Tricity Landscape Park (Trójmiejski Park Krajobrazowy) is a protected area (Landscape Park) in
northern Poland, established in 1979, covering an area of 199,3 square kilometres.
The Park is located within Pomeranian Voivodeship, partly in Wejherowo County and partly in
municipal areas of towns Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia.
90% of the protected area contains forests, covering hills formed in last glacial period as
result of ice sheet activities and later erosion.
Cities Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia are often named as Tricity, because they are
so closely joined both by geographical placement and another networks created by inhabitants.
However, the whole strongly urbanized area is bigger and includes additionally towns Pruszcz Gdański,
Reda, Rumia and Wejherowo.
Population of this whole area is around 1 million people.
The Park is located in south and west from the urbanised centres.
Seaside forests of the Tricity are not included in the Park.
The main idea behind establishing of the Tricity Landscape Park is to protect complex
of mostly forests and some rural areas, which
thanks to not aggresive exploitation has preserved unique level of biodiversity.
Within the Landscape Park it has been established 10 nature reserves.
Forests protect urbanized areas against flood, slopes of hills against errosion and protect alternative sources of water for local population.
Why the hills could survive covered by forests in such place? Answer is easy: because nobody found
any better way to utilise this area. Poor sandy or clay soil and steep, unstable hills did not
encourage agriculture or strong building activities.
Ideas of leisure time activities and environment protection have come later.
Forests have been logged many times in history and grew up half-naturally again. The most natural character is preserved in southern part of the Park, in municipal areas of Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia.
As the surrounding areas are strongly urbanized, the Park has very important function as
a place of recreation at various levels of contact with nature.
Additionally, the area is still under normal economic exploitation, including logging of
forests. And here are starting points for some conflicts.
Oliwa forests (lasy oliwskie) are located in Gdańsk municipal area. The total area is approx. 60 sq.km. They are in the southernmost part of Tricity Landscape Park.
Neighbouring old forest, which is called Ja¶kowy Las (along present Ja¶kowa Dolina street) is officialy included into border zone of the Park. It is the oldest forest park in Gdańsk.
Originally the Oliwa forests belonged to the monastery in Oliwa since 1188.
In fact there was strong industrial area, with blacksmith workshops,
saw mills and corn mills, everything powered by energy from dammed small creeks.
Presently, there is preserved and open for public as museum a water driven blacksmith
workshop, where water moves hammers weighting 200 kg!.
The forests are known not only to people looking for industrial museums.
The forests themselves are worth to see.
They are formed mainly of beech trees, with some oaks, pines, spruces, birches and some more species.
Average age of trees in the forests in Gdańsk is claimed to be 80 years. For researchers and normal people it is wonderful situation, but forestry administration cries, that wood could rot, if not logged (and sold?).
In climatic conditions of southern Baltic coast, pine can grow healthy for 150-200 years, beech 300-400 years, oak is famous of longevity.
The main problem is how to preserve the forest to preserve its rich life and... protect local population.
Here conflict with forest administration, both state and municipal, comes:
since 2005 logging volume has been doubled and affected forests are close to
borders of urbanized areas, even along the most popular walking paths.
Forest roads and meadows are changed into muddy swamps and hills tops became naked.
Normal people do not tolerate logging within borders of town.
They are used to idea of "park". Perhaps the park is wild, in some places
very wild, but is a park.
People have been enough long educated to see, there is something going wrong.
Even those, who ride there with their noisy wehicles, those who treat forest as
convenient and gratis landfill do not cut down 100 years old trees.
People are used to the idea, that forest protects people living around, even
if the people not always protect the forest.
Official explanation is, that after establishment of the Tricity Landscape Park in 1979, most logging, except sanitary clearances was stopped, because logging age for trees was increased of 20 years.
Now, the 20-years period has expired, the forest is getting older, soon will
be eaten by various fungis and worms and possible
income would be lost. In addition, old trees will be easily broken by storms.
Moreover, wood resources grow faster, than logging, therefore
logging does not influence forest as whole.
Even officially announced crisis will not stopp logging, because forest has to
be younger to protect future generations. In addition it is difficult to sell
wood from these forests, because logs are full of remains after 2nd World War -
pieces of exploded ammunition, which damage sawmills' machinery.
That is official ideology as per 31.03.2009.
Dramatic increase of logging is not only our regional problem, it is problem
for whole Poland.
The chart here shows logged volume of forests in years 1946-2007.
It is published by Polish Central Statistical Office in 2008.
First ideas of forest as park for people appeared at the begin of 19th century - at this
time Johan Lebes - owner of some forests along present Ja¶kowa Dolina street in Gdańsk has
opened it for public access. It has become very popular place for local people.
Even quite big scale arrangements, as celebration of 400th birth of Johan Gutenberg
including erection ceremony of statue of him, had been held there.
Last extreme logging of forests around Gdańsk happened after 1st World War, and that, which had survived, was changed into a kind of municipal park. New trees grew up naturally, there has not been organized planting in big scale. Logging roads have been converted into walking paths, even some decorative elements have been installed. People have got used to the idea of "forest as park for people".
In the meantime, as forest grew in peace, wildlife has been getting richer and richer, in spite of hard neighbourhood of big towns, their inhabitants and industry. I personally was sometimes surprised, that in another parts of Poland much more miserable forests became national parks with lot of restrictions, while we, citizens of Tricity, have access to greater natural wealth without any obstacles.
Thanks to some mushroom lovers, both hobbist and professionals, there has been identified amount of mushrooms and slime-moulds, which is unusual in Poland.
Here is a fragment of a report based on information collected in 2006 from a small part of old forest:
Wilga M.S., Ciechanowski M. Refuge of macromycete fungi and slime-moulds in the Oliwa Forests (Trójmiejski Landscape Park N Poland). Chrońmy Przyrodę Ojczyst± 63 (6): 82-101, 2007.
[...]
The site of exceptionally high species richness of Macromycetes was found in the forest division 119 of Renuszewo Forest Range (the Lasy Oliwskie Forests, Trójmiejski Landscape Park within municipal area of Gdańsk). In total, 114 species of fungi (14 of Ascomycetes, 99 of Basidiomycetes, and 1 of Urediniomycetes) and 20 species of slime-moulds (Myxomycetes) were recorded in 1998-2006. Four species - Mutinus caninus, Sparassis crispa, Strobilomyces strobilaceus and Fistulina hepatica are strictly protected in Poland, Inonotus obliquus is partially protected, while 12 species are included in the Polish Red List of Fungi (e.g. Phleogena faginea, Oligoporus ptychogaster, Tricholomopsis decora). Authors propose to introduce some conservation practices in this refuge, mainly by changes in forestry management measures applied to this area resulting in leaving some old-growth stands and all amounts of dead and decaying wood. This would preserve mycological values of the studied forest, even if no formally protected area (e.g. as a nature reserve) is established there in the coming future.
Afterwards big part of this area was logged, even, if it seemed, an appropriate agreement with local forest administration was done. Problem was not in how many trees have been cut, but that fragment of forest was cleared down to the soil.
Content list (mainly in Polish, sorry...)
