The ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation and the Czech Society for Ornithology have signed a memorandum of cooperation for a unique project of the “Střimická výsypka Bird Park”. The park is located in the heart of the Ústí Region near the town of Most. The largest bird park in the Czech Republic is currently being developed on the site of the former Střimice municipality, where coal mining has left a significant mark on the landscape. Střimická výsypka is a 251-hectare site, and thanks to the support of the ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation, the Czech Society for Ornithology is transforming it into a haven for dozens of bird species, amphibians, and other animals. This project aims to restore the biological diversity and bring nature closer to the public.
Ornithologists plan to transform the Střimická výsypka site into a natural habitat teeming with life. The Czech Society for Ornithology established the largest bird park in Czechia here at the beginning of this year. The ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation has now joined many other significant partners of this unique project.
“We are proud to be a partner of this unique project. For a period of three years, we will annually contribute CZK 500,000 to develop this park, which offers ideal conditions for creating a species-rich habitat with wetlands, meadows, bright forests, and a revitalised orchard. In addition to financial funds, our support comprises volunteering by our employees,” Lucie Pražáková, Director of the ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation, describes. The entire area around the Střimická výsypka site is proof that even a landscape affected by mining can be transformed into a valuable natural environment.
The location of the original municipality of Střimice is unique in many respects, as it is a newly developed area that enables the renewal of various biotopes. It is already a home to many bird species, like green plovers, larks, chats, kestrels, wrynecks, and spotted woodpeckers. “The Střimická výsypka site is an artificially created landscape, which gives us a unique opportunity to form its shape almost from scratch. It has enormous ecological potential. We aim to create a varied environment, which will naturally attract new species. We have already installed nestboxes for hoopoe, which is a symbol of the new bird park and which we would like to welcome here,” says Zdeněk Vermouzek, Director of the Czech Society for Ornithology. The hoopoe is a widely recognised and popular bird species that prefers open spaces with pastureland, orchards, and bright forests. It needs cavities for nesting, which the recultivated young forest still lacks.
The Czech Society for Ornithology currently operates seven bird parks throughout the Czech Republic, with Střimická výsypka being the largest one. About two-thirds of its area is now covered with forest restoration, including dense monocultures of alien Austrian pine and broadleaves. Open areas, barren land, and meadow vegetation account for the remaining one-third of the land. There are also smaller wetlands and channels. This year, plans are in place to reseed the poor arable land and remove alien shrubs and trees. The restoration will also include the renewal of an old orchard, which was the only one to escape being filled with spoil. The first visitor circuit is prepared for the public, focusing on the restoration of nature in a landscape affected by mining at the Střimická výsypka location.
The long-term efforts of the ORLEN Unipetrol Group and its Foundation, focused on environmental protection, extend beyond this location. The Litvínov Refinery premises, located near Střimická výsypka, are a regular nesting haven for peregrine falcons, which are also a symbol of reintroducing wildlife into industrial environments. This year, peregrine parents raised four chicks, demonstrating that the vicinity of the refinery operations provides suitable conditions for birds and that the company’s employees’ activities have a positive impact on the environment.
The ORLEN Unipetrol Group and the Foundation are actively engaged in projects focused on education, community development, and primarily the environment. They support all regions where they operate and are actively involved in projects that contribute to a sustainable future. The collaboration with the Czech Society for Ornithology in the gradual restoration of nature at the Střimická výsypka site is another step towards fulfilling their mission – to help where it is necessary and contribute to the protection of the natural wealth of the Czech Republic.
About the ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation
The ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation launched its activities in 2017. Its primary mission is to support education and popularise science, primarily natural sciences and technical disciplines, as well as corporate social responsibility, emphasising local communities and the environment. The Foundation has long been engaged in supporting schools, teachers, and students with grant programmes. The educational project, ‚Plastík a jeho kouzelný kufřík‘, provides schoolchildren from the first to the fifth grade with an excursion into the world of chemistry through entertaining experiments. Educational support and the associated Foundation’s activities gave rise to many educational materials and outputs in the form of tutorials available at www.nouonline.cz. Beginning in 2024, the Foundation is also committed to corporate social responsibility related to the environment, support of local communities, and volunteering. Such activities include championing volunteer and community projects, fundraising, fish releases into rivers, nesting of endangered peregrine falcons, and beekeeping. The Foundation cooperates with many non-profit organisations on a long-term basis but also reacts to current events in society and emergencies. More information about the ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation’s mission and other activities is available at www.nadaceorlenunipetrol.cz.
Contact details:
Lucie Pražáková, director of the ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation
E-mail: nadace@orlenunipetrol.cz
Telephone: +420 736 506 939