Traveling exhibition

Most of the inhabitants of our countryside have some fruit trees in their garden. Today it is hard to believe how old some of the trees planted hundreds of years ago in village squares or in front of building gables have lived to be. The lives of many human generations passed under their crowns. They survived gales, severe frosts, droughts and floods. Trunks are often hollow or damaged by lightning strikes. The life of many useful animals is tied to old trees, which, due to the state of our forests, are forced to move to castle parks, old orchards, rows of trees around roads, on pond embankments or enclaves of urban greenery. However, even these last capes are to blame for the prevailing practice in dealing with non-forest greens. Dead trees, hollow trees and tree trunks have become rare habitats.

The Czech Union for Nature Conservation Vlašim is therefore trying to preserve the old trees around us, in parks, countryside and private gardens. We want to inspire as many people as possible and show the beauty of these witnesses of our common recent and distant history.

That’s why we at the Czech Union for Nature Conservation Vlašim created an exhibition dedicated to old trees as part of the project for the preservation of old trees in the landscape. The exhibition presents not only old trees as a whole, but also works with the aesthetics of the detail of the material of old or dead wood. Sometimes it is necessary to think about the connection with the supporting theme in deeper contexts, but in any case, the link is always the old tree.

The most striking element of the exhibition are the photographs of authors who advanced to the finals of the photo competition of the same name. However, the content of the exhibition is far from exhausted. The individual images are presented on wooden boards, which also demonstrate the importance of old trees – both as material and as a source of breeding ground for various insects.

Finally, this one is also included in the exhibition as an author’s work. This time from Martina Císařová’s glass workshop. The exhibition is further complemented by small wooden elements on which you can observe details and structures created by insects, fungi, or just „ordinary“ rot.

Borrowing the exhibition

The exhibition is part of the exposition of the Podblanické Ecocentrum, its photographic part is available for you to borrow as a traveling companion.

Exhibition availability:

• 1. 1. 2021 – 30. 4. 2021: Podblanické ekocentrum, Vlašim
• 1. 5. 2021 – 30. 6. 2021: Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, Votice
• : The Blanik House of Nature, Kondrac

Other Materials

Information posters:

• Dead wood enviroment (12,4 MB)
• Species tied to veteran trees (9,3 MB)
• How to take care of veteran trees (18,4 MB)

You can find short documentaries from the life of veteran trees on our YouTube channel.

• Dead wood enviroment
• Caring for old trees
• Species tied to veteran trees

Insects of old trees

A number of rare and endangered organisms are attached to old and dying stomata. So that we don’t have to disturb them in their natural environment, we had a few selected species of glass beetles processed. You can get to know the following species in their non-traditional design with the following species:

• Elater ferrugineus
• Dicerca alni
• European Rhinoceros Beetle (Oryctes nasicornis)
• Osmoderma barnabita
• Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus)
• Lesser Stag Beetle (Dorcus parallelipipedus)