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Take part in the action of the Naturalists' Club and contribute to the creation of new nature reserves in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship!

A nature reserve is a very effective form of nature protection, although limited in terms of area. That is why the Naturalists' Club together with a coalition of several other non-governmental nature organizations launched in 2017 an action under the slogan "Nature reserves – time for a comeback!". The action is based on the social involvement of naturalists, and its goal is to create a list of proposals for new reserves for each of the Polish voivodeships. The action in each voivodeship is coordinated by a specialist (or a group of specialists) in the field of nature protection, who collects and verifies the submitted data. As part of the action, three reports have already been prepared for the following voivodeships: Lubuskie, Opolskie and Łódzkie, which can be downloaded (as PDF files) from the website of the Naturalists' Club.

For the Lesser Poland (Małopolskie) Voivodeship, the action of submitting proposals for new reserves is still ongoing, and its completion is planned for mid-2023. The current list of proposals contains over 50 items and is still growing. Certainly, the Lesser Poland Voivodship is full of valuable natural places with rare habitats, populations of species or elements of inanimate nature that meet the criteria of a nature reserve and which have not yet been indicated. Therefore, we appeal to scientists and nature enthusiasts to refer to field notes, scientific studies or their own memory and send proposals of reserves in accordance with the relevant guidelines. The collected documentation will be an important supplement to the state of knowledge about valuable natural objects in the Lesser Poland Voivodship and may become the basis for establishing a future reserve.

You can read about the status of nature reserve protection in the Lesser Poland Voivodship and the above-describe initiative in the article published in the latest issue of the journal Chrońmy Przyrodę Ojczystą, co-authored by Łukasz Piechnik from our Institute:

Kajtoch Ł., Horabik D., Piechnik Ł., Binkiewicz B. 2023. Ochrona rezerwatowa w województwie małopolskim – czy jest wystarczająca? Chrońmy Przyrodę Ojczystą 79: 20–37. LINK

A deciduous forest with rotting trees and large woody debris lying on the ground. Its floor is green from spring plants

The nature reserve "Lipówka", the Niepołomice Forest.
Photo: Łukasz Piechnik.

A coniferous forest growing on a steep slope among rock rubble. In the foreground, a lynx wandering over large rock fragments

Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx in the nature reserve "Mogielica", Beskid Wyspowy Mts.
Photo: Łukasz Kajtoch.

Close-up of a plant with a large, cup-shaped, green flower with a purple pistil and large, arrow-shaped leaves

Blooming Arum alpinum in the nature reserve "Białowodzka Góra nad Dunajcem", Beskid Wyspowy Mts.
Photo: Łukasz Piechnik.

Young deciduous forest on a steep slope. At the foot of the slope there is dense undergrowth. The foliage is vivid green

Proposed nature reserve "Las Kurowski", Rożnowskie Foothills.
Photo: Łukasz Piechnik.

A small, shallow river with water flowing over a sandy bottom, between sandy banks covered with bushes

Proposed nature reserve "Torfowiska w Bukownie".
Photo: Łukasz Piechnik.

Several white-brown, dorsal flowers growing from a straight, erect stem, pointing downwards

Epipactis palustris in the proposed nature reserve "Torfowiska w Bukownie".
Photo: Łukasz Piechnik.

A group of small plants with single stems topped with a cluster of white-brown flowers, in wet sandy soil

Epipactis palustris and Drosera rotundifolia in the proposed nature reserve "Torfowiska w Bukownie".
Photo: Łukasz Piechnik.

A slope covered with forest and spring herbaceous vegetation. The trees do not yet have developed leaves

Proposed nature reserve "Tuchowski Las", Ciężkowickie Foothills.
Photo: Łukasz Piechnik.