Narwiański Park Narodowy

   The Narew National Park is located in the Northeast Poland in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. The Park was established on July 22, 1996 under the Prime Minister’s directive. It occupies an area of 6810 ha in the Narew valley between Suraz and Rzedziany, a 35 km long section of the river. The park’s office is located in Kurowo in an antique manor house surrounded by an old rural park with numerous nature monuments.

   The Narew Natural Park was established to protect the swampy Narew valley and its unique anastomosing river system, reach in flora and fauna. This is one of the largest and best preserved areas of wetlands in Poland. The widespread and very complicated system of interconnected river channels, lead to the formation of a vast wetland ecosystem, which nearly covers the entire bottom of the valley. The landscape is shaped by an irregular mosaic of flood plains, swamps and sandy mounds.

   It is possible to find in this protected area 41 plant communities. More than 650 species of vascular plants appear in the park, including many under strict protection, for example: Siberian iris, Greek valerian, common sundew, gladiolus, superb pink and several orchids. Marsh plants, such as reeds, rushes and sedges dominate the area, but many other aquatic plants appear in this valley. Willows and beech trees are found at the edges of the wetland

   The Narew National Park and its buffer zones, covering 15 408 ha, are an important European birdlife area. About 200 birds’s species can be found in the various ecosystems. Moreover, the Narew valley is an important stop over for many migrating birds, providing excellent resting places, especially during the spring. Several of this species are threatened, such as: bittern, Montagu's harrier, great snipe, curlew, spotted crake, little crake, and aquatic warbler. The marsh harrier was chosen for the National Park emblem. Due to the unique diversity of the flora and fauna, the Narew National Park is an important European Network of Natura 2000 site.

   The Narew National Park is inhabited by 40 species of mammals, but the most characteristic ones are those which are connected with water or marshy areas, such as beaver. The visitors can also meet elk, roe deer, wild boar, musk-rat, fox, raccoon dog, weasel, ermine, American mink, stone marten and others.

   It is possible to observe 13 species of amphibians in the Narew National Park, such as crested newt, garlic toad, running toad and  tree frog. The 4 species of protected reptiles that can be found are the scaly lizard, the sand lizard, the limbless lizard and the ringed snake.

   The Narew River is inhabited by 22 fish species, such as pike, wels catfish and burbot, common bream, roach and ide.