We can see a forest on the slopes of Devínska Kobyla, but it does not belong there. It was artificially planted on the rocky slopes at the time of socialism since the slopes were considered ugly and non-productive. At those times, exotic woody plants – Robinia pseudoacacia, Austrian pine – were planted in one of the driest territories in Slovakia.
The bottomland forest one can see at the Morava River is not original either. It is a young forest at the age of circa 50 years. It seems like a huge forest because plenty of water is drawn directly from the river. But, in the past, there were almost bare gravel beaches on the banks where the livestock was watered and grazed. And where people could go to swim.
70 years ago, a woodless countryside with short plants such as thyme or oregano growing instead of trees was running from Devínska Kobyla up to Devín, from the banks of the Morava River up to the castle.
These biotopes were despised during communism although they are valuable places, hotspots of biodiversity.
Text author: Andrej Barát