented landscape which is culturally managed and forests form usually smaller units. A rich network of forest paths and relatively populated rural areas also contribute to the timely detection of fires. Thanks to the above mentioned, forest fires do not usually reach catastrophic dimensions and consequences as in drier or more forested European countries. The average size of a burnt area during a forest fire is approximately 0.35 ha, but mostly smaller than 0.05 ha (Holuša et al., 2018). FRS officially started to record the data about wildfires in 2006; however, until 2011 the data must be taken with discretion as they varied among individual regions as far as fire locations logging is considered (Špulák, 2022). Figure 4 depicts fire incidence and burnt areas during the years 2006–2021. Both regression lines (blue line for the number of fires; red line for the burnt area) show an increasing trend.

Fig. 4
A bar and line graph depicts the number of fires and the burned areas in hectares from 2006 to 2021. The highest number of fires reads at 1900 in 2020.

Fire incidence and burnt areas during years 2006–2021 based on data from Statistical Annual Report by FRS CR 2012, 2021, Czech Republic, available: https://www.hzscr.cz/clanek/statisticke-rocenky-hasicskeho-zachranneho-sboru-cr.aspx

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The number of fires has a noticeably increasing tendency in the monitored years, which shows that the conditions for the occurrence of fires are more favorable. The causes of this trend can be found both in more frequent periods of drought, in the poor condition of forest vegetation, and the calamitous occurrence of bark beetle. Forest vegetation exposed to an unfavorable water regime, and also to pests, dies faster and biomass suitable for the creation and spread of fires accumulates in the forests.

The total burnt area grows considerably more slowly over the same period. It can be assumed that the slow increase of the total burnt area is currently being limited by the quick and efficient activity of the FRS CR. It is the speed and effective extinguishing of forest fires that can be decisive for a slower increase in the total burnt area. However, the capacity of the FRS CR is heavily exploited by the increasing number of fire incidents, and it may be only a matter of time before this capacity will be exhausted. The CR does not have recent experience with large-scale forest fires. The condition of the forests, changing climatic conditions and the workload of the FRS CR create hazardous conditions for the spread of this kind of forest fire.

Concerning devising forest fire preventive approaches, it is important to factor in that the incidence of forest fires in CR is not evenly distributed throughout individual regions. The collected data by FRS CR demonstrates that the number of fires in individual regions differs and is variable over time. In the long term, the highest absolute number of forest fires has been registered in Ústí Region, followed by the Central Bohemia and South Moravian Regions. However, the absolute number of fires does not provide comparable values; therefore, the conversion to relative numbers of fires is necessary and the absolute number must be recalculated per inhabitant. Even after the conversion, the Ústí Region remains the region with the highest annual number of fires but is followed by Karlovy Vary and Liberec regions (Špulák, 2022). These three regions are in the northern part of the CR and are specific by high afforestation and mountainous rugged terrain with difficult accessibility (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5
TA map of the natural forest areas. The legend marks the extent of afforestation from less than 20% to 60% and more. The northwestern borders include 60% and more of afforestation. Some of the regions marked include Poohri, Liberec Region, and Usli Region.

Source The most recent research of the National Forest Inventory (2011–2015), published in 2019. (Lesnastost v přírodních lesních oblastech, 2022), available at: https://faktaoklimatu.cz/infografiky/lesnatost-plo

Map of natural forest areas (NFA)–NFA is an area determined by the state and characterized by similar growth conditions for a forest, e.g., climate, soil composition, and terrain.

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Owing to the location and latitude of the CR and its geomorphological character, a large part of the country represents less fire-prone environmental zones (Trnka et al., 2021). The most common wildfires are surface fires. They account for more than 90% of all fires. There is less than 1% attributed to crown fires; however, their aftermath is usually enormous. Ground fires happen sporadically in the CR (less than 1%) (Holuša et al., 2018). The most frequent cause of wildfires in the CR is human carelessness proceeding from not complying with legislative or preventive regulations. Worth mentioning is smoking in the forest and discarding cigarette butts, disrespecting the ban on setting fires in the forest and their subsequent insufficient extinguishing or improper disposal of garbage (thrown glass, plastic film or metal) which can serve as an ignition trigger under certain circumstances (Francl, 2007).

4 Legislative Framework Related to Forest Fires in the Czech Republic

The European Union (EU) does not have a unified policy for the forestry sector; therefore, the forest management and fire policy fall under the national competencies of individual member states (European Parliament, 2022). The area of wildfires is legislatively covered by 3 acts in the CR namely: Fire Prevention Act, Forest Act and Construction Act. While the Forest Act delimits activities that are forbidden in the forest, the Fire Prevention Act focuses on fire prevention, obligations of the natural and legal person and tasks assigned to state authorities (Holuša et al., 2018). The extinguishing of fires is covered by a strategical document Fire tactics issued by the Directorate of FRS CR (Pecl et al., 2021) and “Guidelines for aerial firefighting of the forest fires” which is an agreement between the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of the Agriculture (Špulák, 2019). The part of the Construction Act related to the forest fire can be seen in a figurative sense in granting permission to locate constructions and buildings on forest land or within a 50 m distance from the forest.

Various regulations are emerging from the mentioned laws that are not fully followed, or their compliance has not been checked for years. For this reason, many forest fires also damage property and endanger human lives. The prevention strategy should focus on compliance with legal regulations, i.e., checking the areas where buildings and constructions are located close to forests. During a recent forest fire in the National Park Czech Switzerland (located in Ústí Region) which took place in August 2022, several villages had to be evacuated because they were at immediate risk of fire due to their location near forested areas. This proves non-compliance with the regulation arising from the Construction Act on the location of buildings. From the historical photographs, it is evident that the surroundings did not use to be as forested as they are now. The area was not maintained for long years and so the environment changed into a high fire risk environment which was confirmed during the fire.

5 Executive Body—Fire and Rescue Service of the Czech Republic and Forest of the Czech Republic, a State-Owned Enterprise

In practice, it is the FRS CR that deals with extinguishing wildfires, and the State-Owned Enterprise Forest of the CR, SOE that focuses on forest fire prevention. FRS CR consists of 14 regional Fire and Rescue Services, including the Capital City of Prague Fire and Rescue Service. A major part of the resources appointed for fighting wildfires is organized on a regional basis as well (Špulák, 2019).

5.1 Fire and Rescue Service of the Czech Republic

Till 2013, the firefighting equipment was relatively obsolete with items dating back to 1970. The change started to occur after 2013 when FRS CR began to implement projects focused on the restoration and purchase of modern innovative technology designed to increase the quality of solutions during extraordinary events and natural disasters. These projects were co-financed by the EU up to 85%. A large amount of equipment was acquired (Horník, 2017). The most important for forest fire fighting were command cars, all-terrain vehicles, refueling containers for large-volume firefighting, armored vehicle for fire intervention in dangerous environments (with risk of explosion, natural fires) and thermal cameras. The firefighting equipment and resources are located throughout all the regions of the CR to guarantee the same quality, efficiency and timeliness of public services provided by the FRS CR to all the citizens in the CR (Horník, 2017). Securing fire protection on a territory of a municipality has historically been entrusted to the authority of the municipalities. Citizens were informed about the fire through a public announcement and were ordered to help extinguish the fire. Currently, the basic pillar of the system of Fire Protection Units coverage on a regional basis consists of regional fire rescue units, which are supplemented and supported to a significant extent by units of municipal volunteer fire brigades (Ministry of the Interior, 2014).

5.2 Forest of the Czech Republic, State-Owned Enterprise

Forest of the CR, a State-owned enterprise is concerned about the risk of forest fires. The situation has been intensified by climate phenomena and the bark beetle aftermath. Both factors resulted in altering microclimate conditions of many most affected areas where the space dries out easier and herbaceous layer accumulates due to overgrowing and so supports the spread of potential fires. The State-owned enterprise adopts the issue of forest fires comprehensively and employs both scientific and practical knowledge and experience. Scientific institutions and universities elaborated various certified methodologies. One formulates graduated adaptation and mitigation measures to reduce fire risk and the spread of fire in the landscape (Trnka et al., 2020) and devised an interactive application “Fire risk” which serves for detailed monitoring and prediction of risk of wildfires occurrence (Fig. 6). This tool uses Fire Weather Index (FWI) for prediction and is updated daily and it can be easily checked anytime publicly. FWI is used for the estimation of fire danger based on the calculation of a combination of meteorological conditions (FireRisk, 2022).

Fig. 6
An illustrative map depicts the risk of fire on February 20, 2022, with different colors indicating the different levels of fire risk in two specific locations in the Czech Republic, Brno, and Dolni Lipova.

Illustrative demonstration of Fire risk prediction on a specific day (February 20, 2022) in two places in the CR (Brno, Dolní Lipová). *Different colors represent the extent of fire risk (orange stands for medium fire risk and green for negligible fire risk)

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From a practical point of view, Forest of the CR, a State-owned enterprise focuses on optimizing collaboration with FRS CR to interchange and share information about the organizational structure of forests, maps of water source locations and forest paths usable in the event of a fire. It is also dedicated to a long-term project consisting of the ability of the landscape and forest to maintain and withhold water through reconstruction, revitalization, and construction of streams, standing water bodies and other water structures (Smetana, 2020). Another equally important field is the enlightenment and education of the public, forest visitors and children through media campaigns, information boards in the forest, discussions and games in schools, etc. (Berčák et al., 2018).

Strategies, i.e., conceptual tasks, goals, measures and recommendations, are developed based on analyses of previous forest fires. Since a very common forest activity—burning brushwood—was identified as the riskiest factor in terms of fire hazard, related internal regulations were updated and clarified and certain measures such as the total prohibition of burning brushwood in the period from the beginning of April till the end of October, and the rules for the supervision and subsequent control of pile-burning places, were introduced (Smetana, 2020).

The prevention of the spread of fires is carried out by the detection patrol service provided by the Forest of the CR, SOE which involves both land and aerial patrols. Aerial patrols are fully paid for by the Ministry of Agriculture, and since 2018 they have been used only for extinguishing fires due to their high costs.

6 Conclusion and Challenges

The issue of forest fires in the CR is covered by several laws and related regulations, the FRS CR has strategic documents on fire tactics, and methods of extinguishing different types of forest fires. Still, it is really important to be aware that due to the changing climatic conditions, the general decline in soil moisture and the increasing number of fire-conducive days, the fire regime in the CR will change and the current approach will need to be adjusted to the new conditions and future trends. It is very advisable to seek knowledge and experience about firefighting in countries that face wildfires with higher frequency.

It is recommendable to invest in maintaining a high-quality technical basement because it is a determining factor for firefighting. Strengthening individual responsibility and applying high penalties for caused fires may lead to a more responsible behavior of forest visitors. The coronavirus pandemic has shown how effective media campaigns can be, and therefore this information channel should be used more for raising awareness about the issue of wildfires.

Newly established species-rich forests with uneven-aged structure will contribute to fire prevention because their species composition will be better adapted to the changing climatic conditions which imply that these ecosystems will feature higher stability. It is also necessary to aim at fuel management in the forests, improvement and reconstruction of forest paths, and the creation of firebreaks that prevent the fire spread and allow firefighters to capture a convenient firefighting spot.

Fires were part of the natural succession of vegetation and were a strong disturbance to the forest stands of Central Europe. Climax plant communities disturbed by fires allowed the vegetation to start a new successional series. The activity of human civilization blocks the succession of vegetation of current forests; therefore, a different reaction of current forest stands to fires can be assumed. The different composition of forests and climate change in Central Europe create new conditions for the occurrence, spread and dynamics of fires. Changes in the dynamics of fires and fire risk create and will create great pressure on the FRS, on forest management, and also on society as a whole. These changes will also create new conditions for the restoration of burnt areas and the regeneration of forest stands. The phenomenon of forest fires and post-fire recovery in the conditions of contemporary Central Europe brings many new questions and represents a great scientific challenge.