Locality
An extensive complex of heaths, dry grasslands, and post-agrarian fallow land kept for centuries by grazing. The project site is part of the second zone of Podyjí National Park. About half of the project site is owned by the state and management is under the responsibility of Podyjí National Park. The remaining half is owned by the village of Havraníky. The site is frequently visited by tourists; there is one of the most important hiking and cycling trails on the northern border of the project site and part of the site is crossed by a marked trail for horse riders. Parts of the sites with forest stands (black locust, pine) are continually being transferred to more valuable conservation types of vegetation (e.g. oak forests, or conversion to non-forest habitats). Municipal plots with the occurrence of woody plants serve as an occasional source of firewood. In several places there are monitoring areas (fenced) established for long-term study of vegetation and butterflies (light trap).
Havraníky Heath is a part of Podyjí Special Area of Conservation (area 6273 ha).
The area of the site is 30 ha.
The project site is part of a large complex of heaths, dry grasslands, and post-agrarian fallows extending between Znojmo and the village of Hnanice on the eastern edge of Podyjí National Park. The interest part of the site, Havraníky Heath, is about 1 km west of the village of Havraníky in the vicinity of Starý vinice (339 m a.s.l.). It has the form of a gentle south to southwest slope.
The altitude ranges from 290 to 340 m.
Vegetation cover
The site is covered with a mosaic of several types of vegetation, the largest proportion of which are areas of heaths and dry grasslands. On part of the area there are also mesophilic mowed meadows and woody plant stands dominated by pine and black locust. Non-forest vegetation is represented mainly by scattered pine, aspen, birch, cherry, and hawthorn. In some places, the habitats are degraded by invasion of wood small-reed or overgrown stands of roses and blackthorn. The geological substratum consists of acidic granite of the Dyje massif. Occasionally, the substrate is enriched with calcium due to an overlay of loess. From the climatic point of view, it is a warm, rainfall-poor area. The soils are drying, the site is characterized by the occurrence of spring and especially summer precipitation deficits and mild winters with a low occurrence of snow cover.
Military use of the site in the past, current state
The site has no military history. In the past, until the end of World War II, it was used as pasture (sheep, goats, cows, horses). Fields, orchards or even vineyards were maintained in places with deeper soil until the end of the war. Later, cultivated areas disappeared and changed to post-agrarian fallows.
Legal protection
The project site is a part of Podyjí National Park as well as a Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area of the same name.