Podyjí National Park

Podyjí National Park (Czech: Národní park Podyjí) is a national park in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Adjacent to Austria's Thayatal National Park on the border, together they are referred to as the Inter-National park. Podyjí is one of the Czech Republic's four national parks. It protects near-natural forests along the deep Dyje River valley. The well-preserved state of the biome of the park is cited as being unique in Central Europe.

Legal status

Podyjí National Park is one of the four national parks of the Czech Republic. It has an area of 63 square kilometres (24 sq mi) and buffer zone of 29 square kilometres (11 sq mi). It was formally declared a national park 1 July 1991 by government order no. 164/1991.BirdLife International (IBA) has included this park under its criteria C6 covering a larger area of 76.66 square kilometres (29.60 sq mi).

Geography

Podyjí National Park lies in an elevation range of 534–214 metres (1,752–702 ft). Its habitats include forest, grassland, arable land, shrubland, rocky areas and inland wetlands. The park is drained by the Dyje River, which flows for a length of 40 kilometres (25 mi) through the park in a thickly-forested valley within the Českomoravská vrchovina uplands. The river valley's depth measures up 220 metres (720 ft). Land use has been established for nature conservation and research, forestry and agriculture. Park trails lead to the castle ruins of Nový Hrádek, Hardegg Castle, and Vranov nad Dyjí Chateau.