The
Lower Oder Valley International Park is a shared
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-
PolishPoland , 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...
nature reserve. It comprises the western banks of the
OderThe Oder is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line...
river within the Uckermark district in the German state of
BrandenburgBrandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
as well as the steep eastern banks in the
GryfinoGryfino County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-western Poland, on the German border. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest...
and
PolicePolice County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-western Poland, on the Polish-German border. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and...
counties of the Polish
West Pomeranian VoivodeshipWest Pomeranian Voivodeship, , is a voivodeship in northwestern Poland. It borders on Pomeranian Voivodeship to the east, Greater Poland Voivodeship to the southeast, Lubusz Voivodeship to the south, the German federal-state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania to the west, and the Baltic Sea to the north...
further north.
Overview
The German part of the core area is the
Nationalpark Unteres Odertal (Lower Oder Valley National Park). The Polish part of the core area is the
Park Krajobrazowy Dolina Dolnej Odry (
Lower Odra Valley Landscape ParkLower Odra Valley Landscape Park is a protected area in north-western Poland, on the eastern banks of the river Odra which marks the Polish-German border...
). The area comprises 165 km² (Germany 105 km², Poland 60 km²); together with adjoining nature reserves in Germany and Poland the total area is 1,172 km². By decision of the German-Polish Environmental Council in 1992 the German, Polish and Brandenburg environment ministers as well as the voivode of
SzczecinSzczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
created the Lower Oder Valley International Park.
The flat western shore of the Oder features several levees, which in order to control the water level and to prevent highfloods are regularly opened in winter and spring. The water flows freely into extensive
floodplainA floodplain, or flood plain, is a flat or nearly flat land adjacent a stream or river that stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls and experiences flooding during periods of high discharge...
s covered until April when the dikes are closed again and the remaining water is drained. These plains are habitats for animals rare in the region including the
Black StorkThe Black Stork Ciconia nigra is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It is a widespread, but rare, species that breeds in the warmer parts of Europe, predominantly in central and eastern regions. This is a shy and wary species, unlike the closely related White Stork. It is seen in...
, the
Aquatic WarblerThe Aquatic Warbler, Acrocephalus paludicola, is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It breeds in temperate eastern Europe and western Asia, with an estimated population of 15,000 pairs. It is migratory, wintering in west Africa...
, the
Corn CrakeThe Corn Crake, Corncrake or Landrail is a bird in the rail family. It breeds in Europe and Asia as far east as western China, and migrates to Africa for the winter...
, the
European OtterThe European Otter , also known as the Eurasian otter, Eurasian river otter, common otter and Old World otter, is a European and Asian member of the Lutrinae or otter subfamily, and is typical of freshwater otters....
and the
European BeaverThe Eurasian beaver or European beaver is a species of beaver, which was once widespread in Eurasia, where it was hunted to near extinction both for fur and for castoreum, a secretion of its scent gland believed to have medicinal properties...
as well as for plants like the submediterranean Pubescent Oak.
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