I really much enjoyed the chosen monthly topic; therefore, I decided to complete my second report in the same subject. I believe that in every country there are thousands of places or natural habitats which are probably well-known to the nation living in the country, but not so well-recognized on the international arena. In this report, I would like to present another region. In this report, I am going to present Kampinos Forest. Its uniqueness is confirmed by the fact it is protected by the Kampinos National Park[i]. What is very interesting about this forest complex is the fact that it is actually very close to the capital of Poland. Even within one hour, you can travel from an urban metropolis into a dense forest, full of wild nature.

What is the one of the most significant elements of the Kampinos Forest ecosystem is the richness of coniferous forests[ii]. They grow on sand dunes, but in the national park it is also possible to find wetlands[iii]. However, in reality, plenty of these complexes are anthropogenic and very affected by human activity[iv]. But in order to introduce the biodiversity and ecological balance, coniferous monocultures are transformed into more diverse forest complexes.

This diversity of ecosystem, including wetlands as well as dunes allows different species of animals to develop, including beavers and lynx[v].

What is very interesting about this forest, is that it is a habitat to many different and diverse plant species because theirs seed where transformed there either by birds or water flow[vi]. Sometimes, it is possible to spot very rare species to this circulation. Therefore, in the forest some plants from North America or some other untypical species such as Chamaedaphne calyculata[vii].

The most prominent representative of the Forest’s fauna is moose, it is a part of the emblem of the national park[viii]. I find it absolutely astonishing that the proximity to big cities doesn’t the nature to thrive. What is even more surprising, that for the couple of years, wolves have been observed in this national park[ix].

Furthermore, near this beautiful nature, you can actually take advantage of some historical places. For example, in Żelazowa Wola, in a near proximity to the Kampinos Forest, you can visit a place where Frederic Chopin was born[x].