Kozmice Bird Meadows
Kozmice Bird Meadows is a project of a unique Czech food company from Otice near Opava called SEMIX PLUSO. The company does not only use raw materials and processes that are gentle on the human body and nature (e.g. does not use palm oil) for production but also very actively advocates for the protection of our nature directly in the field. The company's motto is: "We to nature, nature to us." The owners of the company thus gradually bought out, or eventually leased, 7 exceptional natural locations in three regions to restore the character of the original landscape to them, returning water to them and taking care of them to preserve many rare plants and animals for future generations. Kozmice Bird Meadows is one of these locations.
You can learn more at www.natura.semix.cz.
The Kozmice Bird Meadows is a biologically valuable wetland site covering an area of 63 hectares in the Opava river basin near the village of Kozmice between Opava and Ostrava. In the second half of the 20th century, even this area did not avoid melioration and straightening of streams, including the impoundment and drainage of wetlands. Since 2006, however, this site has been owned by the owners of the SEMIX company, who since then, through the ZO ČSOP Ochránce NGO, have been consistently striving to return it to nature by restoring the wetlands, i.e. by digging pools, loosening the previously artificially straightened stream and further management of this area for the benefit of rare fauna and flora. And this immeasurable effort led to the desired result.
Inhabitants of the Kozmice Bird Meadows
The locality provides refuge for many species of birds, including the critically endangered common cranes and many rare waders, and also represents an important stop on the spring and autumn migration route of birds. Active care of the site supports the growth of flowering herbs that serve insects, to which not only birds but also reptiles and amphibians are bound. The local biotope thus enables the abundant occurrence and safe reproduction of rare and endangered species of animals, but at the same time ensures the much-needed retention of water in the landscape.
Characteristic inhabitants of the area are northern lapwings (Vanellus vanellus), common redshanks (Tringa totanus), and common snipe (Gallinago gallinago). The rare inhabitants of the site also include other protected species such as the common crane (Grus grus), the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), the black stork (Ciconia nigra), the common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), the Eurasian teal (Anas crecca), the garganey (Anas querquedula) or the Eurasian penduline tit (Remiz pendulinus). In addition to birds, there is also a strong population of the rare weatherfish (Misgurnus fossilis), the dusky large blue (Maculinea nausithous), and many species of amphibians and reptiles.
Wild horses
At the end of 2019, the Kozmice Bird Meadows became the new home of a herd of Exmoor ponies, which were lent to the location by the NGO Česká krajina for a long time. Our landscape has developed with large herbivores for thousands of years, and the ecological ties that have arisen as part of this relationship are thus very strong. Horses in the locality play the role of natural grazers who, unlike lawnmowers or scythes, graze grass sensitively and gently around nesting birds, eliminate vegetation shoots, disturb the turf with their hooves, and allow the growth of competitively weaker herbs. In addition, since horses are resistant to parasites, their drug-free manure presents a welcome opportunity for a variety of insects. With all this, they support many species of often rare fauna and flora. Thanks to the grazing of wild horses, the Kozmice Bird Meadows has thus become a real centre of species diversity for a wide area. Recently, a herd of highland cattle started helping the horses with grazing in the locality.
How Ostrava Zoo helps
The Ostrava Zoo, together with all its visitors, supports the protection of the Kozmice Bird Meadows through the "3 CZK for Wildlife" program.
