Protected areas ofPoland include the following categories, as defined by the Act on Protection of Nature (Polish:Ustawa o ochronie przyrody) of 16 April 2004,[1] by thePolish Parliament:
There are 23national parks inPoland. These were formerly run by the Polish Board of National Parks (Krajowy Zarząd Parków Narodowych), but in 2004 responsibility for them was transferred to the Ministry of the Environment. Most national parks are divided into strictly and partially protected zones. Additionally, they are usually surrounded by a protective buffer zone calledotulina.
According to the Act on Protection of Nature (Ustawa o ochronie przyrody) of 2004, aLandscape Park (Parki Krajobrazowe) is defined as "an area protected because of its natural, historical, cultural and scenic values, for the purpose of conserving and popularizing those values in conditions of balanced development."[2] As at 9 May 2009 there are 122 designated Landscape Parks throughout Poland, covering a total area of approximately 26,100 square kilometres (10,000 sq mi).[3]
Nature reserves cover a total area of 1,644,634 hectares (4,063,980 acres), representing 0.53% of theterritory of Poland.[4] As of 2011, Poland has 1469nature reserves.[5] The Nature reserves in Poland are divided into categories: fauna (141), landscape (108), forest (722), peat-bog (177), flora (169), water (44), inanimate nature (72), steppe (32) andhalophyte (4).[6] Another division is into the regular and strict nature reserves; the strict ones see no human activity, whereas the regular ones see limited maintenance.[7]
Protected landscape areas (Polish:obszary chronionego krajobrazu) belong to some of the least restrictive zones of protection, with focus on qualified tourism and outdoor recreation. There were 419 protected landscape areas in Poland as of December 31, 2008 covering an area of 7,058,000 hectares (17,440,000 acres), or slightly over 23% of the country.[8]
About 500Natura 2000 sites,ecological network of protected areas in the territory of theEuropean Union including:
Poland also has the following internationally designated sites:
UNESCO Biosphere Reserves are environment-protected scientific-research institutions of international status that are created with the intent for conservation in a natural state the most typical natural complexes of biosphere, conducting background ecological monitoring, studying of the surroundingnatural environment, its changes under the activity ofanthropogenic factors.
Biosphere Preserves are created on the base ofnature preserves ornational parks including to their composition territories and objects of other categories of nature-preserving fund and other lands as well as including in the established order theWorld Network of Biosphere Reserves in theUNESCO framework "Man and the Biosphere Programme". There are 9 Biosphere Reserves in Poland.
AUNESCOWorld Heritage Site is a place (such as a forest, mountain, lake, island,desert,monument, building, complex, or city) that is listed by UNESCO as sites of outstandingcultural ornatural importance to the common heritage ofhumanity.[12] There are fourteen World Heritage Sites inPoland (1[note 1] Natural and13[note 2][note 3] Cultural). The first two sites were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978. Three of the sites,Belovezhskaya Pushcha / Białowieża Forest,Wooden Tserkvas of Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine andMuskauer Park / Park Mużakowski are shared with neighboring countries (Belarus, Ukraine and Germany). Poland also has six sites on the Tentative List.
TheRamsar Convention on Wetlands is an internationaltreaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization ofwetlands,[13] i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamentalecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value.[14] Since the convention became effective in Poland on 22 March 1978, the designation of Wetland of International Importance has been applied to thirteen locations in the country, which combine to form an area of 145,075 ha (358,490 acres).[15][16]
