Białowieża Forest - home to largest free-roaming population of European Bison, UNESCO World Heritage Site on border between Poland and Belarus
Baku, October 25, AZERTAC
The Białowieża Forest World Heritage site, on the border between Poland and Belarus, is an immense range of primary forest, covering a total area of 141,885 hectares.
Situated on the watershed of the Baltic Sea and Black Sea, this transboundary property is exceptional for the opportunities it offers for biodiversity conservation.
This property includes a complex of lowland forests that are characteristics of the Central European mixed forests terrestrial ecoregion.
The area has exceptionally conservation significance due to the scale of its old growth forests, which include extensive undisturbed areas where natural processes are on-going
The property protects a diverse and rich wildlife of which 59 mammal species, over 250 bird, 13 amphibian, 7 reptile and over 12,000 invertebrate species.
The iconic symbol of the property is the European Bison: approximately 900 individuals in the whole property, which make almost 25% of the total world’s population and over 30% of free-living animals.
Designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979, the property was extended to include Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Belarus, in 1992, with another extension taking place in 2014 with the addition of the 166,708 ha buffer zone.
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