Every year, the “Climate Change in Mountain Regions” project includes outdoor lessons combined with a meeting with staff from the High Tatras National Park or park rangers. This time, two park rangers – Mr. Ksiažek and Mr. Karkošiak—accompanied the group of students and teachers on their way to the Chata pri Zelenom plese mountain hut, which is traditionally the destination of the Erasmus mobility program. On the way from the Biela voda stop, the students had the opportunity to learn important information about the life of animals and plants in the national park, as well as about current issues and challenges facing the national park administration. Click this link to learn more about what the park rangers told the students.
Since one of the sub-themes of this project is documenting biodiversity in the national park, the students’ task was to prepare a photo documentation of the plants they discovered along the 7.5-kilometer trail on their way to the chalet. The photographic documentation of Tatra flora will subsequently be compiled into an educational tool titled “Herbarium of Tatra Plants” in the form of a memory game.
And why the Hut at Zelené pleso?
The Chata pri Zelenom plese (known as Brnčalka) is exceptional in terms of sustainability, particularly because it combines electricity generation from renewable sources with strict measures to minimize its ecological footprint, as it is cut off from utility networks. Its main sustainable solutions include:
- Hydroelectric power plant: It harnesses energy from a nearby stream. A special turbine generates clean electricity, significantly reducing the need for fossil fuels.
- Solar Power and Batteries: Since the valley receives no direct sunlight for five months of the year, solar panels are being gradually installed here in combination with modern batteries, which are replacing traditional diesel generators.
- On-site wastewater treatment: The lodge was one of the first high altitude lodges in the country to install its own wastewater treatment plant, thereby preventing pollution of the precious Tatra ecosystem.
- Waste management: All generated waste and organic waste is strictly sorted.
Water Supply: Drinking water is supplied to the cottage via a gravity-fed pipeline from a mountain spring that flows above the cottage in the Zelené pleso Valley. The water is filtered and treated to ensure it is safe for consumption before use and distribution.
