Wielkopolski National Park

It was established in 1957 covering the area of 7620 ha, of which the forests occupy 58% of the total area. The sculpture of the earth’s surface and landscape variety of the Park are composed of: terminal moraines, with the biggest one near Pozogowo (132 meters) post-glacial guillies with water (12 lakes), esker ridges, drumlins, ravines, dunes and the network of left-bank tributaries of the Warta river.

There are around 66 plant communities, including 18 forest-thicket, 23 water-swamp, 8 rush, 8 meadow and 6 grass ones. Among the forest communities the biggest ones are groups of Central European forests growing on dry ground (46%) acid oak woods (20%), mixed forests, bright oak woods, pine forests and marshy meadows. An interesting form of the pine can be found here – Pinus sylvestris annulata.

The flora of vascular plants comprises around 900 species (47 legally protected), 174 species of mosses, 150 species of lichens, 300 species of mushrooms and over 500 species of algas. There are here 4 localities of the checker-tree mountain ash Sorbus torminalis and the relict twinflower Linnea borealis. One can also find here the lowland variety of the amethyst fescue Festuca amethystina var. Ritchili. In the lakes there is the relict spiny naid Najas marina.

There are around 45 species of mammals, 200 species of birds and 2500 species of insects. This area is full of monuments of nature, mainly trees and erratic blocks (the biggest one with the circumference of 10,5 meters) as well as the traces of existance of prehistoric man in the Warta valley and near Lake Budzynskie.