20 sierpnia, 2021

The Żubr Fund, in cooperation with the Biebrza National Park, is buying plots of land located within an area that should be better protected. This is how the Fund is fulfilling its mission of saving rare and endangered species of plants and animals, and is responding to the demands of the European Union and the United Nations, which are calling for giving nature back its land in order to stop the climate and environmental crisis.

The Biebrza National Park is a natural treasure on a European scale and one of the last valleys in Europe not destroyed by man. In the same time this is the only national park in Poland, of which approximately 40% does not formally belong to it, which prevents the park staff from conducting effective nature conservation in this area. That is why the Żubr Fund has embarked on long-term cooperation with the Biebrza National Park, in order to obtain plots of land that are lying on its territory. 

“Today, caring for nature, including wildlife, is becoming exceptionally important. In its report of June this year, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is calling on all countries of the world to make a major revival of nature. It is in the interest of the whole of mankind to rebuild it,” comments Professor Piotr Skubała from the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection of the University of Silesia.

Islands of diversity and a natural air conditioner

Approximately there are 500 millions m³ of water accumulated in the wetlands of the Biebrza Valley. The marshes cool the climate, are islands of biodiversity, act as natural air conditioners, and are a unique habitat for birds that are the envy of Europe, including the aquatic warbler, greater spotted eagle, corncrake, redshank, crane and common snipe.

“The Biebrza National Park is home to the aquatic warbler, a small bird, the global population of which is about 18–19,000 singing males,” says Włodzimierz Wróblewski, deputy director of Biebrza National Park. “It is estimated that 15-20% of this population lives in Poland, and actually exclusively in the Biebrza marshes. If we do not acquire these several or a dozen or so hectares of the Park and do not protect the aquatic warbler’s habitat, this bird has no chance of survival. And this is just one small example.”

300 m to an eagle’s nest

The first plot of land, which the Biebrza National Park will be able to purchase as a result of the resources of the Żubr Fund, is a plot that is extremely valuable to nature in Dolistowo Nowe in the Mońki municipality. This plot of over 2.5 ha, consisting of a meadow and a forest, is a breeding habitat and feeding ground for many endangered species of birds. A Greater Spotted Eagle has made its nest just 300 m from it. The aquatic warbler, corncrake, redshank, crane and common snipe also bring up their cubs here. But that is not all – large flocks of migratory birds, including Eurasian wigeons, white-fronted geese and cranes, prepare to depart on these lands. Protecting and caring for them is an opportunity for the survival of all these birds.

“The protection of the habitat is the most effective matter for nature,” says Włodzimierz Wróblewski, Deputy Director of the Biebrza National Park. “The protection of habitats is critical for an endangered species of birds to remain in the given area. Because it not only nests there, but also feeds, takes its chicks out of the nest, and rests during migration. The appropriate protection of these habitats, namely appropriate de-bushing, mowing, etc. has nothing to do with agricultural management. So there can ONLY be success if we acquire these areas for the Park and give them proper protection.”

Places that are exceptionally valuable to nature require exceptional protection. That is why the Żubr Fund and Biebrza National Park are planning to purchase further plots of land for the benefit of nature.