“For us, stocking the River Bílina with fish is a way to support the biodiversity of the water ecosystem, and for children, it is an opportunity to learn more about nature and life in this river. It is amazing to see the children’s excitement in being engaged in this event and learning about the importance of environmental protection,” says Lucie Pražáková, Director of the ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation, about this year’s event.

Anglers release traditional fish species such as tench, common bream, roach, rudd, and perch. They have also added species like catfish, carp, pike, and pikeperch to make the selection more varied. The composition and proportion of individual fish species are determined by the Czech Anglers Union based on the previous monitoring of the species frequency in the Bílina. During the fish-stocking event, anglers tell the children about life underwater in Czech rivers and interesting things about the life of fish. In addition, the Environmental Centre in Most prepares various instructional sites and games for children.

“Each fish-stocking event is accompanied by a side programme. This year, we have activities that are more suitable for smaller children because we had preschoolers here. Thus, children could test their senses by looking for water animals in shifting sand or composing words from the water world using various letters. They also had creative tasks – they created water drops, which they could take home,” adds Martina Černá, Head of the Environmental Centre in Most.

With this traditional event held since 2010, ORLEN Unipetrol helps increase the fish population in the River Bílina and spread awareness about environmental protection among children from primary schools and children’s homes. The ORLEN Unipetrol Group has invested over CZK 1 million in stocking the Bílina with fish, for which it bought and released more than 12 tonnes of original fish species. Other environmentally friendly initiatives of the Group include supporting the nesting of peregrine falcons that have raised 58 chicks at ORLEN Unipetrol sites to date. The ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation also supports beekeeping activities at Neratovice -based Spolana, a member of the Group. Local beekeepers repeatedly receive a gold medal for the outstanding quality of their honey from the accredited laboratory of the Bee Research Institute.

The ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation launched its activities in 2017. Its primary mission is to support education and popularise science, primarily natural sciences and technical disciplines, as well as corporate social responsibility, emphasising local communities and the environment. The Foundation has long been engaged in supporting schools, teachers, and students with grant programmes. The educational project, ‚Plastík a jeho kouzelný kufřík‘, provides schoolchildren from the first to the fifth grade with an excursion into the world of chemistry through entertaining experiments. Educational support and the associated Foundation’s activities gave rise to many educational materials and outputs in the form of tutorials available at www.nouonline.cz. Beginning in 2024, the Foundation is also committed to corporate social responsibility related to the environment, support of local communities, and volunteering. Such activities include championing volunteer and community projects, fundraising, fish releases into rivers, nesting of endangered peregrine falcons, and beekeeping. The Foundation cooperates with many non-profit organisations on a long-term basis but also reacts to current events in society and emergencies. More information about the ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation’s mission and other activities is available at www.nadaceorlenunipetrol.cz.

Lucie Pražáková, director of the ORLEN Unipetrol Foundation

E-mail: nadace@orlenunipetrol.cz 

Telephone: +420 736 506 939