National Parks and Protected Landscape Areas
The Czech Republic maintains four national parks — Šumava, Krkonoše, České Švýcarsko, and Podyjí — alongside twenty-six protected landscape areas (CHKO). National parks represent the strictest land-use category, prohibiting commercial forestry within their core zones. Protected landscape areas permit limited agriculture and selective forestry under nature authority oversight.
Both categories fall under the Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection Act (No. 114/1992 Coll.), administered by the Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection (AOPK ČR) and the Ministry of the Environment.
Natura 2000 and European Integration
Since EU accession in 2004, the Czech Republic has designated over 1,100 Natura 2000 sites under the Habitats Directive and Birds Directive. These sites overlap significantly with national categories but add a cross-border monitoring dimension — habitat assessments are submitted to the European Commission every six years through national status reports.
The Bark Beetle Question
Since 2017, large-scale spruce die-off driven by bark beetle outbreaks has reshaped the appearance of Šumava and the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands. The scientific consensus supports non-intervention in core park zones, allowing natural succession; this position remains contested among forestry industry representatives and some municipalities. The debate has generated ongoing legislative pressure on the park management authority.