Louky u Drahlína, Natural monument near Drahlín, Czech Republic.
Louky u Drahlína is a protected natural site consisting of two separate meadows positioned at the edges of Drahlín village. The meadows span roughly 13 hectares across elevations ranging from 509 to 581 meters, with marked pathways allowing visitors to explore open grassland habitats.
The meadows were traditionally mown and occasionally grazed by cattle before heavy agricultural machinery arrived. Since then, most of the area has been regularly mown, while the southern edge of the western part has become overgrown with trees and shrubs. The wet area is now used for extensive grazing. The Central Bohemian Regional Authority declared the site a natural monument effective 6 August 2016.
The name of the site comes from the village of Drahlín, where the two meadows lie. The protected area overlaps largely with a European Important Site of the same name, declared for the protection of the scarce large blue and dusky large blue butterflies. The site is managed by mowing and extensive grazing, and the wet eastern strip along the road is left uncut.
The two meadows lie at opposite ends of Drahlín: the larger one between the village's western edge and Malý Drahlín, the smaller one along the eastern edge by the road. The eastern part keeps an unmown wetland strip beside the road, so expect wet ground there. The southern edge of the western part has grown over with trees.
The meadows harbor two rare butterfly species that depend on specialized wild plants for their survival and reproduction. These delicate insects have become increasingly scarce across Central Europe, making this location an important refuge for their continued existence.
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