Cradled by Meadows
The June sea of grass and flowers evokes positive feelings. Being in the midst of wild nature significantly impacts our emotions positively – wild nature is important. Biodiversity refuges are a heritage that has developed over hundreds of years, offering us the chance to encounter rare wild plants, animals, and fungi. The rich species diversity of these places often results from the preservation of natural conditions and spontaneous processes. At the same time, in recent years, we have observed the disappearance of valuable species and habitats in the vicinity of Pobiedziska. Some have become extinct before our eyes. Can we identify the causes of this decline? Everything depends on whether conditions for the development of various organism groups continue.
Wild Zones
The richness of mosses in forests depends on the presence of decomposing wood, including sizable logs and standing dead trees. We need large trees and old-growth forests to realize how large age-old maples, hornbeams, and other forest species can be. Frogs, meadow anemones, and ragged robin are disappearing from our landscape – they cannot survive without wetlands, roadsides, and meadows mowed once or twice a year; we lose them from our vicinity through the filling of ponds, intensive fertilization, construction. The solution is the proper designation of zones: for buildings, cultivated fields, and nature. Old cemeteries, with their semi-wild character, are also nature refuges and should be preserved for cultural-natural reasons. The fragmentation of nature refuges negatively affects biodiversity and unfortunately continues to progress. Areas designated as large, undisturbed zones with no buildings and uninterrupted contact between them are the most resistant to climate change. This is a priority in the protection of local biodiversity.
Maciej Jędrzejczak, biologist, botanist, „Kasztelania Ostrowska” Association
English (UK) 
Polski 
