Wilderness

 

The very first country which declared the meaning of word "Wilderness" was The United States of America. Both Aldo Leopold and John Muir come up with the first idea of wilderness. Exact definition of wilderness according The Wilderness Act, (Public Law 88-577 (16 U.S. C. 1131-1136), 88th Congress, Second Session, September 3, 1964) signed into law by president Lyndon Baines Johnson on 3rd September of 1964, is:

 

DEFINITION OF WILDERNESS

A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. An area of wilderness is further defined to mean in this Act an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions and which (1) generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (3) has at least five thousand acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and (4) may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.

 

There is also more poetic definition, written by ecologist a co-founder of The Wilderness Society , Howard Zahniser:

 

“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."

 

The WILD foundation define wilderness as:

 

"The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with roads, pipelines or other industrial infrastructure."

 

Based on the definions above there is no real wilderness in Czech Republic. There are only last pieces of landscape with near-natural appearance. For example circues, screes, primeval forest preservations, relic pinewoods on top of rocks in PLA Labske piskovce, bogs etc. Following quotation gives us the true picture how precious the last pieces of wilderness are.

 

"Wilderness is a resource that can shrink but not grow - the creation of new wilderness
in the full sense of the word is impossible."
 
Aldo Leopold

 

IUCN Protected Area Management Categories

IUCN protected area management categories classify protected areas according to their management objectives. The categories are recognised by international bodies such as the United Nations and by many national governments as the global standard for defining and recording protected areas and as such are increasingly being incorporated into government legislation.

 

Read more: IUCN Protected Area Management Categories