Anna Majchrowska*, Elżbieta Papińska* 4. NATURE VALUE OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN POLAND AND ITS PROTECTION 4.1. Nature value Poland is characterised by medium diversity in its landscapes. This diversity comprises the following six roughly parallel west-east zones: the coastal belt in the north bordering the Baltic Sea, the lakeland belt, mid-Polish lowlands, uplands in the south and south- east, a lowered foreland basin, and mountains in the extreme south. The most valuable geographical and biological features, unique in Europe, include: • lowland old-growth forests that retained a wealth of forest habitats reflecting specific topography, along with woodland wet- lands, ponds and streams (for example: Białowieża, Knyszyn or Romincka Forests); • patches of natural forests in the mountain ranges (the Tatra and Beskidy Mountains); • long natural stretches of medium and large rivers (e.g. Vis- tula, Bug, Narew, Biebrza, Pasłęka and Radunia) and their valleys * Anna Majchrowska, Elżbieta Papińska – University of Łódź, Faculty of Geo- graphical Sciences, Department of Physical Geography, Narutowicza 88, 90-139 Łódź, Poland, e-mails:
[email protected];
[email protected] 102 Anna Majchrowska, Elżbieta Papińska flooded by snowmelt in spring, with sandbars and oxbow lakes, and remnants of riverine forests; • vast wetlands: swamps, marshes, bogs and fens (the Biebrza Marshes, Polesie, Tuchola Forest); • oligotrophic lakes with low levels of nutrients and charac- teristic assemblages of plant species (e.g. Gacno Wielkie, Głuche, Nierybno, Kapka, Kaleńskie, Bobięcińskie lakes); • natural flat and cliffed coasts of the Baltic Sea; • harmonious rural landscapes with a mosaic of arable lands, meadows, pastures and orchards, with grassy, herbaceous and shrubby field margins and boundaries, woodlots and ponds – prod- uct of traditional farming activities over several centuries (retained mainly in the south-eastern part) (Symonides 2008).