Nature reserves in Poland


Nature reserves in Poland cover a total area of, representing 0.53% of the territory of Poland. As of 2011, Poland has 1469 nature reserves.
The total area of the nature reserves in Poland has expanded since 1980 when they covered only about. By 1990 this increased to Their number has also expanded. However, the area of the natural reserves under strict protection has decreased from in 1990 to as of 2011. The area of nature reserves in Poland was highest around in 2008, when they approached.
Nature reserves in Poland are divided into: fauna, landscape, forest, peat-bog, flora, water, inanimate nature, steppe and halophyte. Another division is into the regular and strict nature reserves; the strict ones see no human activity, whereas the regular one see limited maintenance.
According to Łonkiewicz, the first nature reserve on the Polish lands was the Pamiątka Pieniacka, 50 hectares large, established by count Włodzimierz Dzieduszycki in 1886. As Rąkowski also notes, that nature reserve is no longer in the borders of modern Poland, and the oldest nature reserve on modern Polish lands may be the Baranowiec Nature Reserve established in 1903. Boiński as well Łachowski et al. however note that the oldest preserve may be the Leon Wyczółkowski's Cisy Staropolskie Nature Preserve, whose establishment dates to 1827.
Some of the best known nature reserves in Poland include: Białowieża Forest Nature Reserve, Leon Wyczółkowski's Cisy Staropolskie Nature Preserve, Olszyny Niezgodzkie Nature Reserve, Modrzewina Nature Reserve and the Stefan Starzyński's Kabacki's Forest Nature Reserve.

Size of nature reserves by voivodeship

The voivodeship with the highest total number of nature reserves is the Masovian Voivodeship, and the lowest, the Opole Voivodeship. With regard to the total area, the highest is the Podlaskie Voivodeship, and the lowest is the Opole Voivodeship.
VoivodeshipSize of nature reservesNumber of nature reserves
Lower Silesian 66
Kuyavian-Pomeranian 94
Lublin 85
Lubusz 61
Łódź 89
Lesser Poland 85
Masovian 185
Opolskie 35
Podkarpackie 94
Podlaskie 93
Pomeranian 130
Silesian 64
Świętokrzyskie72
Warmian-Masurian 108
Greater Poland 98
West Pomeranian 114