The Polesie National Park is located in the Lubelskie Voivodeship on Poland’s eastern border. It has a unique composition of wild swamps, peat bogs and numerous lakes and ponds. The park also includes the most extensive meadows in the country.
Most of the parks area is covered by wetlands, which in many cases have never been touched by humans since the last glacial period, which took place 11,000 years ago. It is a true phenomenon in Europe, which is why the Polesie National Park is protected under the Ramsar Convention on Wetland of Internation Importance. Particular protection applies to numerous breeding grounds for birds in the area.
The south-western most touch of tundra or forest-tundra in Europe can be admired in Polesie National Park. This is due to the fact that the area of the Park is covered with plants that are characteristic of the cold climate of northern Siberia. Many of them are relics of the glacial era.
The park is also a home to numerous animal species. Including the extremely rare European pond tortoise, one of the most endangered reptile species in Poland. Two hundred bird species observed in the territory of the park include the little egret and the white-tailed eagle. It is also inhabited by numerous beavers, roe deer and elks.
The park is a part of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, which since 2012 is a transboundary reserve shared with the national parks of Ukraine and Belarus.