On the territory of Prague there are 90 areas of special protection having area of over 2,200 hectares (4,4% of the City area), which form a wide spectrum of territories spanning from geological localities through botanical, zoological, and entomological localities, up to forest habitats. Nature conservation services strive for the creation of systematically interconnected territories, first of all, serving to nature conservation and protection of landscape and for recreation activities, even under the complicated conditions of the large city. The core of these territories are nature parks, which at present there are 12 on the Prague’s territory and account for approx. 20 % of the total City area.These nature parks in turn comprise the most important small-sized valuable sites enjoying a special protection status. In this respect, the most important nature parks are Prokopské and Dalejské Valleys, Sarka - Lysolaje, Drahan - Troja, Rokytka and Ricanka. The Prokopské and Dalejské Valleys nature park was the last to be declared, but it is undoubtedly the most important one at the same time. It comprises many sites with a plethora of rare plant species and many valuable geological objects. At the same time, the area is under tremendous pressure from the nearby Barrandov and Western Township Housing Schemes. In number of these protected areas one can also use, for making and closer look and recreation, the existing nature trails (for more information browse pages on „Prague’s nature trails“ - in Czech only) and bicycle routes (for detailed information browse the website Cycling in Prague).
