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SUMMARY

WIGRY LANDSCAPE

The Wigry lanscape was formed by a Scandinavian glacier several thousand years ago. For over 500 million years, the landscape had changed many times, and for long periods it had been a sea bottom. in the last period covering one million eight hundred thousand years eight “glacial epochs” took place. Each consecutive glacier engulfed existing flora and drove away animals, brought new beds of clays, sands and rocks, moved older deposits and shaped the land surface anew.

Heights, hills and ramparts made of rock material deposited by a glacier or displaced by its pressure add variety to the landscape. Ground lowerings were filled with water – lakes came into being, later on, also peatbogs. Rivers and streams flow in some lowerings. Vegetation appeared in place of the receding glacier. This land was already covered by pine forests with a large participation of birch about 10 000 years ago. The first traces of people’s presence – reindeer hunters, come from those times. After the climate had warmed up, the hunters followed reindeer north. Primeval forest grew here 8 000 years ago, where small groups of hunters hunted deer, tarpans, wild boars, bears, beavers and foxes. They fished and picked forest berries. They built their camps on sandy river banks and lakesides.

When the climate got colder, 3000 years ago, there were definitely more spruces than other kinds of trees in the forests. More numerous people’s settlements started to appear on this land from the turn of the 3rd and 4th century. However, people’s influence on nature and landscape was insignificant.

From the end of the 2nd to the beginning of the 5th century, settlements existed in a few places on Lake Wigry. In the Middle Ages, from the 7th to the 13th century, the land between Great Masurian Lakes and the Niemen River (the area of present Suwalszczyzna) was inhabited by the tribe of Jatvings – one of the west-Balt tribes. After the land had been conquered by Teutonic Knights, at the end of the 13th century, the Wigry surroundings were again covered by forests.

The Wigry landscape began to change in the second half of the 17th century thanks to the Camaldolite order. The monks built a monastery on the Wigry peninsula. They brought settlers, part of the forest was cut down to make place for villages, manors and ironworks. The network of settlements together with the town of Suwalki founded by Camaldolites, with small changes has survived till the present day.

In the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century the forest around Wigry was being cut down. After the wasteful exploitation during World War I, forests covered only 50% of this area. However, the area of forest started to grow thanks to a better forest management. The establishment of the landscape park and a network of nature reserves, and, particularly, the establishment of the national park began a slow process of restoring forests to their natural character. Also waters, peatbogs and agricultural landscape shaped by history were taken under protection.

The Wigry landscape has preserved high natural and aesthetic values. The mosaic of forests, lakes, meadows, farmland and tree-covered areas in open, undulating country are a value which should be protected for us and future generations.

LAND of WIGRY WATERS

Complex of Lakes

The Wigry National Park is distinguished from other Polish national parks by a variety of water ecosystems. Altogether, they cover the area of 2732 ha, which is 18% of the Park’s area. Different sizes of lakes attract our attention. Fertility of particular lakes has the biggest influence on the variety of aquatic organisms. Lake Białe Wigierskie is the least fertile – with clear, blue water, rich in oxygen, inhabited by varied plant and animal complexes. The vegetation immersed in Lake Białe is dominated by a complex of stoneworts – big algae. Lakes Białe Piercianskie, Czarne near Bryzgiel, Długie, Okrągłe and Muliczne are a little more fertile. They are characterized by a higher production of plancton algae, in comparison with Lake Białe Wigierskie. Eight reservoirs, including the largest lake in the Park – Wigry, are lakes of medium fertility. in the Park there are also small, in-forest water reservoirs, called 'lakelets', usually with regular shoreline, small depth, fed by groundwater, and often surrounded by low peatbogs. They are: Samle Małe, Samle Duże, Gałęziste and Przetaczek. Plants requiring clean waters, rich in calcium, mainly the stoneworts, grow in them. Many animals have their habitats there: invertebrates, fish, amphibians, many species of birds, and beavers.

The 'suchary' constitute the most numerous group of water reservoirs in the Wigry National Park. The name suchar (a big rusk) is a regional term, typical of the Suwalszczyzna region. Some claim that it derives from frequent occurrence of dead, dry trees on the lakes’ shores. The suchary are characterized by low fertility. Their water contains large amounts of humous acids – organic substances coming from decomposition of needles, leaves, litter, which are washed down from the coniferous forests surrounding the suchary. These substances give water a specific dark brown colouring, decrease its clarity and cause acidification. There are 18 reservoirs in the Park which are typical suchary. The suchary have specific fauna which is tolerant of acidification of water. The world of water invertebrates is particularly rich. The variety of types and ecological condition of particular lakes in the Park call for protective actions, specific for particular ecosystems. 8 water resevoirs are under strict protection. One of the trends of active conservation of water resources and ecosystems is restoration of small water reservoirs, both in open agricultural landscapes and in the Park’s forests.

Going downstream…

Each of the rivers in the Wigry National Park has its own charm and specificity. The biggest river in the park – the Czarna Hańcza, is characterized by change- ability. It flows rapidly through the forest before it flows into Lake Wigry. When it leaves the lake, it slows down its current and meanders among meadows and fields.

Another river – generally, the lazily flowing Kamionka – also creates a rushing and stony water gap. The waters of the Wiatrołuża carve a river valley which is the deepest in the Park, and the Maniówka is characterized by a great seasonal changeability of water flow. The length of the Samlanka and the Bystra does not exceed one kilometre, and that of the Gremzdówka does not exceed two. Despite natural and landscape dissimilarity, all the flowing waters are connected by their original natural beauty.

The Park’s rivers – all apart from the Czarna Hańcza – are small, and thus particularly sensitive to all kinds of influence of human activity. They have preserved their natural beauty and value thanks to insignificant interference of man. Inflows of pollution from the area of the whole catchment basins, mainly located outside the protected area, decide about the quality of river waters. This concerns the Czarna Hańcza in particular, whose catchment basin covers the area of nearly 190 sq.km. Wandering along marked out tourist routes running next to the rivers, one can observe various vegetation complexes typical of boggy river valleys, see a crane, a white-tailed eagle, a beaver, an elk, or even a wolf here.

Landscape values and abundance of flora and fauna in these small river lands can be admired from viewing points or when walking along some tourist trails.

PEATBOGS

Wetlands – peatbogs are an important element of nature in the Wigry National Park. Although they occupy a relatively small area, they have a great importance for the general natural diversity of the Park’s area and influence water relationships in their vicinity. a lot of them are of natural character and and are a habitat of rare, protected species of both plants and animals.

High peatbogs develop in basins, on impermeable for water substratum, in the surroundings of little fertile catchment. They are fed by precipitation only. With time, a marshy coniferous forest develops on a high, dried peatbog. Suche Bagno is the largest high peatbog under strict protection.

Low peatbogs are the most common type of boggy enivironments in the Park. Most often they develop in places of insignificant but constant flow of water rich in feeding substances – in river valleys and near lakes. The largest areas of peatbogs are found in the Czarna Hańcza valley and on lakeshores. Turf peatbogs are a little different type of low peatbogs. They develop on water-head areas, mainly in the valley of the Wiatrołuża. Turf peatbogs are very valuable in nature. It is there that one can come across numerous, rare species of plants.

Carbonate peatbogs developing on beds of lake gyttja – lake bottom deposits very rich in calcium carbonate, are another type of low peatbogs. The largest peat bog of this type can be found on Jurkowy Róg, near the village of Krusznik.

As a result of natural succession, the areas of low peatbogs most often change into willow brushwood, later on in alder carr, but also in wet, rich meadows.

Transitory peatbogs are the rarest kind of peatbogs. They are intermediate stages between low and high peatbogs. Pło is a specific form of transitory peatbogs. It is a floating mat of peatbog vegetation, developing near lakeshores of the suchary – acid lakes with water containing large amounts of humous acids. The pło is composed of peatmoss mainly. Sundews – Drosera rotundifolia, Drosera anglica and Drosera intermedia - growing in large numbers are often found on the pło. As a result of the natural succession the transitory peatbogs are overgrown by marshy birch forests, turning into forest peatbogs, with downy birch predominating and numerous participation of bog bilberry and whortleberry. They are rarely overgrown by marshy coniferous forest. An intermediate form of a transitory peatbog between a forest type and an open one is Salix rosmarinifolia brushwood and dwarf birch brushwood – a postglacial relic.

FORESTS ON LAKE WIGRY

The forests of the Wigry National Park occupy the northern part of the Augustów Forest, which is the largest compact forest complex in Poland, and together with the forests in Lithuania and Belarus it forms the largest forest area on European lowland. The main tree species forming the treestands in the Park include the Scots pine and the common spruce. The common oak, common silver birch, downy birch and common alder play a less significant part. The remaining species of trees: aspen, ash-tree, linden, maple and elm occur as additive species in the upper layer, and hornbeam in the lower layer of the forest stands. Altogether, the forests cover about 9.4 thousands ha (62% of the Park’s area). The Wigry forests have preserved their primeval-forest character. Coniferous forests, marshy coniferous forests and alder carr are the closest to the natural forest complexes. Also red whortleberry coniferous forests have been preserved on a small area. Mixed coniferous forests and mixed forests are predominant here. Alder carr and marshy meadows occur along water courses. In the spacial layout of the Park’s forest complexes two areas can be distinguished. The first one, lying north of the Czarna Hańcza, above Lake Wigry, is an area of varied land relief. One can find here a mosaic of quite fertile habitats with the spruce in upper layer of the treestands. The other area, lying south of the Czarna Hańcza, is significanly less varied. It is mainly a sander area, in which habitats of mixed forest and mixed coniferous forest with towering pine are predominant.

The Scots pine is a species reigning in the Wigry National Park. It occurs on nearly 80% of the Park’s area. The common spruce is the most dynamic tree species in the Park’s forests. It is predominant in 12% of the treestands. The common alder reigns in areas with a high level of ground waters.

In the forests of the Wigry National Park dry-ground forests constitute the most numerous group of forest habitats. a sub-boreal mixed coniferous forest is part of many forests in the Park.

a small part of forest ecosystems (about 3% of the forest area) was taken under strict protection. Protective activities, whose superior aim is restoring composition of treestands natural to particular habitats, are carried out in most forest areas of the Park. The protective activities conducted by the Park contribute to maintaining an ecological balance in the forests, and increase their natural variety.

AMONG FIELDS and MEADOWS

Land non-forest ecosystems: meadows, pastures, fields and orchards, are equally valuable and important to preservation of biological diversity.

There are about 2200 ha of farmland within the Park. The non-forest areas include: farmland – mainly crop growing and root-plant growing as well as meadow and grass communities – fresh meadows and pastures, also dry meadows and stenothermal grass, multi-growing wet meadows and peatbogs. Many species of plants and animals are connected with areas transformed by man, such as: gardens, surroundings of home steads, meadows and fields. They are elements of biological diversity. Many rare plant species, often under strict protection, are found in meadows and fields.

a number of projects concerning protection of biological diversity of agricultural areas have been prepared and implemented in the Park’s cooperation with non-governmental organizations. Two projects promoting breeding of native breeds of farm animals and growing of local varieties of apple-trees and pear-trees began in 2003 and are still in progress. Also a project concerning home gardens and school gardens was conducted. The project aimed at creation of traditional gardens.

WORLD of PLANTS

The occurrence of over 1000 taxa of vascular plants have been confirmed in the Park. Dissimilarity of forest plant communities in the north-eastern end of Poland is big, and this area is included in a boreal zone of mixed coniferous forests and mixed forests. The occurrence of many protected, rare or becoming extinct species is evidence of a great value of the flora. 83 plant species in the Park are under strict protection, moreover, 15 species found in the Park are under partial protection. The occurrence of 76 plant species entered in the Polish Red Book of Plants and on the List of Endangered and Rare Plants has been confirmed in the park.

The plants mentioned in the 2nd and 4th annexes to the Habitat Directive come under protection in the whole European Union and belong to the most valuable plants in the Park on the European scale. Marking out of special protective zones for them is necessary for their protection. The occurrence of 7 such species has been confirmed in the Park. They are: the agrimony, the aldrovanda, or orchids – the lady’s slipper and the Loesel’s fen orchis, the pasque-flower, the saxifrage and the Thesium. The agrimony, the Thesium and the saxifrage have strong populations in the Park, and thus the Park is an essential refuge for these species. Some plants and and their communities can be endangered by expansion of new species, those which are able to take possession of new habitats quickly and to drive native flora away from them. Therefore, the Park actively fights some foreign plant species. The great number of Sosnowski’s hogweed – an expansive and dangerous plant also for man because of its scorching properties - has been reduced sucessfully so far. Such invasion species as: small-flowered noli-tangere, Impatiens glandulifera, pondweed (Reynoutria japonica), bird-cherry, red oak, Echinocystis lobata, golden rod (Solidago gigantea, Solidago canadensis), Ramanas rose and Acer negundo potentially pose the biggest threat to the Park’s flora.

FUNGI and THE MYXOPHYTA

275 species of lichens have been found in the Wigry National Park, many of which are under legal protection. This group includes, among others: Usnea hirta, Usnea subfloridana, Ramalina farinacea, Ramalina fastigiata and Bryoria fuscescens. More interesting and rarer species of lichens found in the Park include: Cetraria pinastri containing vulpine acid, which is very poisonous, Lobaria pulmonaria – an endangered species, Hypotrachyna revoluta or Cetraria islandica – species getting rarer and rarer in Poland.

Large-fructification fungi , among which we can find the edible boletus (ceps), looking like the Tylopilus felleus, the commonly found bay boletus or the umbrella mushroom. The common morrel and the saffron milk cap occur here much more rarely.

The Myxophyta are organisms combining some properties of fungi and the most primitive animals, such as protozoa. Their occurrence is connected mainly with shady, wet places with a lot of dead organic matter.

83 taxa (i.e. sytematic units) have been found in the Park: 78 species and 5 varieties of the Myxophyta belonging to 8 families. The most taxons represent the family of Physaraceae – 20, Stemonitidaceae – 16, Trichiaceae – 14, Cribrariaceae – 10. The remaining families: Didymiaceae, Arcyriaceae, Reticulariaceae, Ceratiomyxaceae are represented by a smaller number of taxa.

ANIMALS of FORESTS, FIELDS, LAKES and RIVERS

Invertebrates

A great variety of water and land habitats is reflected in varied invertebrate fauna.Nearly 2000 species have been found in the Park. They include some groups of insects, such as dragon-flies, heteropters, cockchafers – Carabidae, Haliplidae, Dytyscida and Staphylinidae, hymenopterous insects – Sphecidae, Colletidae, Andrenidae, Halictidae, Melittidae, Mehachilidae, Anthophoridae, Apidae and Myrmecidae, belonging to Diptera syrphidae, and also caddis-flies and some butterflies. Special attention was devoted to hymenopterous insects, which are connected with clay substratum.

Among the invertebrate fauna in the Park, there are 66 species under strict protection and 6 under partial protection. Over 50% of all protected invertebrate species in Poland live in the Park. Some of the species under strict protection are, e.g.: leech, mollusc – swan mussel, snail – Vertigo moulinsiana, Bombus semenoviellus, cockchafer – Carabus coriaceus or the butterfly Boloria aquilonaris. in the Park’s invertebrate fauna there are eight relic species: crustacean Pallasiola quadrispinosa, cockchafer Carabus menetriesi, butterfly Oeneis jutta, four species of ants (Harpagoxemus sublevis, Myrmica sulcinodis, Camponotus herculeanus, Formica aquilonia) and Bombus jonellus. These species are relics from the glacial period and despite warming up of the climate they survived in refuges with favourable climatic conditions.

Fish

The complex of Wigry lakes forms a special complex of water ecosystems, inhabited by numerous fish species. Here you find lakes with vendace, bream, tench and pike, crucian carp and lakes called suchary. Also rivers have very interesting, varied fish stock.

In the Park’s waters there are 31 species of fish, which constitutes over 50% of freshwater native ichthyofauna in Poland. Five of them: weather loach, spined loach, loach, bitterling and brook minnor, belong to protected species. The spined loach, weather loach and bitterling are on the list of Natura 2000 species.

Species composition of fish in particular water reservoirs is different. The biggest diversity of fish is found in vendace lakes, of which Lake Wigry is an example with its 26 species. in bream lakes (Krusznik and Muliczne) there are fish with significantly smaller environmental requirements. The bream, roach, rudd, tench and bleak are predominant here. in shallow water reservoirs with well developed underwater meadows, the tench and pike have excellent living condition. Extremely unfavourable living conditions for fish are in crucian carp lakes and suchary.

The rivers here are also rich in fish. Running waters are inhabited by typically river fish or multi-environmental ones. The former ones, which like currents, are trouts, brook minnors, ides, chubs, daces and loaches. The latter are the common carp fish, perch fish and stickleback fish such as roaches, fish from the Cyprianide family, bleaks, breams, perches and sticklebacks.

Thanks to fish stocking, the Park managed to restore the lake trout and catfish to Lake Wigry. Also the population of tench has been increased recently in lakes Wigry and Pierty.

The Park has brought back great numbers of pike in Wigry by means of fish stocking and limiting catches of fish in nets. Predatory fish influence essentially the functioning of the lake and indirectly may decide about the quality of its waters. The effects of biomanipulation conducted by the Park support fishermen’s catches of the fish feeding on plancton. The Park has a fish hatchery in Tartak.

Positive results of changes in fish groups are visible; the number of the vendace and predatory fish, particularly the pike, has increased. The Park’s waters are excellent fishing area for anglers. Three stretches of the Czarna Hańcza and 7 lakes have been made available to anglers in the Wigry National Park. The lakes are: Wigry, Pierty, Omułówek, Leszczewek, Mulaczysko, Czarne near Bryzgiel and Czarne near Gawrych Ruda. Anglers coming here to fish can count on unusual adventures when communing with nature and beauty of the landscape.

Amphibians

The area of the Wigry National Park, rich in all kinds of water reservoirs, peatbogs and wet forests, is an area where many species of amphibians find favourable conditions for life and reproduction. Here live 12 out of 18 amphibian species in the fauna in Poland. They are: crested newt, smooth newt, Bombina bombina, Pelobetes fuscus, European toad, Epidalea calamita, green toad, tree frog, Rana arvalis, common frog, water frog and lake frog.

All our amphibians are under strict protection. The crested newt and Bombina bombina belong to the species in which the European Union is interested and for which the member states mark out special areas of protection.

Reptiles

All native reptile species are under protection in Poland. in the Wigry National Park there are only 5 out of nine native species of reptiles: 3 species of lizards – sand lizard, common lizard and blind worm, and two species of snakes – grass-snake and adder. The swamp turtle still occurred here forty years ago.

Birds

The Wigry National Park is characterized by a diversity of land configuration, abundance of water reservoirs and vegetation, which translates into abundance and variety of birds living here. Birds are the most numerous group of vertebrates. The occurrence of 206 bird species have been confirmed in the Wigry region. Particular bird species are closely connected with a particular habitat. Numerous water reservoirs, natural water courses and peatbogs create favourable conditions for water and water-mud birds. The following birds are connected with waters: whitetailed eagles (3 pairs), marsh harrier (about 30 pairs), the mute swan, the black-headed gull, the bittern, the common heron, the coot (periodically up to 5 thousand birds) and the black cormorant (about 2 thousand birds by the end of summer).

The most numerous birds in the Park’s forests are: the chaffinch, the robin, the wood warbler and the songster. 9 species of woodpeckers have been found here (in this the middle spotted woodpecker, the three-toed woodpecker and the wryneck), 4 species of pigeon (the stock dove, the wood-pigeon, the collared turtle dove and the turtle dove) 2 species of owls (the tawny owl and the Tengmalm’s owl) and the black stork. in open areas – meadows and fields – the lark, the whinchat, the yellow-hammer and the red-backed shrike are predominant. One can come across three species of swallows here: the house-martin, the barn swallow and the sand-martin),the hoopoe, the white stork and three species of owls: (Tyto alba, Athene noctua and the long-eared owl. Open areas are a hunting place for predatory birds, such as buzzards (about 27 couples), goshawks, hobbies, honey buzzards and sparrow hawks.

Different factors influence the number of birds. The places where the rarest birds have their nests are protected through limiting human presence in these areas. Trees with hollows, which are eagerly used by birds, are kept in treestands. Nesting boxes are also prepared. The birds coming here during the worst winters are extra fed periodically. People working in the Park and those who cooperate with them conduct observations which systematically enrich knowledge about composition of species, their numbers and places where birds occur (avifauna), which, in turn, makes it possible to define dangers and counteract them.

Mammals

In the Park, there live 51 out of 88 species of land mammals living in the wild in our country. It follows from the observations conducted by field workers that the area of the WNP is inhabited by 11 species of predatory mammals, of which two – the raccoon and the eastern vison, are not our native species. The fox, the raccoon and the pine marten belong to the most often observed predators in the Park. in the whole Augustowska Forest there are only 35-40 wolves. They also appear in the southern part of the Park. Also the lynx can be seen here.

The area around Lake Wigry is inhabited by 4 species of hooved mammals: the elk, the deer, the roe-deer and the wild boar.

The order of Lagomorpha in the Park’s fauna has two representatives – the brown European hare and the snow hare. The snow hare occurs more rarely than his cousin, inhabiting mainly the eastern and southeastern part of the Park.

At present, the population of European beaver is estimated for about 250 specimens and over the last years their number has not changed significantly. Such a situation is a result of heavy concentration of beaver families, which have already occupied all places suitable for habitation.

From the order of insectivorous mammals the occurrence of 5 species has been confirmed in the Park. They are: the hedgehog, the mole, the water shrew, the common shrew and the little shrew (Sorex minutus). From among 22 native species of bats 12 have been found in the Park.

29 mammal species in the Wigry National Park are under legal protection.

The WNP protects species diversity of animals through protection of their habitats and in an active way, adapted to the specificity and needs of particular groups of fauna.

The Park ensures care for wild animals which have been hurt in any way and then found in the WNP or are brought from the countryside. in the aviary in Maćkowa Ruda many injured birds and mammals are recovering their health. Those which have recovered and are able to live on their own are set free.

PRESENCE of MAN

Settlement and Cultural Values

The oldest archaeological finds in the Park’s area come from late Paleolithic period (towards the close of older Stone Age) and are dated for the 10th millenium B.C. They are flint relics used by people who came to this area following north herds of reindeer. a change of plant formation from tundra vegetation into forest vegetation caused changes in people’s lives. Fishing and gathering edible things were very important. Permanent settlements appeared. The Mesolithic period began – middle Stone Age.

In the Bronze Age (around 1800-550 B.C.), in the area in question, there lived people whose traditions were related with paraneolithic cultures and rope ceramic culture. in the middle of the 4th century B.C. (about the year 550 B.C. – the beginning of early Iron Age) groups of the Balt people came here. Characteristic features of the new culture, called the western Balt grave-mound culture, are: fortified settlements built on natural heights, grille lacustrine dwellings and crematory, grave mound funeral rite. At the beginning of a new age, the Balt tribes living in Suwalszczyzna were under economic influence of the Roman Empire. People then occupied themselves with crop growing, animal breeding, production of iron, and weaving trade.

In the Middle Ages (7th-13th centuries) , the areas from the catchment basin of the upper Szeszupa River to the Biebrza, and from the middle Niemen River to the Great Masurian Lakes were inhabited by the Jatvings – one the western Balt tribes. Knights of the Teutonic Order, with the help from Mazovian rulers, conquered the Jatvings in 1283. After their defeat, the surroundings of Lake Wigry were an uninhabited primeval forest for nearly two centuries. Lithuanian dukes began to colonize the Jatvings’ old lands in the 15th century. The forest lands were given to forest rangers and subjects – keepers of wild forest bees, people making hay, people dealing with processing of forest goods, and wood-distillers.To make the administration of the forests more effective, they were divided into smaller parts. a large part of the forests belonged to the King, on behalf of whom foresters managed the forest economy. Activities of the Camaldolese order, which was given the Wigry island and the surrounding forests in 1667, had a great importance to the colonization of Lake Wigry environs. The Camaldolites also founded new farmsteads, primitive smelting works and primitive wood-distiller’s works. This industrial activity caused a lot of damage to the forests. After the partitions of Poland the areas around Lake Wigry were under Prussian rule (Neweastern Prussia). in 1796, the Prussian authorities confiscated the lands belonging to the Camaldolites. After 1815, Suwalszczyzna was within the borders of the Polish Kingdom. Until the middle of the 19th century the process of colonization of Lake Wigry environs was completed, and the formed settlement network have survived until the present with only small changes.

The Camaldolese monastery is the best known Wigry relic of the past. The monastery and the church were built at the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th centuries. in the 19th century the monastery was taken apart, and the church was destroyed during both world wars and was rebuilt twice.

Traditional folk building style, monuments of technology, small chapels, roadside crosses and cemeteries all belong to the cultural values of the Wigry National Park as well.

Folk building style represents forms typical of the whole Suwalki-Augustow Lake District. Softwood was a commonly used building material in this area. It was used to build whole homesteads – houses, all kinds of farm buildings and fences. Apart from wood, other local raw materials were used: stones and clay.

In the traditional model of self-sufficient rural economy many items were made in one’s own capacity. Skills connected with wood processing were common here – carpentry, manufacturing of tools, house utensils, hollowed out vessels, etc. Plaiting, basket-making and weaving belonged to popular activities.

The Wigry National Park undertakes various actions to protect the cultural values. It supports the use of traditional forms in architecture, in this also the use of traditional materials – wood and stone to build new facilities, but also to preserve old settlements belonging to the Park, roofing buildings with aspen chips. The Park conducts workshops teaching traditional crafts and manufacture – scuplture workshops (in wood), pottery workshops and weaving workshops.

Science and Monitoring

Effective nature conservation in a national park requires the best possible knowledge of its resources and the existing and potential dangers for species, habitats and ecosystems. the plans for nature conservation in the Park are based on results of research conducted in the wNP by specialists from different fi elds. the Park’s role is to make it available for research in accordance with principles of nature conservation, substantive support, and also the Park’s own research.

the Park cooperates with many scientists and research institutions within learning about the condition of animate and inanimate nature.

In 1990 a research laboratory was organized at the WNP, whose own research concerns biology and ecology of insects, amphibians and other groups of animals, flora and plant cover, fungi and Myxomycetes, chemism of surface waters and selected pollution of environment. thanks to that research a species composition of many groups of plants and animals, their distribution and numbers in the park were learnt. the presence of species which have not been recorded so far in Suwalszczyzna and even in Poland has been proved. Many new places where rare, endangered and protected species, also foreign species, which can be dangerous to native fl ora, have been registered. the wigry Base Station for the Integrated Monitoring of Natural Environment has been working since 1993 in a marked out area of the Czarna Hańcza catchment, in the western part of the Park. the Station conducts complex research into many elements of animate and inanimate nature such as: meteorology, chemism of precipitation, content of heavy metals in lichens, soils, underground and surface waters, flora and vegetation, structure and dynamics of plant cover, tree lichens and invertebrate fauna.

The results of many scientific works are used in the practice of nature conservation and in preparation of educational and informational materials.

Education

The wigry National Park has a comprehensive and varied educational offer.

the Park’s area is prepared for sightseeing thanks to a network of tourist routes and, fi rst of all, educational trails (Forest, Suchary, amphibians, Lakes, Primeval Forest, Exploitation of Forest resources).

Didactic classes are conducted at the Centre for Environmental Education and on educational trails. the educational programme has classes in: methods of monitoring nature and environment, general ecology of water ecosystems, research on invertebrate macrofauna in different types of lakes, ecology of beavers, functioning of forest ecosystems, and nature conservation in national parks. the educational offer is addressed to both the youngest age groups, combining play with active learning about nature, and to adults in the form of workshops, e.g. to teachers.

Numerous all-Poland educational programmes are carried out: Green Package, Predatory Birds, I Know and Protect, what Is Bred in the Bone, Ecogroups, an Ecologic, etc. in the facilities belonging to the wigry National Park one can visit different exhibitions.

at the seat of the Park in Krzywe there are two exhibitions: natural-cultural one called on Lake wigry and ethnographic exhibition titled to preserve for Posterity. the exhibition titled History and traditions of Fishing on Wigry is presented in the old fishing warehouse in Czerwony Folwark. In January 2009, the Museum of Lake Wigry was opened – a new didactic-museum facility of the WNP.

the Museum of Lake wigry is located in the renovated building of the old Hydrobiological Station in Stary Folwark, which functioned on Lake Wigry until the Second world war broke out.

Tourism

the Park supports environment friendly tourism. well-marked out tourist routes are a basic way of making the Park’s area available. there are 245 km of land routes – walking, cycling and educational trails.

The places visited most willingly and in large numbers include: the region of Krzywe, areas on Słupianska Bay, the route of narrow–gauge train and the green route “around Lake wigry”. The villages of Stary Folwark, wigry, Gawrych ruda and Bryzgiel are centres for tourist services. there the inhabitants offer beds for the night and catering services. the Museum of Lake wigry opened in Stary Folwark is a new attraction. Properly organized tourism supports the balanced development of the region. We do our best to prevent tourism from damaging the Park’s nature, at the same time giving the local community an opprtunity to get profit from tourist services. wigry is ready to have new visitors. For sure, along with growing needs it will be easier to obtain means for more modern and environment friendly centres serving tourists in summer and in winter, because wigry enchants with the beauty of landscape and natural values in every season of the year.

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