The document summarizes information about two Polish sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List - the Royal Salt Mines in Wieliczka and the Białowieża Forest.
The Royal Salt Mines in Wieliczka are located near Kraków, Poland. Tourists can visit the mines and learn about their history of salt extraction starting in the 13th century. Guided tours of the mines are organized for visitors.
The Białowieża Forest straddles the border between Poland and Belarus. It contains the last remnants of the ancient primeval forest that once covered most of Europe. The forest has a long history of nature protection dating back to the 14th
8. ● Białowieża forest straddles the
border between Poland and
Belarus
● Since the border between the two
countries runs through the forest,
there is a border crossing
available for hikers and cyclists.
9. Name
● Białowieża forest is named after a Polish village “Białowieża”
● The name comes from the white wooden hunting manor, set in the
village by Władysław II Jagiełło.
● But both Belarusian authorities and UNESCO use the official
Russian name for the national park which is “Belovezhskaya pushcha “
10. Nature protection at the Polish side
● The Białowieża forest in Poland
is strictly protected as
“Białowieża National Park”
● There is also a “Białowieża
Glade” with a complex of
buildings from the Partitions of
Poland.
11. Tourism
● There are a lot of tourists at the Polish side and the guided tours can
be organised on foot, by bikes or even by horse-drawn carriages.
● As for attractions, tourists can: watch rare species of birds, watch
European bisons in their natural habitat or take sledge as well as
carriage rides with a bonfire.
12.
13. History
● The very beginning of the Białowieża National Park dates back to
the 14th century, when Białowieża forest was introduced to
restricted hunting.
● It was recognized as a protected area when King Zygmunt The Old
released a decree whereby killing a bison in a local forest was
liable to punishment.
● However, bisons life came under threat after the Partition of
Poland when tzar Paul turned the forest residents into slaves.
14. ● In 1801 tzar Alexander put back the rules that stated the peasants
should protect the bisons. Thanks to their effort, the bison population
increased to 730 animals in the 1830s.
● But the November Uprising had the peasants removed from their posts,
and bison population was once again under threat.
● Then, in the 1960s, tzar Alexander appeared in the Białowieża forest
again, and ordered to put protection laws on the population of bisons
and animals that were a threat to bisons were hunted down.
15. The National Park
was placed on the
World Heritage List in
1992 and was
declared a Biosphere
Reserve under the
UNESCO Man and
Biosphere program in
1993.
