Poland

Poland keeps some of the best-preserved ecosystems on the European plain, starting with the Białowieża forest, the last great fragment of the primeval woodland that covered the continent before agriculture, with trees over five hundred years old and deadwood in quantities that no longer exist anywhere else in Europe. To the northeast lie the Biebrza marshes, the largest natural wetland in central Europe, with flood meadows where harriers, godwits and the scarce aquatic warbler breed. The Masurian lakes, a glacial inheritance, and the Baltic coast with the shifting dunes of Słowiński complete the north. To the south, the Carpathians and the Tatras add mountain fauna and a solid population of brown bear, wolf and lynx. The country also hosts a very substantial share of the world population of white stork, tied to its traditional farmland mosaic.