Only one raised peatbog of the Orawa-Nowy Targ Peatlands is under protection in the form of a nature reserve, established as early as 1925. This is “Bór na Czerwonem” (Czerwone bog woodland), inscribed in 2017 on the list of sites covered by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the purpose of which is to protect and maintain in an unchanged state of wetland areas around the world.
Covering an area of 114.66 ha, the “Bór na Czerwonem” reserve was established in order to protect the natural and landscape values of a well-preserved raised peatbog, with a well-developed peat dome of the variable thickness from 0.5 to 5 meters, as well as the marsh woodland communities in its immediate vicinity – characteristic of the Orawsko-Nowotarska Depression.
The reserve includes nature habitats listed in Annex I of the EU’s Habitats Directive:
- 7110 Active raised bogs with peat-forming vegetation (priority habitat),
- 7140 Transition mires and quaking bogs,
- 7150 Depressions on peat substrates of the Rhynchosporion,
- 91D0 Bog woodland (priority habitat).
Photo: Patrycja Adamska, UNEP/GRID–Warsaw
Bór na Czerwonem is home to species of plants and animals characteristic of the marsh forest and peat bog ecosystems, including many rare and endangered ones. 10 species of amphibians, 2 species of reptiles, 98 species of birds and 25 species of mammals have been found here. Among them are species listed in Annex II of the Habitats Diretive and in Annex I of the Birds Directive: 3 species of amphibians, 13 species of birds and 2 species of mammals. The Carpathian newt and the yellow-bellied toad are especially worth noting. There are also 269 species of mushrooms found in the reserve.
Together with the adjacent forest complex, the reserve is located within the important Carpathian ecological corridor connecting Babia Góra and the Tatra Mountains with the Gorce and Pieniny Mountains.
How to preserve this extremely valuable natural area?
In order to protect its natural values, it is necessary to: improve water conditions, restore the forestless nature of the peat bog dome overgrown by pine due to succession, thus halting unfavorable changes in the vegetation structure. It is also important to actively protect valuable natural habitats of both the raised bog itself and simultaneously the bog woodland habitats in its vicinity.
However, protective measures are not everything - it is also necessary to improve the spatial planning and land management practices in the entire area of the Orawsko-Nowotarskie Peatlands, and to increase public awareness on the role and importance of wetlands.
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Photo: Patrycja Adamska, UNEP/GRID–Warsaw
