Current view: Text account
Site description (2002 baseline):
Site location and context
AAn extensive 120 km-long mountain range bordering Bavaria and Austria. It is one of the largest and oldest mountain ranges in central Europe. Secondary spruce forests are the dominating cover, but remnants of virgin spruce forests are still present at altitudes above 1,200 m. Other primary types of forests in the umava mountains, flowering beech forests and fir forests, have remained in their primeval form only locally at altitudes between 600 and 1,100 m. Following the near-complete evacuation of the population of the umava mountains after the World War II, a mosaic of secondary treeless areas and different vegetation succession stages emerged at lower altitudes. A large number of streams and numerous raised and valley bogs are typical for the area. Five of the eight umava glacial lakes, which are more than 10,000 years old, are found on the Czech side of the mountains. Many water reservoirs were built there; the Lipenská dam in the southern part of umava is the biggest of them. The territory of this IBA also includes the whole Boletice military training area. A large, extremely varried and mainly forested area. It is a colorful mosaic of different habitat types, some of them specifically influenced by military activities.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Deforestation is a threat due to the effects of wind and acid rain, and population explosions of insect pests occur in monospecific plantations made more susceptible by the effects of air pollution. Recreational use is likely to increase, and resettlement of the region is expected.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Conservation initiatives include studies of
Crex crex,
Carpodacus erythrinus and owls, and the reintroduction of
Strix uralensis, and of capercaillie
Tetrao urogallus.
National High
International HighThis IBA includes umava mountains National Park, umava mountains Protected Landscape Area and umava mountains Biosphere Reserve; there are also 51 small-scale protected areas and a Ramsar site. Two SPAs, based on C-criteria were identified within the area of this IBA, they are umava mountains SPA and Boletice SPA
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Sumava mountains (Bohemian forest) (Czechia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sumava-mountains-(bohemian-forest)-iba-czechia on 23/12/2024.
