The best-preserved natural mineral springs in the Czech Republic, surrounding mineral-rich fens, and wetland meadows spanning 6.38 hectares. This forms the new Číhan Fen Meadows Nature Reserve in the Mariánské Lázně region, designated by the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic (NCA CR) following several years of preparation.

It is situated in the eastern part of the Slavkovský Les Protected Landscape Area (PLA) in the Luční Stream valley near Teplá in the Cheb district. The designation of the nature reserve brings virtually no changes for regular visitors, and the area remains freely accessible.

The reserve's most valuable features are its natural mineral springs and the life within them – a phenomenon now almost non-existent across Central Europe. It offers a unique example of what mineral springs would look like had they not been exploited for human use, tapped via hollow tree trunks, or extracted for spa purposes. Although these springs were captured in hand-dug pits in the past, nature has gradually reclaimed these interventions over the last century.

"Specific species of single-celled algae grow in the overflows of carbonated iron-rich waters, including the extremely rare diatom Pinnularia ferrophila, which until recently was known from only a handful of sites worldwide. The surrounding fen meadows host numerous other rare species, notably plants such as bogbean, flea sedge, and marsh arrow-grass, as well as fauna including the breeding common snipe. However, the fen itself is exceptionally valuable: the peat layer reaches a depth of up to eight metres in places. These deposited layers of pollen, alongside preserved plant remains and algal shells, allow us to study the evolution of local vegetation and the surrounding landscape dating back 13,000 years," explains Přemysl Tájek from the NCA CR.

Since 2010, the NCA CR has carried out annual manual scythe-mowing across the most valuable wetland meadows. In the future, mowing will expand to additional wet meadows to enhance species diversity, which will also benefit rare plant species. Plans are also in place to remove shrubby willows from iron-water overflows to help restore the specific vegetation of fen springs.

"The new Číhanské slatě / Fen Meadows Nature Reserve becomes the 36th small-size specially protected area in the Slavkovský Les PLA. This would not have been possible without the support of forward-thinking landowners, and we would like to extend our thanks to the management of Léčebné lázně Spa Mariánské Lázně as well as the town council and municipal authority of Mariánské Lázně. It serves as a fitting gift for this Year of Protected Landscape Areas, held under the auspices of the Czech Commission for UNESCO," adds František Pelc, Director of the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic.