Šumava National Park

The Šumava National Park, or Bohemian Forest National Park,

is a national park in the South Bohemian regions of the Czech Republic along the border with Germany (where the smaller adjacent Bavarian Forest National Park lies) and Austria. They protect a little-inhabited area of the mountain range of the same name, the Šumava or Bohemian Forest. The Šumava National Park forms about two-thirds of a former protection known as Protected Landscape Area of Šumava, or simply Šumava PLA, established in 1963. In 1990, the area was designated as a UNESCO biosphere reserve, and in 1991 it was changed to national park status. The Bohemian Forest mountain range is covered by the most extensive forest in Central Europe, whose natural composition was, however, changed and today spruce plantations prevail in most of the area. In many places non-native spruce varieties were planted. These are not well adapted to the harsh local climate and are therefore susceptible to a range of elements, such as strong winds (e.g. in the 1980s or recently at the beginning of 2007) and bark beetle (Ips typographus). Numerous large plateaux with raised peat bogs, glacial lakes and remnants of primeval forests (e.g.