Altitude: 223–231 m above sea level
Area: 0.69 ha
Material: sand windblown from the Quaternary terraces of the Labe river and its tributaries or weathered Cretaceous siltstones at the end of the last Ice Age

 

The Vesecký Kopec Natural Monument is a distinctive forest free sandy overbank approximately 20 m high. The original relief has been substantially disturbed by mining operations that began in the 1960s. 200 000 m3 of sand were extracted from an area of 400 × 100 m, which was then reforested with pine trees. Vesecký kopec Hill was declared a temporary protected area in 2004, but the sandpit was still covered with soil. Fortunately, the site was declared a natural monument in 2012 and was saved. There are rare communities of sand-loving fauna and flora, but these have had to gradually give way to sand extraction and subsequent artificial forestation.

 

Fungi

Sand-loving species: Pseudoomphalina pachyphylla, Rhizopogon rubescens, Summer Puffball (Bovista aestivalis), Rhodocybe caelata, Rhodocybe parilis

 

Plants

Sand-loving species: Field Cudweed (Filago arvensis), Small Cudweed (Filago minima), Hare's-foot Clover (Trifolium arvense), Pearlwort Spurrey (Spergula morisonii), sedge Carex pseudobrizoides (within Czech Republic it only appears near Sezemice and in Šluknov Hook), Grey Hair-grass (Corynephorus canescens), Spring Speedwell (Veronica verna), Heather (Calluna vulgaris)

 

Invertebrates

Sand-loving species: ground beetles of the genera Amara aand Harpalus (Amara makolskii, A. spreta, A. brunnea, A. equestris a A. majuscula, Harpalus flavescens a H. solitaris), ant-like flower beetle Anthicus bimaculatus, tiger beetle Cylindera arenaria, rare antlion Myrmeleon bore

 

Vertebrates

Sand-loving species: Sand Lizard (Lacerta agilis), Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis)

Combination of sand and wetland habitats: European Common Toad (Bufo bufo)