Hnutí Brontosaurus (-

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

, translated to

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

as ''The Brontosaurus Movement'') is a large nature conservation group in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

concentrated on the youth. Brontosaurus was founded in 1974, being the first such an organization in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. It was named after ''

Brontosaurus ''Brontosaurus'' (; meaning "thunder lizard" from the Ancient Greek, Greek words , "thunder" and , "lizard") is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived in present-day United States during the Late Jurassic period. It was describe ...

'', name which was at the time widely used as a synonym for

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

among the Czechs. The chosen name was to remind the fate of dinosaurs, which died out during the

Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event, also known as the K–T extinction, was the extinction event, mass extinction of three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth approximately 66 million years ago. The event cau ...

. The founders were several young enthusiasts from the Institute of Landscape Ecology of

Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences The Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (Czech: ''Československá akademie věd'', Slovak: ''Česko-slovenská akadémia vied'') was established in 1953 to be the scientific center for Czechoslovakia. It was succeeded by the Czech Academy of Science ...

. Their preparations had started in 1972. The plan was covered in a popular journal for the youth,

Mladý Svět ''Mladý svět'' ("young world") is a popular weekly magazine published in Czechoslovakia from 1959 until 1989, and later in the Czech Republic until 2005, when it was merged into the magazine ''Instinkt''. It contained photographs, editorials, ...

, whose illustrator

Vladimír Jiránek Vladimír Jiránek (6 June 1938 – 6 November 2012) was a Czech illustrator, cartoonist and director of animated films. Most of his work was intended for an adult audience, but his best-known works are the animated series for children '' Pat & Ma ...

sketched the logo. In January 1974 "Akce Brontosaurus" (''Action Brontosaurus'') started as a batch of ten tasks concentrated on environment education and to be finished within one year. Unexpected success led to an indefinite extension of the programme and appearance of regional branches. Since 1978

adopted it under name "Holidays with Brontosaurus" (''Prázdniny s Brontosaurem''), massively adding to its popularity. In the same year Brontosaurus had to become a collective member of

Socialist Union of Youth The Czechoslovak Socialist Youth Union (SSM) was a mass organization which served as the youth wing of the Communist Party in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1970 to 1990. It existed alongside the Pioneer Organization, which was geare ...

, a pro-regime political organization aiming to completely cater the youth population. Brontosaurus had organized numerous festivals, propagation tours and competitions and has managed to increase awareness about the numerous ecological problems. After the fall of communist party from power in 1989 Brontosaurus became independent organization and restructured internally. The organization decided to concentrate on free time activities and education and avoid involvement in politics so popular among the other environmental groups in the Czech Republic. In 1992 a group of members left and set up independent "Asociace Brontosaura" (''Association Brontosaurus''). In 1996 a conflict between two groups within Brontosaurus almost broke it down; discovery of embezzlement further worsened the situation. The conflict got largely resolved during Autumn 1999 - 2000 but the organization was financially ruined (another embezzlement by a former leader was discovered). The government stepped in providing over 80% of its budget in 2001. As of 2007 Hnutí Brontosaurus has around 1,000 members structured into 30 local groups. Concentrating on children and the youth, they organize weekend trips, summer camps, illustrated humour competition "Ekofór", education tour and courses and also ecological consultations. Budget in 2005 was around 1.6 million of

CZK The koruna, or crown (currency sign, sign: Kč; ISO 4217, code: CZK, ), has been the currency of the Czech Republic since 1993. The koruna is one of the European Union's eight currencies, and the Czech Republic is legally bound to Czech Repub ...

. About two thirds of the income came as grants by the government and municipalities, about one third was profit from business activities.

External links

Hnutí Brontosaurus website
(in Czech)
Study with the history of Brontosaurus until 2001
( RTF, in Czech) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hnuti Brontosaurus

Environmental organizations established in 1974 1974 establishments in Czechoslovakia Nature conservation organisations based in Europe