Narew National Park

Lore & Background

Cultural attractions include traditional village huts, ancient roadside crosses, windmills, a private archaeological museum owned by Władysław Litwinczuk, and an antique manor house at Kurowo. The park's land is mostly privately held, distributed across 12,000 plots, primarily by small-scale farmers.

Reader's Guide

Narew National Park is significant as a protected wetland ecosystem in northeastern Poland, established in 1996 to preserve the braided river landscape of the Upper Narew Valley. Its importance is underscored by its designation under the Ramsar convention, reflecting its value for waterfowl and biodiversity. The park's 73.5 square kilometers encompass a mosaic of swamps, reed beds, meadows, and forests, supporting 213 bird species and 36 mammal species, including notable populations of beavers and elk. The park also serves as a habitat for over 200 rotifer species, 70 plankton species, and 66 butterfly species, representing a substantial portion of Poland's butterfly diversity. Culturally, the park preserves traditional rural architecture, including village huts, crosses, and windmills, as well as a private archaeological museum and an antique manor house. The park's unique land ownership structure—with only about 28% state-owned and the rest held by thousands of private small-scale farmers—presents both conservation challenges and opportunities for community engagement. Its legacy lies in balancing ecological protection with agricultural use, serving as a model for wetland conservation in a human-dominated landscape.

Did You Know?

• The park was created in 1996, and prior to that its area was part of the Narew Landscape Park.
• Around 90% of the park's area consists of rivers, periodically flooded lands, or wetlands.
• The park hosts around 260 beavers and 66 species of butterflies, about 40% of Poland's butterfly species.
• The park's land is distributed across 12,000 different plots of privately held land, mostly by small-scale farmers.