__NOTOC__ Roztocze National Park ( pl, Roztoczański Park Narodowy) is a

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

Lublin Voivodeship The Lublin Voivodeship, also known as the Lublin Province ( Polish: ''województwo lubelskie'' ), is a voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in southeastern part of the country. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Lublin, C ...

of southeastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. It protects the most valuable natural areas of the middle part of the

Roztocze Roztocze ( uk, Розточчя, ''Roztochia'') is a range of hills in east-central Poland and western Ukraine which rises from the Lublin Upland and extends southeastward through Solska Forest and across the border into Ukrainian Podolia. Low an ...

range. Its current size is , of which forests occupy 81.02 km², and strictly protected areas 8.06 km². The park has its headquarters in

Zwierzyniec Zwierzyniec (; uk, Звежинець, Zvezhynetsʹ) is a town on the Wieprz river in the Zamość County, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. It has 3,324 inhabitants (2004). Zwierzyniec is the northernmost town of the Roztocze National Park. The par ...

History

The history of this area is closely connected with the Zamoyski family estate, which was founded in 1589. The estate's headquarters were at

. The beginnings of nature protection in the region date to 1934, when the Bukowa Góra Preserve was created (now it is a strictly protected area). In 1938, for the first time in

, a bill was issued that stated that prey birds on the

Zamoyski The House of Zamoyski (plural: Zamoyscy) is the name of an important Polish noble ( szlachta) family, which used the Jelita coat of arms. It is the Polish term for "de Zamość" (Polish "z Zamościa"), the name they originally held as lords of Z ...

family estate were protected. The park was created from State Forests of the districts of Kosobudy and

, which had belonged to the

Zamoyski family The House of Zamoyski (plural: Zamoyscy) is the name of an important Polish noble (szlachta) family, which used the Jelita coat of arms. It is the Polish term for "de Zamość" (Polish "z Zamościa"), the name they originally held as lords of Z ...

estate. The area of the park and adjacent lands witnessed numerous battles during the Polish January Uprising and both World Wars. Tragic reminiscences of these times are in cemeteries in Zwierzyniec and other locations. Roztocze National Park was created in 1974 and initially covered area of 48.01 km². The park's management is in the restored house of the former Zamoyski's estate administrator in

Geography

The park is located in the picturesque

Środkowe region in the upper

Wieprz The Wieprz (, ; ua, Вепр, Vepr) is a river in central-eastern Poland, a tributary of the Vistula. It is the country's ninth longest river, with a total length of 349 km and a catchment area of 10,497 km2, all within Poland. Its cour ...

river valley. These parts separate

Lublin Upland Lublin Upland () is a geographical region in southeastern Poland, located in Lublin Voivodeship, between the rivers Vistula and Bug, around the city of Lublin. Its area is about 7,200 km² and its highest elevation 314 m above sea level. It ...

(Polish: ''Wyżyna Lubelska'') from Sandomierz Dale (Polish: ''Kotlina Sandomierska''). The water of the main river running through the park — the Wieprz — is of the second class of purity. There are two streams that originate here: the Szum (2.5 km) and the Świerszcz (7.5 km). Roztoczański National Park boasts unique tree formations. There are more than 400 ancient trees there referred to as "nature monuments" as well as some of the largest firs in all of in Poland (up to 50 meters high). Tourists have a choice of using five

walking trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...

or a dedicated bicycle trail.

Wildlife

Among mammals living in the park are

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of ...

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

grey wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

, and

eurasian badger The European badger (''Meles meles''), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to almost all of Europe. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List as it has a wide range and a large s ...

. In 1979

European beaver The Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber'') or European beaver is a beaver species that was once widespread in Eurasia, but was hunted to near-extinction for both its fur and castoreum. At the turn of the 20th century, only about 1,200 beavers survi ...

s were reintroduced and now colonies of the mammal thrive in the Wieprz valley. In 1982 Polish ponies were brought here. There have been registered around 190 species of birds, including

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

storks Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...

, and

woodpeckers Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions ...

. Reptiles are represented by

lizards Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia altho ...

common European adder ''Vipera berus'', the common European adderMallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G. (2003). ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. . or common European viper,Stidworthy J. (1974). ...

s, and grass snakes as well as the endangered

European pond terrapin The European pond turtle (''Emys orbicularis''), also called commonly the European pond terrapin and the European pond tortoise, is a species of long-living freshwater turtle in the family Emydidae. The species is endemic to the Western Palearct ...

Insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pa ...

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is '' flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. ...

is interesting, with more than 2000 species.

Gallery

External links

Official website
{{authority control National parks of Poland Parks in Lublin Voivodeship Protected areas established in 1974 1974 establishments in Poland Central European mixed forests