Krivoklat forests may not become nature reserve

Plans to turn the Krivoklat area into a national park may be scuppered by the fall of the centre-right government, the internet news site idnes.cz reported on Saturday. The idea to give the Krivoklat deep spruce forests better protection emerged seven years ago and won strong backing from the outgoing environment minister Tomas Chalupa and agriculture minister Petr Bendl. With their demise the region’s present governor Josef Rihak, who is opposed to the idea of creating a national park in the area, may succeed in burying the proposal. He claims that creating a nature reserve is unnecessary since the forests are already well-protected and argues that such a step would negatively impact business and tourism in the region.