| Tuchola Forest Polish:Bory Tucholskie | |
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.jpg) Cisy Staropolskie, the oldest nature reserve in Poland, located in the southern part of Tuchola Forest | |
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| Geography | |
| Location | Poland |
| Coordinates | 53°36′N18°00′E / 53.600°N 18.000°E /53.600; 18.000 |
| Administration | |
| Events | Battle of Tuchola Forest Rudzki Most massacre |
| Ecology | |
| Dominant tree species | pine |
TheTuchola Forest, also known asTuchola Pinewoods orTuchola Conifer Woods, (the latter a literal translation ofPolish:Bory Tucholskie;Kashubian:Tëchòlsczé Bòrë;German:Tuchler or Tucheler Heide) is a largeforest complex near the town ofTuchola in northernPoland. It lies between theBrda andWda rivers, within theGdańsk Pomerania region. The largest towns in the area areCzersk andTuchola.
The designation may also refer to the eponymous historical land and ethnocultural region,World War II battle, geomorphological mesoregion, phytogeographic landscape region and syntaxonomical subregion, nature and forest mesoregion, promotional forest complex, Biosphere Reserve,Natura 2000Special Protection Area, national park,LEADER/CLLD local action group, or a number of local associations. Geographical extent varies greatly among these units or entities.
With 3,200 km2 of densespruce andpine forest, the area is one of the biggestforests inPoland andCentral Europe.
The area was formed during the lastglacial age and is covered with low hills and more than 900 post-glacial lakes. From the geomorphological point of view, the area is located in the South-Pomeranian Lakeland macroregion of the South-Baltic Lakelands Sub-Province belonging to thePolish Plain, a part of theNorth European Plain province. The forest covers the eponymousTuchola Forest mesoregion, but also theŚwiecie Plain (both mesoregions sometimes jointly referred to as Tuchola Plain), large swaths of the Charzykowy Plain and theBrda River Valley mesoregions, as well as lesser parts of other mesoregions: theBytów Lakeland, theKashubia Lakeland, theStarogard Lakeland, and the Krajna Lakeland.
The geology of Tuchola Forest consists mainly ofsandarglaciofluvial deposits ofsandsediment, while the soil is predominantly ofpodzoltype.
The climate in the area is classified asDfb climate, a variant of thehemiboreal subtype belonging to thehumid continental climate type.
From the geobotanical point of view, the area encompasses several floristic landscape subregions forming the eponymousTuchola Forest landscape region, classified as the only landscape region in the eponymousTuchola Forest syntaxonomical subregion of the Sandar Forefields of Central Pomeranian Lake District syntaxonomical region located in the Pomeranian divide of the South-Baltic subprovince.
A smaller part of the forest is located in three out of five floristic landscape subregions forming the Świecie Plain landscape region, classified in the Chełmno-Dobrzyń syntaxonomical region belonging to the Mazovian subdivide of the Mazovian-Polesian divide in the Central European (Proper) subprovince.
Both floristic subprovinces are parts of the Central Europeanfloristic province in theCircumboreal Region of theHolarctic Kingdom.
This predominantlyconiferous forest is composed mainly ofsuboceanic (Leucobryo-Pinetum) and subcontinental (Peucedano-Pinetum) youngScots pine foresthabitat types covering 64.5% of the area of land habitats, as well as ofdry acidophilous Scots pine forest (Cladonio-Pinetum) covering 2.5% of the area,[1] and ofmarshy pine forest (Vaccinio-uliginosi-Pinetum). TheHabitats Directive classifies the initial three habitat types jointly as the Central European lichen Scots pine forest habitat type, and the last one as belonging to bog woodlands habitat type, all belonging to the Forests of Temperate Europe group. The habitat classification of theEuropean Nature Information System classifies the first type as belonging to subcontinental moss Pinus sylvestris forests, the second and the third type belong to subcontinental lichen Pinus sylvestris forests, while the fourth belongs to nemoral Pinus sylvestris mire forests.
Deciduous forest habitats cover minority of the forest area, mainlyswamps, and include:
The occurrence of other phytocenoses such as for instanceBetulo-Quercetum roboris,Molinio-Pinetum orStellario-Carpinetum, is considered to be of fragmentary nature or in the form of deformed phytocenoses.
The forest belongs to theBaltic mixed forests ecoregion located in the EuropeanContinental Biogeographic Region, belonging to thetemperate broadleaf and mixed forestsbiome of thePalearctic realm. The area is covered by thedrainage basins of Brda andWda, belonging to the Lower Vistula Basin, a part of theVistula Basin emptying into theBaltic Sea, classified together with the rest of Central & Western Europe astemperate floodplain rivers and wetlands of the Palearctic realm.
For the purposes of forestry, Poland is divided into eight nature and forest lands, divided into nature and forest mesoregions, largely based on the borders of geomorphological mesoregions. The bulk of Tuchola Forest is located in the 3rd Greater Polish-Pomeramian Nature and Forest Land, where the forest covers theTuchola Forest nature and forest mesoregion formed by merging the Tuchola Forest and the Charzykowy Plain geomorphological mesoregions, with the northernmost part of the merged unit being detached to form a separate Zaborski nature and forest mesoregion, also covered by the forest. Other nature and forest mesoregions of the 2nd Land which are partially covered by the forest include the Świecie Plain, the Brda River Valley and the Krajna Lakeland nature and forest mesoregions.
A small, peripheral part of the forest lies in the 1st Baltic Nature and Forest Land, namely in parts of theBytów Lakeland, theKashubia Lakeland, and theStarogard Lakeland nature and forest mesoregions.
According to the European forest classification, the young Scots pine forests and the dry acidophilous Scots pine forests habitats are classified as Nemoral Scots pine forests, while the marshy pine forests are classified as conifer dominated or mixed mire forests.[2]
The forest is managed by the Regional Directorates ofState Forests inToruń,Gdańsk, and (a small part only)Szczecinek, with the exception of the territory of theTuchola Forest National Park, managed outside the State Forests entity by the park itself.
A south-eastern fragment of the forest located in the part managed by the Regional Directorate in Toruń has been designated theTuchola Forest Promotional Forest Complex for the purposes of promoting sustainable forest management. Its primary objective is forest education, in the forms of outdoor lessons and guided tours, classes in forest education chambers, meetings with foresters at schools, meetings outside schools, educational events and actions, exhibitions, forest contests, festivities, fairs, etc., carried out by qualified foresters, known as the leaders of forest education, using dedicated facilities established in the forest, such as education centers, educational chambers, educational shelters, educational trails, educational points, and others. The complex also enables interdisciplinary research based on fully recognized forest environment, for the purposes improvement of forest management methods and setting acceptable limits on economic (commercial) interventions in forest ecosystems. It also allows for sports, recreation and leisure activities in the forest, unhampered by the restrictions typically imposed in a national park or a nature reserve.
In June 2010 the Tuchola Forest area was designated byUNESCO as aTuchola ForestBiosphere Reserve, grossly coextensive with theTuchola Forest (Bory Tucholskie, PLB220009) and theGreat Brda Sandar (Wielki Sandr Brdy, PLB220001)Natura 2000Special Protection Areas combined, encompassing several smaller Natura 2000Special Areas of Conservation, such as the Brda and Stążka Valley in Tuchola Forest (Dolina Brdy i Stążki w Borach Tucholskich, PLH040023), the Brda and Chocina Valley (Dolina Brdy i Chociny, PLH220058), the BrdaSandar (Sandr Brdy, PLH220026), the WdaSandar (Sandr Wdy, PLH040017), Mętne (PLH220034),Wdzydze Lakes (Jeziora Wdzydzkie, PLH220057), theZapceń Refuge (Ostoja Zapceńska, PLH220077), Młosino-Lubnia (PLH040023), or the Church inŚliwice (Kościół w Śliwicach, PLH040034). The nucleus of the Biosphere Reserve is protected by theTuchola Forest National Park covering 46.13 square kilometres (17.81 sq mi) and of the 25nature reserves lying within the buffer zone. The buffer zone includesTuchola,Wda,Wdzydze andZaborski Landscape Parks. There is also a transit zone which includes the town ofTuchola and surrounding districts. The core area of the Reserve covers 78.81 square kilometres (30.43 sq mi), and the three zones together cover 3,195 square kilometres (1,234 sq mi).[3]
The termTuchola Forest (Polish:Bory Tucholskie), understood as an ethnocultural region and a historical land of Poland, carries a much narrower geographical sense than the area covered by the actual forest. In this meaning, the designation refers exclusively to the part of the forest which is inhabited by theTuchola Borowians (orBorowians), aPolishethnographic group, comprising the area located roughly north-east of Chojnice (Rytel,Gutowiec,Czersk,Łąg), south ofCzarna Woda (Osieczna,Osówek), north-west ofŚwiecie (Świekatowo,Lniano,Drzycim), north-east ofSępólno Krajeńskie (Wałdowo,Przepałkowo), stretching south to the suburbs ofBydgoszcz (Koronowo,Pruszcz), encompassing the entireTuchola County (Tuchola,Raciąż,Bysław,Cekcyn,Śliwice,Legbąd,Lińsk,Gostycyn,Kęsowo,Żalno,Lubiewo). Borowians speak theTuchola Forest dialect (gwara borowiacka orgwara tucholska) ofPolish belonging to theGreater Polish dialects, albeit under strong influence ofKashubian.
Prior toWorld War II, the western part of the region partially overlapped with theKosznajderia, orKosznajdry(in Polish) orKoschneiderei(in German), former ethnocultural region inhabited by a relatively secluded solid community of Catholic German settlers brought from thePrince-Bishopric of Osnabrück by theTeutonic Order State during its brief control of the area at the end the 14th century, who maintained their original culture (including clothing) and spokeKoschneiderisch, a distinctSouth-East-Pomeranian (German:Süd-Hinterpommersch) dialect ofLow German which preserved many features of Westphalian dialect ofMiddle Low German (spoken by the original pioneer founding settlers), itself heavily influenced by theMiddle Dutch.
Other areas of the forest (including the National Park) are inhabited by neighbouring ethnographic groups:Kashubians (includingKrubans,Borans andZaborans),Kociewians (includingLasans andPiaskarze) - approximately 30% of the area, as well asKrajnians.
In order to co-ordinate in the region various development activities related to training courses, promotion of tourism to the region, promotion and marketing of regional products, promotion of regional cuisine, organizations of regional culture activities, festivities or contests, aLocal Action Group ″Tuchola Forest″ (technically a union of associations) was established by several associations of public (including allgminas of theTuchola County, the Tuchola County itself, as well as three gminas of theŚwiecie County), private (including commercial) andNGO sectors, which acted under the Local Action Plan as an operator of funds distributed from theLEADER programme of theEuropean Agricultural Fund for Rural Development in the years 2007–2013. Beginning from the EU budget perspective 2014-2020 onwards, the law restricted the permitted legal form of LEADER/CLLD local action groups to an association (and not a union of associations), and therefore, the entity lost the official status of LEADER local action group. As a replacement, a new LEADER/CLLD programme local operator, thePartnership ″Local Action Group Tuchola Forest″ (technically a registeredassociation), was established by local entities (this time only those located in the territory of the Tuchola County), including local self-government units, as well as private entities (including commercial ones) and those from theNGO sector. The original union of associations continues, however, its activities as a forum of discussion and cooperation in the entire region in- and outside the territory of Tuchola County, in forms such as conferences, training courses or contests, albeit funded from sources other than the LEADER programme, such as the funds received form territorial self-government units or government institutions. Similarly, the″Borowiak Fishie″ Fishieries Local Action Group association operates the funds for the development of fisheries and fishing communities, allocated from theEuropean Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund. Other importąnt regional organizations include theCultural Society of Borowiacy in Tuchola, the″Promotion of Tuchola Forest″ Society for Regional Development, as well as the″Tuchola Forest″ Association of Agri-Tourism Holdings.
The area formed part of Poland since the establishment of the state in the 10th century, with a brief interruption during the occupation by theTeutonic Order State at the end of the 14th century. After theFirst Partition of Poland in 1772 the area was annexed byPrussia, and from 1871 it was part of theGerman Empire. Under German rule, near the village ofGrupa, a military exercise areaTruppenübungsplatz Gruppe was established, in which medical research was conducted, leading to publication of the name in scientific reports of the early 20th century. DuringWorld War I, pacifist doctorGeorg Friedrich Nicolai was banished fromBerlin to the remote area which had to be restored in 1919 to Poland as a result of theTreaty of Versailles, after Poland regained independence in November 1918.
In 1939, during theinvasion of Poland at the very beginning ofWorld War II, the majorBattle of Tuchola Forest was fought in the area. Despite having cohabitated peacefully for centuries with their Polish, Kashubian or Jewish neighbours, Kosznajders succumbed to Nazi German propaganda during the increasing hostilities of the German Reich towards Poland in the months preceding the impedinginvasion, when a number of them joined theVolksdeutscher Selbstschutz, participated in the preparation ofSonderfahndungsbuch Polen, or even played an active role in atrocities against Poles during the genocidalIntelligenzaktion Pommern conducted primarily in October and November 1939, when Germans murdered 335Poles from Tuchola andTuchola County in six large massacres known as theRudzki Most massacre.[4] Among the victims were teachers, school principals, merchants, craftsmen, farmers, priests, foresters, postmen, railwaymen, policemen and local officials, including mayor of Tuchola Stanisław Saganowski.[5]
In the spring of 1944, in anticipation of the evacuation ofSS-Truppenübungsplatz Heidelager fromPustków in theSandomierz Forest, a military training ground was re-established atWierzchucin in the Tuchola Forest under the nameTruppenübungsplatz Westpreußen, code name "Heidekraut".[6][7] Afterthe previous test site near Blizna was captured by the advancingRed Army, between August 1944 and January 1945SS troops underHans Kammler andWalter Dornberger carried out extensive tests of theA-4 missiles (V-2 rockets).[8] 265 V-2 missiles were launched, most of them in a southbound direction towardsChodzież,Ostrzeszów,Sieradz orTurek.[6] For a short period,Rheinbote were also tested.[9] The rockets were supplied from the undergroundMittelwerk factory at theNordhausen-Dora concentration camp.[10] The logbooks recorded an incident with 9 casualties, among whom 7 were a German family from Berlin.[11] In January 1945 the site had to be evacuated in its turn before the Red Army offensive overran the area.
After World War II, almost the entire population of Kosznajders fled or were expelled to Germany. The forest then became a safe haven for many Polishanti-communistpartisans (Cursed soldiers), among themZygmunt Szendzielarz.
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