70 Years of the Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area: How "Moravian Switzerland" Became a Protected Landscape

The Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area (CHKO Moravský kras) was established on 4 July 1956 and is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. It is the second-oldest protected landscape area in the Czech Republic, just a year younger than Bohemian Paradise (Český ráj). It was declared by the Ministry of Culture, even before the first nature protection act came into force. The decree banned damage to karst features, the infilling of sinkholes and the opening of new quarries. A dedicated administration, however, was not set up until 1977, and it only received real powers in 1992. Over those 70 years, the Pustý žleb gorge was closed to cars, a cable car was built to the Macocha Abyss, almost all limestone quarrying came to an end, and peregrine falcons returned to the karst. Today the protected area covers just under 97 km², is 60% forest and contains more than 1,100 caves.

QUICK LINKS 📜 Before the protected area · 🏛️ 1956 · 🚗 How the karst was saved · 🦇 What went right · ⚠️ Today’s threats · ❓ FAQ

When you cycle through Pustý žleb today and don’t meet a single car, that is the result of decisions taken decades ago. The same goes for the fact that there is almost no limestone quarrying left in the karst, or that more and more bats are turning up in the caves. Seventy years of protection is a good moment to look at how much has changed.

Before the Protected Area: “Moravian Switzerland”

The first tourists came here in the 19th century and, under the influence of Romanticism, dubbed the landscape “Moravian Switzerland”. The name was popularised by Jindřich Wankel, a doctor from Blansko and the founder of Moravian archaeology, in his book on Moravian Switzerland, published in Vienna in 1882. The present-day name, Moravian Karst, was first used in the early 20th century by Karel Absolon. He adopted the technical term karst, which the Serbian geographer Jovan Cvijić had coined based on the Kras region on the border of what is now Slovenia and Italy.

The landscape looked rather different then. In the 19th century it was more deforested than ever before, and a great deal of grazing went on. Soil containing the bones of prehistoric animals was dug out of the caves and used as fertiliser. Charcoal was burnt in the woods for the ironworks, and in the north, on the Salm estate, spruce monocultures were planted. I write about this in more detail in the article The Iron Karst.

The first protected areas, however, were created here even before the protected landscape area: the Moravian Karst Reserve around the Punkva Caves (Punkevní jeskyně) and the Kateřinská Cave (Kateřinská jeskyně) in 1930, the Pekárna Cave in 1933, and the Josefov Valley (Josefovské údolí) with the Hádecká planinka plateau in 1950.

1956: The Second-Oldest Protected Landscape Area

The decree establishing the Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area was issued on 4 July 1956 by the Ministry of Culture, which was responsible for nature protection at the time. This happened before Act No. 40/1956 Coll. on state nature protection came into effect. Only Bohemian Paradise, dating from 1955, is older.

The decree prohibited:

• damage to karst features,
• the infilling of sinkholes,
• the opening of new quarries,
• building outside villages and towns.

Non-native forests were to be gradually converted into woodland that naturally belongs in the area.

The Moravian Karst is the largest karst region in the Czech Republic with fully developed karst features. The protected area itself, at just under 97 km², does not cover the whole karst territory and is smaller than the Czech Karst (Český kras) protected area. What makes the karst here so special is explained in the article How the Moravian Karst Was Formed.

How the Karst Was Saved

For a long time, only on paper. The Protected Landscape Area Administration was not set up until 1977, and then only as an expert body without official powers. Even so, important changes were pushed through in the 1980s:

• Fields above the caves. Crop rotation on arable land was changed and the most sensitive fields were turned over to grass. As a result, fertilisers, pesticides and soil stopped being washed into the caves.
• Gates on the caves. All the significant caves were fitted with closures to keep out unauthorised visitors.

Cars out of the gorges. Exhaust fumes lingered in the narrow gorges, and elevated levels of lead were found in the soil and plants. From 1984, therefore, a road from Blansko via Těchov to Sloup has bypassed Pustý žleb. At first cars were barred from the gorge between the Punkva Caves and Sloup only during the season; since 1991 they have not been allowed in at all. In the 1990s more than 10 km of roads were closed. A little tourist train began running between Skalní Mlýn and the Punkva Caves, and in 1995 a cable car was built from the Punkva Caves up to the Macocha Abyss. The cable car provoked protests from environmental organisations at the time. Today, thanks to all this, you can cycle through Pustý žleb in peace; see Cycling the Moravian Karst with Children.

Real powers from 1992. Act No. 114/1992 Coll. turned the Protected Landscape Area Administration into a state administration body. Since then it has set the conditions for speleological exploration, approved forest management plans and determined how many people may enter the show caves each day and in each group. Most villages and towns have been given wastewater treatment plants, which is particularly important in a karst, where water quickly disappears underground. And quarrying gradually ended in all the quarries in the protected area except the Skalka quarry near Březina.

In 2004 the sinks, underground course and springs of the Punkva river were entered as the Podzemní Punkva (Underground Punkva) on the list of wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. It is one of only a few karst wetlands on this list anywhere in the world.

What Has Gone Right in 70 Years

• Bat numbers are rising. Counting began in 1957, when Jiří Gaisler surveyed the Ochozská Cave. Today 13 species regularly hibernate in the karst caves, and their numbers are growing. The lesser horseshoe bat has become the most abundant. According to the Protected Landscape Area Administration, this shows that cave closures and winter restrictions on visits are working. More in the article Wildlife of the Moravian Karst.
• The peregrine falcon is back. In 2016 it nested in the karst again after almost half a century. The last unsuccessful nesting attempt here was in 1971.
• Discoveries continue. In 2008 cavers beyond the 8th sump in the Amatérská Cave (Amatérská jeskyně) discovered the 1.5 km Šošůvka Corridor (Šošůvecký koridor), full of stalactites and stalagmites. According to experts, a find like that comes along once every 50 years. New passages are also being found in Býčí skála.
• Looking after the steppe grasslands. Abandoned pastures are becoming overgrown, which is why sheep are once again being grazed in some places.

What Troubles the Karst Today

• Crowds. Skalní Mlýn alone receives 250,000 to 300,000 visitors a year. Where people congregate most and where it’s better to go instead, I cover in the article The Moravian Karst Without the Crowds.
• Development. Especially in the southern part near Brno, there is great pressure to build, and some schemes simply do not fit into a small and sensitive karst landscape.
• The quarry near Mokrá. From the south-east, a quarry for cement-grade limestone is approaching the boundary of the protected area. For now it is separated from it by a buffer zone several hundred metres wide.
• Stalactites and stalagmites won’t grow back. Photographs of the Punkva Caves from a hundred years ago show how much of the decoration has disappeared since. Some was destroyed by visitors, some probably by run-off from the fields. A speleothem grows extremely slowly, and one that has been broken off will not regrow within a human lifetime.

What you may and may not do when visiting the karst is summarised in the article Rules of the Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area. The most valuable places are protected by four national nature reserves.

Frequently Asked Questions

When was the Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area established? On 4 July 1956. In 2026 it celebrates its 70th anniversary.

Is the Moravian Karst the oldest protected landscape area in the Czech Republic? No, the second oldest. Only Bohemian Paradise, from 1955, is older.

How big is the Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area? According to the Protected Landscape Area Administration, 96.8 km². It is 60% forest and contains more than 1,100 caves.

Why are cars not allowed into Pustý žleb? Exhaust fumes lingered in the gorge, and lead accumulated in the soil and plants. Since 1991 the gorge has been closed to cars all year round, and traffic has been taken over by the road via Těchov.

Who looks after the protected landscape area? The Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area Administration, now part of the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic (AOPK ČR). The show caves are run by the Caves Administration of the Czech Republic (Správa jeskyní České republiky).

Information verified as of 13 October 2026. Sources: Skořepa, H., Tůma, A.: CHKO Moravský kras šedesátiletá (The Moravian Karst Protected Landscape Area at Sixty), Živa 6/2016, pp. 323–327; AOPK ČR, Rozbory CHKO Moravský kras (Analyses of the Moravian Karst PLA) (2017).

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