Vábení ostravské robky – Kunc Ludvík (2015)

The book by botanist Věra Koutecká, "The Allure of the Ostrava Robka," guides readers through a region where few would likely search for natural treasures – perhaps only a dedicated biologist would be willing to wade through the black sediments around the tailings, push aside the overgrown thickets in places where towns and villages, as well as unique mining colonies, once stood – settlements in many parts of Karvinsko have literally sunk beneath the earth, which was flooded in the deepest depressions. If these signs of subsidence were not filled in during technically managed reclamations, nature was able to create a paradise for many plants and animals, often very rare and overlooked under the smoking chimneys, just a few years after their emergence – many readers will surely be surprised by the extensive list of protected or endangered species in the penultimate chapter of the book. And to ensure that the reader does not have to stretch their imagination too much, almost every page of text is accompanied by realistic-poetic illustrations by experienced landscape artist and lover of all living things, especially felines, long-time worker at the Ostrava Zoo, Ludvík Kunc. So then – let’s head up or down to the heaps, tailings, but also to unexpectedly wild rivers, ancient trees – the rulers of this land...