Protected areas of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship

This article is aimed at reviewing and assessing the present state of conservation within the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, with the application of data on the number, surface area and distribution of particular forms of conservation. The study focuses on various forms of conservation, from areas to individual protection; it does not discuss, however, species protection.

The 10 forms of nature conservation existing in Poland can be classified into the following groups: –

aerial protection, that is, large areas: national parks (NPs), nature reserves (NRs), landscape parks, landscape protection areas and Natura 2000 sites;

At present, this subdivision is rather of historical significance, because, for example, the average surface area of an NLC is four times larger than that of an NR. This is the result of the erroneous interpretation of the Law [Polish Journal of Laws 2004, no. 92, pos. 880 with changes] by county councils, which established excessively large objects of individual protection [Olaczek et al., 1996, Walczak et al., 2001, Symonides, 2008, Wiśniewski and Gwiazdowicz, 2009].

The Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship covers an area of 11,710 km². It comprises 14 counties (13 land counties and 1 city county) and 102 communes. The number of inhabitants is 1,225,000, with an average population density of 107 inhabitants per square kilometre (the average for Poland is 123 inhabitants per square kilometre). The voivodeship is situated in the central part of the Polish Uplands. Its borders are partly artificial and partly natural – in the second case, the borders are depicted by the Vistula River from the east and the Pilica, Nida and Czarna Włoszczowska rivers from the west [Sidło et al. 2000]. According to the physical–geographical subdivision of Poland [Kondracki 2011], the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship belongs to –

megaregion: Central Europe beyond the Carpathians

The province is characterised by a complex geological structure, with five structural units being distinguished in the area: –

Palaeozoic of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains;

As the only province in Poland, the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship is characterised by the occurrence of exposures of rocks representing all geological systems of the Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Świętokrzyskie province is characterised by the presence of highly valuable landscape features, which results from the diverse local geomorphology and rich vegetation. Because of the diverse climatic conditions, both lowland and mountain species are found in flora and fauna. There is also a great diversity of hydrological conditions, which determines the presence of steppe plant communities and peatbogs. Many plants, fungi and animal species found here are rare and protected, and some represent endemic species and post-glacial relics.

Land protection areas in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship include –

1 NP,

The list of legally protected natural objects in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship presently includes –

705 NMs,

An NP is the most advanced form of nature conservation in Poland. It has a strictly determined minimal surface area (1,000 ha), its own administration (including a Park Service), scientific board and management plan. Three conservation categories are applied within an NP (strict, active and landscape) and the protection regimes are the strictest ones (27 restrictions).

The Świętokrzyski National Park (ŚNP) was established in 1950, and its area was expanded in 1996 to 7,637 ha. The park has a buffer zone with a surface area of 20,786 ha. Land use in the ŚNP is dominated by forests (7,187.23 ha), which form, for example, the Jodłowa Primeval Forest. It lies within the Kielce County (Bodzentyn, Bieliny, Nowa Słupia, Górno, Masłów and Łączna communes). The most important part of the ŚNP is the highest range of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains – Łysogóry. They comprise, from the north-west, the Łysica massif (Św. Katarzyna Hill) with Łysica (612 m a.s.l.) and Agata (608 m a.s.l.) and, from the south-east, the Łysiec massif (Łysa Góra) with Łysiec (595 m a.s.l.) and Św. Krzyż (580 m a.s.l.). The ŚNP also includes part of the Klonów Range with Psarska (Stawiana; 415 m a.s.l.), Miejska (Borzęcka; 426 m a.s.l.) and Bukowa (483 m a.s.l.) hills and parts of Wilkowska and Dębniańska valleys (with Czarna Woda river valley). The ŚNP also comprises two forest enclaves detached from the main forest complex. The first is Chełmowa Góra hill (351 m a.s.l.), being a part of the Pokrzywiańskie Range, and the second is the Serwis-Dąbrowa forest. One small non-forested enclave is also a part of the ŚNP – Zapusta escarpment [Cieśliński and Kowalkowski, 2000].

The area of ŚNP stands out because of its characteristic geology and geomorphology, of which the outcrops of quartzite rocks forming boulder fields (Gołoborza) are the most peculiar. The most famous example of animate nature is Jodłowa Primeval Forest, an upland silver fir forest with an admixture of other coniferous trees.

The most valuable fragments of the ŚNP include five zones (areas) of strict protection (which comprise 38% of the surface area of the SNP): –

Łysica-Święty Krzyż (2,383.64 ha)

More than two-thirds of the areas under strict and active protection in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship are covered by the ŚNP, whereas the remaining one-third (3.572 ha) fall to the remaining 72 NRs. It should be thus considered if just one NP in the province is enough, that is, should it be expanded or should a new park be established. At present, according to the existing Natural Environment Protection Law (Polish Journal of Laws 2004, no. 92, pos. 880 with changes), each NP is proclaimed by the regulation of the Council of Ministers. The most recently proclaimed NP (in 2001) was the Warta Mouth National Park, and the total number of NPs in Poland is now 23. Unfortunately, in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, it is not possible to depict an area large enough (exceeding 1,000 ha) and valuable to become a new NP in the future. Moreover, earlier projects of expanding the ŚPN area onto the Jeleniowskie Range and other neighbouring areas were not justified enough. The main problem was high economic exploitation of these areas.

An NR differs from an NP, for example, in a much smaller surface area and lack of individual administration. The remaining features and rules of functioning are similar, for example, natural values, strict, active and landscape protection, management plan and 27 restrictions in force. Within the boundaries of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship occur 72 NRs (Table 1). With regard to protection category, they are subdivided into those subject to strict and active (formerly partial) protection. With regard to the type of protection, they are subdivided into forest (25), steppe (9), peatland (2), water (1), halophyte (1), landscape (5), inanimate nature (23), flora (4) and fauna (2) reserves [Kurpios and Oleszczak, 2017].

In contrast to the restrictions for creating a new NP, there are workable perspectives of establishing further NRs in the province. It should be emphasised, however, that the Regional Director for Nature Protection (RDNP) in Kielce uses his permissions very well, which is reflected in the establishment of the youngest NRs ‘Vistula near Zawichost’ (2008) and ‘Zachełmie’ (2010). Slightly neglected is the eastern part of the voivodeship, covering the former Tarnobrzeg province (Sandomierz, Staszów and Opatów counties). Only five NRs occur in such vast area (a total of 2,511.59 km²); moreover, surprisingly, there are no nature reserves in the Opatów County (Table 1). For comparison, five NRs are located within the Kielce city limits (only 109.65 km²). Therefore, it seems appropriate for the RDNP in Kielce to establish several NRs in the eastern part of the voivodeship, because the area is characterised by much lower anthropopression compared to Kielce city.

A landscape park only slightly resembles an NP. The similarities include individual administration, council board, protection schedule and large surface area. However, the differences are much more significant. The Park Service is low in number and is responsible for nature protection only to a small degree. In reality, the territory of a landscape park is controlled not by its director but, for example, by the local senior forester (State Forests) in forested areas. This results from the fact that normal economic activity, such as farming and forestry, is performed within the limits of a landscape park. In consequence, there is a lack of strict and active protection (only landscape protection is maintained), and only 14 restrictions are applied.

There are 9 landscape parks (126.775 ha) in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship; 8 of them are grouped in the Complex of Świętokrzyskie and Nida Region Landscape Parks. This includes five landscape parks of the Holy Cross Mountains (Suchedniów-Oblęgorek LP, Jeleniów LP, Sieradowice LP, Cisów-Orłowiny LP and Chęciny-Kielce LP) and three landscape parks in the Nida Region (Nida Region LP, Szaniec LP and Kozubów LP) (Fig. 1).

The Przedbórz Landscape Park (PLP) (9,165 ha in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, 7.388 ha in the Łódzkie Voivodeship) was established in 1988. As the only landscape park, it does not belong to the Complex of Świętokrzyskie and Nida Region Landscape Parks, being part of the Complex of Landscape Parks of the Łódzkie Voivodeship. In the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, it encompasses parts of the following counties: Włoszczowa (Kluczewsko and Krasocin communes), Końskie (Słupia Konecka and Fałków communes) and Kielce (Łopuszno commune). The PLP is situated at the boundary between highlands and lowlands, within the Przedbórz Upland that is part of the Central Małopolska Upland in the Małopolska Upland province [Dyduch-Falniowska et al., 1999].

Figure 1

Landscape parks are established following a resolution of the regional assembly. At present, such protection measures occur in the central part, southern part and, partly, the western part of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Unfortunately, landscape parks are lacking in the eastern part of the province (Fig. 1). The picturesque and high diversity areas (e.g. along the Vistula River) give the possibility for establishing in this region at least one landscape park.

Protected landscape areas (PLAs) are aimed at the conservation of landscapes with diverse ecosystems, appeasing the needs related with tourism and recreation and fulfilling the role of ecological corridors. These areas do not have their own administration, board or management plans but are subject to landscape conservation, with only five restrictions in force. Usually, they represent farmlands (rarely forests) and thus are protected to the lowest degree, but they have the largest surface area, contributing to more than two-thirds of protected surface area in Poland. At present, there are 21 PLAs in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Table 2), and this group dominates above all other conservation form in the surface area covered. In the recent years, a very reasonable approach of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship regional authorities was to establish PLAs in the buffer zones of all landscape parks and the NP. This enabled extending the surface of the protected areas and, additionally, intensified the conservation of existing parks, for which PLAs often act as ecological corridors.

Similar to landscape parks, PLAs are established following a resolution of the regional assembly (formerly the province governor and commune councils). It is worth emphasising that the most recent legal act (of 30 May 2017) was the resolution of the Świętokrzyskie regional assembly, which extended the surface of the Świętokrzyski PLA to encompass the area of the Nowa Słupia commune. So far, the buffer zone of the ŚNP was protected by the Świętokrzyski PLA established within the Bodzentyn (from 2007), Górno (from 2008) and Bieliny (2008) communes. Owing to the most recent legal act, the ŚNP is now entirely surrounded by the Świętokrzyski PLA, which significantly contributes to its better conservation.

At present, the establishment of further PLAs in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship is possible mainly in its eastern part, particularly in the Sandomierz county. It is also clear in this case that this part of the Świętokrzyskie region is usually omitted when establishing various forms of environmental protection. This might result from objective reasons – the three easternmost counties of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship are mainly farmlands with very few forest enclaves.

The aim of establishing the Natura 2000 Network (N2000) is the preservation of endangered habitats and species of plants and animals on a European scale, as well as the protection of typical, still existing natural habitats, characteristic of nine biogeographical regions within the EU countries. There are two of these regions in Poland – continental (96% of the surface area) and alpine (4% surface area). The basis for creating the N2000 is the directive of the EEC council 79/409/EEC from 1979 on the conservation of wild birds and the directive of the EEC council 92/43/EEC from 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats, wild fauna and flora.

Natura 2000 sites are usually characterised by a large surface area and have their own management plans. They very often partly or completely coincide with areas of other forms of nature conservation, particularly NP and landscape park, and NRs. In these cases, maintenance over these areas is performed by the directors of relevant parks.

There are 40 Natura 2000 sites in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Table 3). Only two of them were formed based on the EU Birds Directive, that is, as areas of Special Protection Areas. Most of the N2000 sites (38) were established based on the EU Habitats Directive as Special Areas of Conservation.

Natura 2000 sites in Poland are the only protected areas established by the EU Council following an application of the Polish Government. So far, projects establishing new N2000 sites prepared by the General Director of Environmental Protection were accepted by the EU Council, because our country dominates with natural values above most of Western European countries. This particularly applies to the Świętokrzyski region – one of the most valuable provinces in Poland in terms of conservation of the natural environment.

Individual forms of conservation include single objects or small areas for which 11 restrictions are in force. They do not have a management plan or individual administration. The most common and well known are natural monuments (NM), conserving valuable specimens of animate and inanimate nature (e.g. trees, rocks, caves). ES protect the remains of natural ecosystems (e.g. individual trees on field margins), playing important local and regional functions. DSs preserve objects of inanimate nature (e.g. abandoned quarries) important for research and education. NLCs protect enclaves with high esthetical-picturesque values (e.g. alleyways, escarpments, river islands) and combine natural protection with the maintenance of cultural values. Individual objects and small areas distinctly contribute in number over forms of land protection; therefore, they cannot be listed in detail in this brief report; only their occurrence on particular counties is listed (Table 4). Similarly to that in the case of protected areas, several objects (or practically small areas) occur in two counties – in these cases, Table 4 lists them twice.

Individual forms of conservation are established by commune councils. This is not a correct solution, because, in effect, the number of protected objects varies significantly amongst particular communes and counties (Table 4). Their establishment is the effect of the activity of local authorities, with the natural values of a given area playing a minor role. For example, Kielce city, although having a four times smaller surface area compared to the surface area of Kazimierza Wielka county, has four times more natural monuments than the latter county (Table 4), and yet it is hard to imagine that the urbanised and densely populated capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship has more such objects than the farmlands around Kazimierza Wielka. The same refers to Kielce County, which has 2 times more natural monuments that Kielce city but on a 20 times larger area (Table 4).

An interesting case occurs with the Końskie County, which has more ESs than NMs (Table 4). Establishment of ESs is an excellent initiative of commune councils, although again it is difficult to understand why there are more small areas compared to NMs, for example, trees.

The presented data indicate that up to 65.2% of the surface area of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship is covered by some form of natural protection, which is the best result in the country. By comparison, protected areas in other provinces are listed as follows: Warmia-Masuria (56.1%), Podkarpackie (55.5%), Lesser Poland (54.3%), West Pomeranian (44.6%), Lubusz (44.3%), Podlasie (42.1%), Pomeranian (40,0%), Masovian (36.5%), Greater Poland (35.8%), Kuiavian-Pomeranian (35.6%), Lower Silesia (31.9%), Lublin (30.6%), Opole (29.6%), Silesian (22.2%) and Łódź (19.8%) [Fig. 1; Burdziej and Kunz, 2013] (Fig. 1). Unfortunately, this is often omitted and undervalued, although such state of conservation indicates a good condition of the environment, which is attractive for tourists who are aware of the significance of environmental protection, and those who seek quietness, peace and recreation areas in beautiful natural surroundings. Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship is small, but because of its significant population rate and the resulting human pressure, only one NP, covering 0.65% of its area, has been established here. The area of the province covered by NRs is even smaller (only 0.31%). Landscape parks (10.83%), PLAs (53.25%) and Natura 2000 sites (17.52%) occupy a much larger area of the province. Some of these areas partly overlap, so, in total, they would account for as much as 82.56% of Świętokrzyskie province. The total surface of all protected areas could, therefore, exceed the surface of the whole province.

Considering all 16 Polish Voivodeships, Świętokrzyskie has the largest share of areas under protection (65.2%). There is 1 NP, 72 NRs, 9 landscape parks, 21 PLAs and 40 Natura 2000 sites. There is a considerable share of protected objects, including 705 monuments of nature, 114 ESs, 20 DSs and 17 NLCs. Effective nature conservation in Świętokrzyskie province has been achieved through good cooperation amongst local administration authorities, which established new protected areas and objects. The main contributors in this process are the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Kielce and the regional council of Świętokrzyskie province, whilst municipal councils show very variable levels of activity in this respect.