Nature
The inhabitants of
the N.A.R.E.W. Partnership area situated in the valley of the Narew
River while being asked about the factor that combines them have
usually pointed to the Narew River and the Narwiański National Park.
It is a lowland territory with numerous meadows, forests, marshes
and morasses. In this region, apart from farming, people occupy
themselves also with fishing, wickerwork and hunting. One can find a
large number of monuments of nature. The inhabitants of the
Partnership are well acquainted with flora and fauna, abundant
species of plants and animals. The valley of the Narew River located
within the borders of the Narwiański National Park fulfils all the
requirements to be qualified as a nesting refuge of water and boggy
birds of international and European meaning. It is a nesting
territory of over 1% of European population, at least 10 bird
species including a gad-fly, a blue winged teal, pond harrier,
meadow harrier, little crake, spotted crake, and a procreative area
of three species endangered with extinction on world scale, namely
sea eagle, landrail, aquatic warbler. The vast soppy meadows were
used throughout the centuries by the inhabitants of the villages
surrounding the river. The cutting and collecting of the hay
performed by farmers with the use of boats in the summer and sledges
put on ice in winter were the elements of agreeable symbiosis of the
farmers and the wild river valley. The discontinuation of the
exploitation of the territories situated near the river bed, which
took place at the turn of 1970s and 1980s caused visible and
disadvantageous changes which are a threat to flora and fauna (among
other aquatic warbler and pond harrier). It also influenced a
gradual decrease of the number of territories covered by low
vegetation, which are not only the habitats of many water and boggy
bird species, but also an important place of the rest and feeding of
the birds at the time of spring migrations. The overgrowing of cane,
bushes and trees has not only phytosociological meaning but also
mainly ornithological and consequently tourist importance. The
influence of other pollution on natural environment and the need for
its protection is also not without its significance. The residents
have noticed that for the past few years the number of birds
connected with open waters and backwaters have fallen down and in
consequence the attractiveness of ornithological observations done
by the tourists have decreased as well. That is why, hand mowing of
cane, organised by NPN within the framework financed by NFOŚiGW,
limits the succession of cane and bushes to a certain extend.
Unfortunately, the biomass of the plants cut during the cultivating
processes is usually not used; and what is more, it is considered to
be a waste product, which requires separate managing activities.
Consequently, one
of the future residents’ tasks, performed within the ZSROW framework
on the territory of the N.A.R.E.W. Partnership, will be the
introduction of the activities for the benefit of the protection of
natural values through education and enterprise development based on
the use of natural resources.
NATURA 2000
(Nature 2000)
An element that is
crucial for the realization of the LEADER+ initiative on the
territory of LGD N.A.R.E.W. is the presence of the areas included in
the Nature 2000 Network. It stresses the quality of natural
environment recognised all over Europe. The protection concerns
nature within the framework of the Birds Directive (the Board
Directive no 79/409/EWG relating to wild fowl protection) and
simultaneously within the framework of the Habitat Directive
(Special Protection Area (SOO) selected on the basis of the Board
Directive no 92/43/EWG concerning the protection of the natural
habitats of wild faun and flora). These facts point to the natural
value of this territory. The protected areas included in the network
of Nature 2000 and at the same time located within the territory
operated by LGD N.A.R.E.W. are as follows:
-
the
Narwiański National Park covering the area of 6810 ha, protected
by virtue of the Habitat Directive, no PLH 200003;
-
the Boggy
Valley of the Narew River of a total area of 25 477 ha, protected
by the virtue of the Birds Directive, no PLH 200001;
The territory of
Nature 2000 covers in consequence a boggy and fluvial complex of the
Narew River and the surrounding areas. From the administrative
perspective, the territory of Nature 2000 located on the area of the
N.A.R.E.W. Partnership belongs to seven municipalities, where the
Narwiański National Park is situated together with its protective
lagging.
The most important
factor qualifying this territory were its natural values. The
economic and social needs of the inhabitants were not treated as
priorities. Despite this fact, the residents of the N.A.R.E.W.
Partnership slowly start to appreciate the values that are
represented by the territories included in the Network as well as
the possibilities that are offered to them by having those values in
their surrounding.
