Three new nature reserves in the Bug Valley. A lifeline for floodplain forests and water birds

Kalinik, Przerwaniec and Sokorzyna are the names of three new nature reserves established to protect valuable oxbow lake landscapes in the Bug Valley. Located within the Podlasie Bug Gorge Landscape Park, they belong to the least human-altered riverside areas in Poland and provide an important refuge for waterfowl and migratory species.

Lower Bug Valley – a natural treasure on Poland’s eastern frontier

The new reserves, covering a total area of nearly 220 hectares, were established by a decision of the Regional Director for Environmental Protection in Lublin. All three protected areas are located within the Janów Podlaski municipality, famous for breeding purebred Arabian horses and situated just 4 km from the border with Belarus. Their creation aims to preserve the mosaic character of the Lower Bug Valley landscape.

The Bug River is exceptional on a national and Central European scale due to the preservation of its natural, unregulated lowland river character. Its meandering channel creates oxbow lakes, sandbanks and islands that have become habitats for valuable plant communities and a refuge for numerous bird species. The Lower Bug Valley serves as an important ecological corridor of international significance.

New reserves as a mosaic of riverside landscapes

The Kalinik Nature Reserve covers 168.5 hectares and is located directly on the Bug River, east of the villages of Bubel Stary and Gnojno. Within its boundaries are flood terraces from whose slopes springs emerge, the most remarkable of which functions as an artesian well.

The rich vegetation of the Kalinik Reserve includes sandy grasslands as well as aquatic and marsh plant communities. Particularly noteworthy are the yellow water-lily, marsh helleborine, heath spotted orchid and hairy pink. Nearly 100 bird species and 46 species of butterflies have also been recorded along the river.

The Przerwaniec Nature Reserve encompasses oxbow lakes near the village of Woroblin. Thanks to the cessation of forest management activities in the area, valuable oak-elm-ash, willow-poplar and alder-ash floodplain forests, as well as mixed deciduous forests, have been preserved. Many of the local trees are more than 150 years old.

The Sokorzyna Nature Reserve has a somewhat different character, dominated by mixed deciduous forests and pine stands, with only remnants of floodplain forests remaining. Here too, trees more than a century old can be found. The entire reserve lies within two Natura 2000 sites: the Lower Bug Valley and the Bug Valley Refuge.

This is not the end of reserve creation in the Lublin region

The Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Lublin is not resting on its laurels and has announced the establishment of additional nature reserves. There are already more than 100 such reserves across the Lublin region. Public consultations are currently underway regarding two further sites:

• Skrzypowy Dół Nature Reserve in Opole Lubelskie, featuring valuable mixed deciduous forests and noteworthy botanical species of the forest floor;

• Pożarnica Nature Reserve, encompassing one of the best-preserved peatland complexes in the Solska Forest.

It is worth recalling that at the beginning of May, a wildfire broke out in the Solska Forest, destroying more than 1,100 hectares of woodland. According to the State Forests administration, the recovery of the damaged tree stands will take decades. This is yet another reason why the most valuable natural areas deserve the strictest protection.

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main photo: RDOŚ w Lublinie