LIBEREC (September 21, 2023) Twenty hectares of a new forest shall be returned to nature by the Ještěd ski resort to make up for building the Nová Skalka ski piste in 2020. The resort is obliged to do so based on the so-called “JEŠTĚDÉLE” memorandum (a blend of JEŠTĚD and DÉLE, which means something like JEŠTĚD FOR LONG) signed by the TMR Ještěd company, the Statutory Town of Liberec and the Town Forests of Liberec before modernising the ski resort.
This year’s phase of the forestation is planned for 23rd and 24th September and the ski resort together with the ORLEN group, its employees and the general public plan to plant over two thousand new trees. Active participants will be rewarded with ski passes and a guided ski jump tour.This year’s forestation phase takes place on undeveloped parts of the existing and old ski pistes in the area of Pod lany. The Ještěd ski resort plans to plant 2,260 young fir, beech, maple and spruce trees in total in cooperation with the ORLEN group and employees according to suggestions of experts to create a sort of a base for a new and healthy diverse forest.
The TMR Ještěd company, which operates the ski resort, undertook to carry out gradual afforestation in the area of the town of Liberec by concluding the “JEŠTĚDÉLE” memorandum with the Statutory Town of Liberec and the Town Forests of Liberec before building the Nová Skalka ski piste. The piste not only increased the competitive ability of the resort but also the safety of skiers. By creating it and widening critical sections of other ski pistes partially in 2020, about 6.68 hectares of mainly spruce monocultures had to be deforested. The project of the new piste in the Ještěd ski resort was changed based on experts’ remarks to minimise the negative impact on nature as much as possible. “It’s one of our most important commitments in relation to the town of Liberec, its inhabitants and ecological associations. We publicly committed to return 20 hectares of a new forest to nature step by step and we keep our promise. And not only that. Already when building the Nová Skalka piste, the scope of the piste was reduced, the planned lighting system intensity was decreased, a precious spring in the lower section of the Slalomák piste was preserved, water retention was secured with a new system of water-collecting ditches and infiltration pits, formation of new local biotopes was supported. We want to be an example and show that a ski resort can be managed and developed over a long period also while respecting environmental protection,”said Igor Rattaj, the Chairman of the Board at Tatry mountain resorts (TMR).
This year’s afforestation project will continue also in the next few years and new forests should be planted in the region of Liberec.