Ujście Warty National Park

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The Ujście Warty National Park (Warta’s Estuary) is the youngest (as of February 2006) of Polish National Parks. It was created on June 19, 2001 in the delta of two great Polish rivers - Warta and Odra (Warta is Odra’s tributary), in Lubuskie Voivodship (Western Poland, by the border with Germany). Its size is 80.38 km².

The Park was created on the area of former Nature Preserve Słońsk, which had existed since 1977 and also from parts of Landscape Park "Ujscie Warty". The ground here is swampy and muddy, which makes it a haven for birds. This is why the former Słońsk preserve, which is now part of the Park, was in 1984 covered by the Ramsar Convention, which purpose is to protect such areas.

[edit] Waters

Park’s main river is the Warta, which divides it into two parts - Southern (with former Słońsk preserve) and Northern - the so-called Northern Polder. In the South, yearly changes in level of water reach up to 4 meters and the Park here serves as a gigantic, seasonal lake for excessive waters. Water level here raises usually late in the fall, but it is the highest in the spring (March-April). The Northern part is rich in various canals and it is separated from the Warta by a levee.

[edit] Wildlife

Plant life is highly heterogeneous in biological sense. It is to large extent natural, although hundreds of years of human activity have influenced it, especially in the forested areas. On the other hand, nature in swampy areas closer to the Warta, is mainly untouched and as such is an interesting object of studies for biologists from Poland and other European countries. This is due to the fact that most major river valleys in Europe have been changed by humans.

The area of the Park is one of the most important regions of birds’ lairs in Poland. There are 245 species of birds here and lairs of 160, including 7-8 species of ducks. 26 species are endangered (according to the BirdLife International list). Among them are: Acrocephalus paludicola, Crex crex, Limosa limosa, Grus grus, Botaurus stellaris, Ixobychus minutus or quite common here Chlidonias niger.

Moreover, in the Park there are 34 species of mammals, including otters (Lutra lutra) and beavers (Castor fibre).

The main threat to Park’s ecosystem is the return of bigger plants to the delicate systems of meadows and pastures. Their regrowth endangers lairs of birds, so Park’s authorities have taken necessary steps to fight this phenomenon.

Since May 31, 1996 there has been Centre of Natural Education at Chyrzno, which since fall of that year has been organizing courses for pupils and students. Among activities undertaken by the Centee there are: trips to the Park, ornithology camps, ecology workshops. In Park there are some walking and cycling trails and two nature walks Ptasim szlakiem (“Along birds’ trail”), which crosses through the most precious parts of Słońsk Preserve.

The Park owns a small hotel - 5 rooms for 15 persons and a guest-house for about 30 visitors.

Management address: Chyrzyno 1, 69-113 Gorzyca, POLAND