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Geographic presentation. Nikos Sawwidis. Mazovia.
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Geographic presentation Nikos Sawwidis
Mazovia • The Mazovian Lowland is flat and monotonous. Its flatness is broken only by the rows of willows lining the banks of small streams and rivulets. In the Middle Ages most of the region was covered by extensive woodland in which game was hunted. Much has changed since then - today it is one of the least forested parts of Poland (18.9%), where only small fragments of the once impressive forests have survived.
This is in striking contrast to Podlassie. North-east of Warsaw lies an unspoiled land of many unique attractions including the primaeval Białowieża Forest and the marshy valleys of the Narew and Biebrza Rivers with a staggering profusion of wildlife.
The Kampinos forest • North-west of Warsaw stretches the magnificent Puszcza Kampinoska (Kampinoska Forest). A protected area of this size and importance lying in the direct proximity of a big city is unusual in the world. Predominantly westerly winds sweep the clean air from the forest towards Warsaw, which is beneficial for the city. Experts say that this is what has saved the capital from becoming an environmentally endangered area. In 1959 the forest was designated the Kampinos National Park, the second largest in the country (38,500 ha).
The National Park was created in order to protect a group of inland dunes, very uncommon in Europe, as well as natural plant assemblages (with over 60 listed species) and a rich fauna. The sands are covered by a pine forest with a juniper undergrowth. The most ancient trees are 200 years old. Hollows between the dunes shelter broadleaved species: the oak, birch, aspen and hornbeam. To the south and north there are wetlands and marshes, dominated by alder, birch, and ash. One peculiarity found here is the black birch. In the undergrowth you can see white anemones, while the marshes are punctuated by kingcups and irises.
In the past the forest was home to enormous aurochs, bears and European bison. Elks, which died out in the early 19th century, were successfully reintroduced after the War - a group of these animals was brought from the Soviet Union and now their descendants number about 150. Other mammals include the wild boar, roe deer, fox, badger, ermine, hare, least weasel, marten and polecat. Two other reintroduced species are the beaver (in 1980) and the lynx (1992). Now there are about a hundred beavers and about a dozen lynxes in the National Park. The marshes are a nesting place for a variety of birds such as the crane, grey heron and stork. The most valuable vegetation and animal life is protected in 23 strict reserves. Natural landscape parks and reserves are also to be found in other Mazovian forests - the Puszcza Kamieniecka, Puszcza Kurpiowska, Puszcza Biała, and Puszcza Bolimowska, where, in 1627, the last European aurochs was killed.
The Białowieza Forest • Some 200 km north-east of Warsaw, you'll find Europe's largest natural forest, the Puszcza Białowieska (Białowieża Forest - 150,000 ha, of which 65,000 belong to Poland, and the rest to Belarus), the last patch of the primaeval forest that once extended across the European lowlands. The Białowieża National Park (Poland's oldest, established in 1932) has been inscribed on the list of World Biosphere Reserves and the UNESCO World Heritage List (it is the only site in Poland that has entered both lists). For many years environmentalists have been suggesting that the national park should cover the entire forest (now only about 18% of it is under protection) as in Belarus, but no decision has been made yet.
The statistics are impressive: the Białowieża National Park is home to 21 species of trees (26 in the entire forest), 56 species of bushes, and some 5,000 species of other plants, often endemic, including over 3,000 fungi (almost 430 cap mushrooms), 277 lichens, and almost 200 mosses. As many as 11,559 species of animals have been counted so far (including 9,284 species of insects). The most famous denizens are the free-ranging European bison, but there are many others: wolves, lynxes, elks, wild boar, otters and ermines. The forest is also the habitat of wildfowl, its black storks, cranes, capercaillies, black grouse, snowy owls and eagle owls - a great attraction not only for bird-watchers.
