| Wolin National Park |
 Wolin National Park- more information here and on official site.Wolin National Park is located in the mouth of the Odra, in north-western Poland (Zachodnie Pomorze region), at Poland’s border with Germany, and it aims to protect extremely valuable environment of the north-western part of Wolin island. After a part of Pomeranian Bay and internal sea waters of Szczecin Lagoon were included in the Park, it became Poland’s first marine national park. The land part of the Park is considerably varied, with a 15 km long cliff sea coast which reaches up to 95 m and withdraws into the land for about 80 cm per year in the result of erosion caused by storms, winds and the sun. In addition to forests, waters are the dominating habitats of the Park, including the Baltic in the North and the delta of the Swina river in the West, which includes a chain of muddy islands and islets separated by channels with changing water flow and water levels and periodically flooded , particularly when northern winds force seawater into the Szczecin Lagoon. Wolin island has more than 1300 species of vascular plants, of which many are protected and rare. The best preserved forest communities are beech forests, with structure close to natural ones; most natural patches of beech forest form two strict protection zones on southern part of the Park and two such zones in its northern part, where orchids can be met among beech trees. The fauna on the island is truly varied and includes large number of rare species. Wolin is located on the main bird migration route leading along the seacoast. Among more than 230 birds recorded in the Park many are nesting there, including white tailed eagle, aquatic warbler, dunlin and read-breasted flycatcher. The Park plays an important role with respect to the protection of habitats for waterfowl, which can find there peace and food, particularly during spring and autumn migrations. Delta of the Swina has been classified as a bird mainstay of European significance. |