Biebrza National Park
The National Park of Biebrza (Polish: Biebrzański Park Narodowy ) is a national park in Poland, which was founded in 1993. The central management of the park is located in the village Osowiec - Twierdza. The National Park is located in the northeastern part of Poland in the Podlaskie Voivodeship.
History
Already in the interwar period, there were two nature reserves in the area of today's National Parks: Czervone Bagno and Grzędy. It is the largest national park in Poland with an area of 592.23 km ². Of this amount, 155.47 km ² of forests, 181.82 km ² of forests and meadows and 254.94 km ² on the march of the Biebrza River. The unique in Europe marsh and peat lands, as well as a particularly diverse fauna with an exceptionally rich bird life were the reason that the park was in 1995 placed on the Ramsar List of protected areas.
7,361 ha in the core zone of the national park have the status of "wilderness partner " in the network of European Wildlife sanctuaries in the PAN Parks Foundation.
Geography
A large depression, the Biebrza Valley, with a length of over 100 kilometers forms the main part of the park. This valley is filled by a several -meter-thick layer of peat. With an area about 90 km ² it is the largest and most pristine peatland area in Central Europe. The river Biebrza 152.5 kilometers in length within the park is the central element of the national park. The Biebrza is characterized by typical lowland character and meanders freely through the National Park. Numerous meanders and oxbow lakes form the course of the river. The width of the river bed of the Biebrza varies from a few meters in the North Basin up to several tens of meters in the lower course of the river. The most important natural monument of the park is the Red Swamp (Polish: Czerwone Bagno ), which is under the strictest protection.
Flora
The flora of the national park has an extremely high level of species richness. In addition, it is characterized by a high degree of originality and by the presence of many rare species. In particular, plants northern origin and Glazialflora find ideal conditions. To date, over 920 species of vascular plants were detected in the Biebrza Valley. 67 of them are under Polish species protection law and 45 on the Red List of endangered vascular plants in Poland (including the Leafless Sword lily fritillary, the marsh violet, the Alps cotton grass and blueberry willow).
Fauna
The fauna offers an exceptional biodiversity. In particular, water and marsh birds there have one of Europe's domicile. So far 271 species of birds, including 181 that breed there, are observed. Of the 56 threatened in Poland than dying out or extinction declared 17 species nest in the National Park of Biebrza, such as the snipe, the aquatic warbler, the black tern, little tern and the spotted eagle. Also, could be detected in the park area 48 mammal species, including 10 species of bats, 12 species of amphibians, 5 species of reptiles and 37 species of fish. A characteristic bird of the National Park is the ruff, which is also depicted on the emblem of the park. The population living there moose survived even the fighting in World War II in the park area.