The largest island on the Danube comes to life thanks to conservationists, you will meet water buffaloes and fishermen there – Denník N

This text is part of the project Diary N follows you, we were for two weeks in Komárno and surroundings.

Imagine an island a hundred years ago. Gazda chases cattle across the ford. He knows he can leave him unattended on the island because he won’t run across the country. He has nowhere to go. The mighty Danube prevents him from doing so on one side, one of the branches of this river on the other. For now, Gazda can try his luck by looking for grains of gold in the gravel by the water. Or cut willow heads on wicker and weave baskets. He knows that the willow will grow within a year. Just like every year.

In this way, after the story of Andrea Froncová from the Bratislava Regional Conservation Association BROZ, we can imagine the landscape by the Danube in the past and life on the island near Veľký Lél. In conversations with conservationists, one can often go back in time, when mammoths, rhinos and herds of free horses traveled through the country. It all made sense, submerging the soil, grazing and predators. At that time, nature was in balance. Today, after countless human interventions, this past is a source of inspiration on how to save many species, including humans.

“Once upon a time, people in the wrong way affected the Danube region, dried it up, diverted water, drained and disrupted natural processes. Today, we return her river dynamics and original life, “says conservationist Froncová about her work