The Heřmanský State – Oder River – Poolší Bird Area 1
The Olza Floodplain 14
Basic information
The Olza river floodplain is home to many protected animal and plant species. Former meanders of this floodplain and a well-preserved river terrace around Věřňovice with its mostly linear accompanying vegetation and soft meadows are an ideal shelter for these species. A part of this area belongs to Věřňovice Natural Monument which encompasses 4,59 hectares and was established in order to protect the vegetation of its floodplain forest in 1989. Věřňovice Natural Monument is regarded as one of Sites of Community Importance (SCI) as is it a part of The Olza River Floodplain– Věřňovice Protected Area which was established in order to protect brown hermit Osmoderma eremita and yellow-bellied toad Bombina variegata within an area of 553,9969 hectares. Apart from that, this area also belongs to Heřmanský the state – The Oder River – Poolší Bird Area which is located in the northeastern part of Moravian-Silesian Region near the Polish border. This area is based upon the Oder river (in the lenght of cca 10 km) and the Olza river (in the length of cca 16 km) including adjacent river floodplains. Karviná ponds system and the stretch of the Petrůvka river border are connected from the east, pond systems in Rychvald, Bohumín – Záblatí and Heřmanice are connected form the south. The total extent of this bird area is 3100,8670 hectares.
Subject of protection
The following species are the main subjects of protection in this bird area: the Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus, the Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis and the Bluethroat Luscinia svecica. Except from that, many rare amphibians, birds and other animals can be found there.
Závada village
Závada village, nowadays a part of Petrovice u Karviné municipality, lies at the mouth of the river Petrůvka and the Olza river. The river, forming a big meander here, makes the village appear somewhat beyond the Olza river, thus the name of the village „Závada“ meaning „beyond the water“. Závada village was a separate administrative unit until the year 1952. We can visit the Chapel of John of Nepomuk, built in 1862 and the Memorial of two Czechoslovak aviators Bilka and Slatinský. These Slovak aviators of the 3rd regiment battle were shot down on 19th April 1945 by a German anti-aircraft cannon. The pilot and sergeant Pavol Slatinský died at the age of 31 and his shooter corporal Ján Bilka belonged to one of the youngest shooters of the 3rd regiment battle. He died at the age of twenty.
Useful information
Contact information Regional Authority of the Moravian-Silesian Region, Department of the Environment and Agriculture 28. října 117, 702 18 Ostrava www.kr-moravskoslezsky.cz Phone: +420 595 622 297