The area of the Park is 10,937 hectares. It is the first Marine Park in Poland. A buffer zone with an area of 3368.64 hectares has been designated around the Park. The symbol of the Park is the white-tailed eagle, whoseLive specimens can be seen next to the Natural History Museum of the Park. The biggest attraction is the seaside cliff (Gosan and Kawcza mountains). It represents the nature of the western part of the coastal zone. It covers an area of undulating and hilly moraine upland in the central part of Wolin Island. The highest elevation is Grzywacz (125 m above sea level) falling with a steep, high cliff (up to 95 m above sea level - Gosan) towards the Pomeranian Bay (to the north) and a cliff with limestone rocks towards the Szczecin Lagoon (to the south). Wolin is characterized by a typical post-glacial landscape, with several shallow moraine lakes, such as: Gardno, Domysławskie, Czajcze, Warnowo, Turquoise. The retreating glacier shifted the ramparts of a strongly elevated terminal moraine (the diluvial part), at which water and winds from the east and west have piled up the lowland part of the island (alluvial). Glacial entrails of chalky rocks, from earlier geological formations, are also a geological peculiarity. Also noteworthy are numerous erratic boulders, characteristic of the post-glacial landscape. The most interesting of these have been given names: Mieszko I, Lech, Czech and Rus, Wydrzy Głaz. Valuable natural objects of the Wolin National Park and its immediate surroundings include a number of nature monuments, mainly old trees, such as the Prestary oak in the village of Wapnica and the Regalinda, Storrady, Bolko, Telesfor, Wolinianin and Szwedzki oaks growing in Międzyzdroje, the Giant ash, Wladyslaw beech and several-hundred-year-old common yews. Among the natural curiosities are the woody forms of juniper, bearded birch (flamboyant form) or the oak-shaped head of a bison. The tourist base of the Park is Miedzyzdroje (hotels, holiday centers, lodging houses, spas). There are 3 tourist trails in the Park with a total length of 43.5 km. Wolin Island - former name Wineta. It is the largest island located entirely in Poland. From the southeast it closes the Szczecin Lagoon. It is separated from the mainland (to the east) by the narrow Dziwna Strait, and from the island of Usedom by the Swina Strait. The area of the island is 265 sq. km. The coastline on the seaward side is level, on the other sides with peninsulas and numerous smaller offshore islets. The area of the island is mainly built of moraine formations, alluvium and marine sands. Important towns: Miedzyzdroje, Wolin, part of Swinoujscie. Vegetation More than 1,300 species of vascular plants have been found on Wolin Island, including many protected and rare species. Among them are the plants of the coastal beach: sand honkenia, sand blowfly, seaside cress and spiny brine palm, as well as species of saline habitats in the Swina delta - halophytes (about 30 species). The slopes of the steep cliffs are overgrown with dense thickets of sea buckthorn. The shallow sandy bottom of the Baltic Sea is occupied by macroalgae: green algae, brown algae and kelp, among which the most abundant are hake and the green alga Entetromoprpha intestinalis. The land area of the park is dominated by moraine hills covered with beech-pine-oak forests. However, the main species in the forests is pine, which occupies 68% of the park's land area. Beech occupies 23% , oak 7%, and other species the remainder. Among the forest complexes, beech forests are particularly well preserved, with a structure similar to natural forests. The best-preserved beech forest complexes are protected in two strict protection areas in the southern part of the park and in two in the northern part, where there is, among others, orchid beech forest. It has developed on a special type of soil, the so-called cliff mound, formed by the winding of fine mineral particles from the cliff into the forest. Among other things, 9 species of orchids grow in this special plant community. Among other forest plant communities, noteworthy are the crowberry forests occurring in the vicinity of Wiselka on podzolic soils formed from loose sands. Animals The fauna of the island is very diverse and richly represented by rare species. The main bird migration route along the Baltic coast runs through Wolin. More than 230 species of birds have been found in the park, including breeding birds: white-tailed eagle, aquatic warbler, dunlin, little flycatcher. The park plays a momentous role in protecting the habitat of waterfowl, which here find peace and a food base, especially during spring and autumn migrations. The area of the Swina Delta has been classified as a bird sanctuary of European importance. Currently, among other things, the reintroduction of the eagle owl is underway. From the rich world of insects, among others, stands of the dace beetle and the goatsucker have been preserved. In the park, 3 species new to science have been marked: the beetle Teredus opacus and 2 species of jumping beetles (Collembola). The waters of the Pomeranian Bay are the biotope of many species, especially fish, and the rarer marine mammals - the gray seal and the porpoise.
04.07.2013
