6. Warta Mouth ( To view location on itinerary map click here)
Map taken from the Warta River-Mouth National Park Website
General
Warta River-Mouth is the newest of the Polish National Parks, having been formally designated in June 2001. The Park is situated in the delta of the Warta River where it meets the River Odra on the western edge of Poland, immediately to the west of Kostrzyn. The 8,038 hectare park incorporates the Slonsk Nature Reserve and, what was, the Warta Mouth Landscape Park.
The Warta River runs from east to west through the middle of the park, splitting it into two distinct areas:
Southern Area - contains the former Slonsk Nature Reserve which forms a part of the Kostrzyn Retention Reservoir. Much of the this area is open grassland on alluvial clay soils, with limited ditching or drainage. Within the Slonsk reserve there are also significant areas of scrub, open water and reed beds. Water levels in this area regularly reach up to 4 metres depth during the winter months, with levels peaking in the spring-time (March -April).
Slonsk Nature Reserve
Northern Area - protected from fluvial flooding by the raised river banks. This area of wet grassland and ditches has pumping facilities too manage water levels and is characteristic of many farmed wetlands of Europe.
Drainage, woodland clearance and enclosure in the area was started under the rule of the German King Frederic the Great during the 18th Century. The area was under German rule until the end of WWII when it was annexed to Poland. The domestic architecture and the architecture of the older pump stations is very German in characteristic, and quite spectacular.
Following WWII the area was farmed within the state farming system. This ceased in the early 1990s and much of the area is now threatened with secondary succession to woodland as a result of abandonment.
Wildlife
The diversity of wildlife within the Park is a result of the wetland farming that has been undertaken in recent centuries. The site is very rich in plant species diversity, with more than 400 vascular plant species accounting for approximately 30% of Polish flora.
The
area is one of the most
important waterfowl sites in Poland with 245 bird species recorded, of which 140
are known to breed. Breeding birds including: 4 grebe Podiceps species,
7-8 duck Anas species, 5 rail Rallus
species, and 10 shore bird Linicolae
species. Twenty-six bird species nesting in the Park
are globally threatened including aquatic warbler Acrocephalus paludicola,
corncrake
Crex crex, black-tailed godwit
Limosa
limosa, crane Grus grus,
bittern Botaurus stellaris, little
bittern Ixobrychus minutus
and black
tern ChlIdonias niger.
There are 24 mammal species present at the site including otter Lutra lutra and European beaver Castor fiber.
Problem
species include American mink Mustela vison
population and racoon Procon lotor,
both of which will predate nesting birds and can have significant impacts on
population numbers.
Site Visits
Southern Area - The southern area of the site is effectively treated as common land by anyone with stock in the adjacent villages. There are very few stock in the area, some small-holdings may have 2 or 3 cattle and there are a few small-holders with 5 to 10 cattle. However, there is a very significant grazier in the area who puts out somewhere near 1,000 beef cattle. These stock are mainly diary bullocks which are exported as a low quality beef product.
Northern Area - During the year of my visit there were no farmers utilising the grazing within the Northern Polder Area.
The Park is trying to encourage farmers to expand herds and diversify into providing accommodation, realising the potential of tourism to the area. The area is one of the pilot areas for the Polish Agri-Environment Schemes.
It is likely that the Park will have to use 'semi-wild grazing' non-agricultural stock in order to make up the shortfall in grazing. There has been some consideration of the possibility of using konik ponies/tarpans to graze some areas.
Reserve Visit
At Owczary, near Górzyca, just south of the National Park there is a field station dedicated to the protection of exothermic grasslands, managed by Lubuski Naturalist Club. There is an 18 hectare reserve of exothermic grassland at the site. This is a habitat that is not present within the UK and was of great interest. Now extremely rare in Poland, it is associated with west and south facing grassland on free draining sandy alkaline soils. I did have a species list and photographs, although these were sadly stolen along with my laptop. This small reserve is bordered by arable land managed by a German farmer. There are no fences and the area needs grazing by sheep in order to maintain its' condition as grassland. This requires the staff and volunteers of the 'Naturalist Klub' to shepherd the animals over the site twice daily which takes incredible effort. I asked about fencing the area but this would be costly and, in any case, there was concern that stock would be stolen if left out for long periods.