Reclamation of devastated landscape in the Karviná region (Czech Republic)

Abstract

Abstract The article deals with the recent positive changes in the industrial landscape of the Karviná region in a broader context. The Karviná region has been the most important part of the coal-bearing Ostrava-Karviná District. Since the industrial revolution, the position of the primary mining area has brought a dynamic economic development and a great concentration of population into the fast-growing conurbation cities, particularly between 1950s and 1980s. However, the dominant coal mining and processing has had a negative impact on the environment, the character and utilization of the landscape. Many environmental, socioeconomic and other problems did not become fully evident until the social changes at the turn of 1980s and 1990s. At present, a great attention is being paid to the reclamation of the affected landscape. As a result, the region is starting to change its unflattering image of an industrial and problematic area devastated by coal extraction for the better after many years. The various forms of land reclamation, modification of water bodies, construction of new sports and recreational facilities and so on are bringing a gradual improvement of the environment in the region, creating a new cultivated landscape that can be used, among other things, for various forms of tourism and relaxation.