QUARRY LIFE AWARD: Meet the winning projects of the competition to support biodiversity

On Monday, November 5, 2012, a ceremonial announcement of the results of the national round of the international scientific and educational competition Quarry Life Award took place at the Anthropos Pavilion in Brno.

The projects were evaluated by an expert jury consisting of: Doc. Mgr. Lubomír Tichý, Ph.D., RNDr. Václav Cílek, CSc., Ing. Jan Hrozek and Prof. RNDr. Karel Prach.

The competition aimed at students and researchers was announced in September 2011 by Českomoravský cement, a.s. and Českomoravský štěrk, a.s. Its goal was to support biodiversity during extraction as well as in the reclamation process, and to raise awareness of the biological value of extraction sites. The national expert jury selected four winners who were awarded trophies and a financial sum totaling 11,000 euros. Their projects advanced to the international round, where they will compete with projects from 17 other countries, with the announcement of the results of the international round taking place on December 13 in Heidelberg, Germany.

An album of photographs from the ceremonial announcement can be found on the Facebook profile of HeidelbergCement in the Czech Republic: www.facebook.com/HeidelbergCementCR

1st Place: Cep II – Sandpit for Biodiversity

The authors of the winning project began by asking the question: Which method of restoration is best for protecting biodiversity in sandpits – spontaneous succession, managed succession, or technical reclamation?

The winning project was implemented in sandpit Cep II in the Třeboň area.

Their research on this topic was conducted in the Cep II sandpit in the Třeboň area. Since no detailed biological monitoring had been carried out there previously, the author team led by Mgr. Klára Řehounková, PhD. began extensive botanical and zoological surveys of the shores that were reclaimed in the past. In the second phase of the project, the identified species diversity and the representation of endangered species among various types of reclamation were compared.

The proposed modifications to the shores were successfully implemented in October 2012 under the supervision of representatives of the author team.

The results of the comparison confirmed the earlier experiences of the team members – areas left to spontaneous or managed succession host far greater species diversity than pine monocultures. Based on the analysis results, a restoration project for a part of the sandpit designated for reclamation was proposed, along with recommended care methods for existing reclaimed areas.

Other Awarded Projects

Two projects then share third place. The project "School in the Quarry" was the only competitive project focused exclusively on education. The team led by Ing. Lucie Jánošíková took students through the extraction site and showed them that the quarry is not just a dead place for obtaining mineral resources, but a unique ecosystem with great species diversity. An integral part of the project was also the artistic processing of experiences and an exhibition of the children's artworks. Also in third place was a team led by Mgr. Barbora Křížková, which conducted entomological and vegetation surveys in the Špička quarry near Prague. Based on the results, management measures were proposed during and after the extraction process to support the occurrence of desirable species and limit the occurrence of invasive plants.


Presentation of the project "Active Limestone Extraction and Its Positive Impact on the Biodiversity of the Quarry and Its Surroundings (Špička Quarry)"