Geografie 1995, 100, 210-221
The Elbe Sandstones Area from the View-point of a Protecting of Nature
The Elbe Sandstones Area is situated on the borders of two countries: the Czech Republic and Germany. In 1972, the land on the Czech side was proclaimed the Protected Landscape Area (PLA) Elbe Sandstones. It has an area of about 320 square kilometres. Part of this land will become a national park. It will link the already renowned PLA Elbe Sandstones (also known as Bohemian Switzerland) with the National Park Saxonian Switzerland on neighbouring Germany. This unique erosional landscape was formed when Tertiary basalts disrupted and invaded the existing Cretaceous sandstone sedimentary rock. There are interesting occurrences of plants and animals including certain types of endemics and rare species. The headquarters of the PLA in the town of Děčín includes the state administration, the various specialists, environmental educators, public relation personnel and ranger services. The biggest problems in the PLA are intensive forestry practices, rock-climbing, unregulated camping, and Elbe River quality and cleanliness.
