Kampinos National Park is a
National Park in east-central
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, in
Masovian Voivodeship-Administrative division:Masovian Voivodeship is divided into 42 counties : 5 city counties and 37 "land counties"...
, on the north-west outskirts of
WarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. It has a sister park agreement with
Indiana Dunes National LakeshoreIndiana Dunes National Lakeshore is a U.S. National Lakeshore located in northwest Indiana and managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966. The national lakeshore runs for nearly along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, from Gary, Indiana, on the west to Michigan...
,
IndianaIndiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The idea of creating a park here appeared for the first time in the 1920s. In the 1930s the first forest reserves were opened:
Granica- Poland :* Granica, Lower Silesian Voivodeship * Granica, Subcarpathian Voivodeship * Granica, Warsaw West County in Masovian Voivodeship * Granica, Opole Voivodeship...
,
SierakówSieraków is a town in western Poland with 6,022 inhabitants . Located by the Warta River, it has been situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship , previously in Poznań Voivodeship ....
and Zamczysko. Today, these reserves are much larger and are strictly protected.
The park was created in 1959, covering a total area of 407 square kilometres (157.1 sq mi). It covers the ancient
Kampinos ForestKampinos Forest is a large forest complex located to the west of Warsaw in Poland. It covers a large part of the ancient valley of Vistula, between Vistula and Bzura rivers. Once a gigantic forest covering 670 km² of central Poland, it currently covers roughly 240 km².Most of the...
(
Puszcza Kampinoska), and in January 2000 the area was added to
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
’s list of
biosphere reserveThe Man and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO was established in 1971 to promote interdisciplinary approaches to management, research and education in ecosystem conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.-Development:...
s. The Park is now slightly smaller than originally, covering 385.44 square kilometres (148.8 sq mi), of which 46.38 km² is strictly protected. The protective zone around the Park covers 377.56 km². Forests account for around 70% of the park’s area, and most the common tree is the
pinePines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
. The Park’s symbol is the
mooseThe moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
.
Kampinoski National Park is located at the biggest river junction in Poland - here valleys of
VistulaThe Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
,
BugThe Bug River is a left tributary of the Narew river flows from central Ukraine to the west, passing along the Ukraine-Polish and Polish-Belarusian border and into Poland, where it empties into the Narew river near Serock. The part between the lake and the Vistula River is sometimes referred to as...
,
NarewThe Narew River , in western Belarus and north-eastern Poland, is a left tributary of the Vistula river...
,
WkraWkra is a river in north-eastern Poland, a tributary of the Narew river, with a length of 249 kilometres and the basin area of 5,322 km². .Towns and townships:* Bieżuń* Radzanów* Strzegowo* Glinojeck* Sochocin...
and
BzuraBzura is a river in central Poland, a tributary of the Vistula river , with a length of 166 kilometres and the basin area of 7,788 km2.-Towns and townships:*Zgierz*Aleksandrów Łódzki*Ozorków*Łęczyca*Łowicz*Sochaczew...
meet together. There are no lakes, the biggest river of the Park is the Łasica, a tributary to the Bzura, which acts as a water canal.
Park’s
floraFlora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
is rich with around 1245 species of plants, of which 69 are protected. Park’s landscape is a mix of sand
duneIn physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...
s and
swampA swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
lands with pine trees growing on sand and meadows on swamps.
The Park, together with nearby valley of the Vistula, is an important thriving area of many animals. According to biologists, there are 16,000 species of animals, of which the most numerous are insects (2 030 species) and birds (200 species). Park’s experts are experienced in the field of reintroducing several animals -
mooseThe moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
(since 1951),
beaverThe beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
(since 1980) and
lynxA lynx is any of the four Lynx genus species of medium-sized wildcats. The name "lynx" originated in Middle English via Latin from Greek word "λύγξ", derived from the Indo-European root "*leuk-", meaning "light, brightness", in reference to the luminescence of its reflective eyes...
(since 1992). 83 species of animals are regarded as endangered.
The park’s area has rich history, here many important events connected with Polish history took place. Reminders of past are numerous and include tombs of insurrectionists from
1863 anti-Russian uprisingThe January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
, war cemeteries from Polish-German war of 1939 and tombs of members of anti-German resistance (1944–45). At the
PalmiryPalmiry During World War II, between 1939 and 1943, the village and the surrounding forest was one of the sites of German mass executions of Jews, Polish intelligentsia, politicians and athletes, killed during the AB Action. Most of the victims were first arrested and tortured in the Pawiak prison...
cemetery lay many inhabitants of Warsaw, secretly killed here by the Germans in the years 1939-1945. At
Żelazowa WolaŻelazowa Wola is a village in Gmina Sochaczew, Sochaczew County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies on the Utrata River, some northeast of Sochaczew and west of Warsaw. Żelazowa Wola has a population of 65....
on the outskits of the Park there is a manor house where famous composer
Frédéric ChopinFrédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
was born.
Tourists are welcome on Park’s walking, cycling and skiing trails. One can also rent a horse and ride on trails whose total length is around 360 kilometers. Cycling enthusiasts may take advantage of the 200 km Kampinos Cycling Trail.
External links