Nature

The moving dunes in Slowinski Park 

The plant life in Slowinski Park currently consists of: 911 species of vascular plants and 165 species of bryophytes There were also about 300 species of algae, 424 species of mushrooms and fungi, and 225 species of lichens found.

The favourable maritime climate in this part of Poland, with relatively cool summer and mild winter, creates supportive conditions for plants of the western (Atlantic) type of range.

These include, among others: aquatic plants, peat land plants, dune plants, and shrub as well as forest plants. 

Also plants of the north-eastern (Boreal) type of range constitute a distinctive group.

These plants arrived to Pomerania during the end of the last glacial period and they were a component of tundra. Today they are considered to be glacial relics. There are few thermophilic species, those of the southern type of range.

The animals of Slowinski Park

The most numerous group of animals in the Park are insects, represented by an approximate amount of 490 species. Among them, the presence of 30 strictly and of 4 partially protected species. Most of the protected species belong to beetles; except 15 species of Carabi, the highland great diving beetle, the capricorn beetle, the lesser searcher beetle, and the hermit beetle. 

Also, 5 species of dragonflies, 3 of bumblebees, and 3 of butterflies are strictly protected. 2 species of bumblebees, 2 of ants, and 2 of ants are partially protected. The group of molluscs is represented by 70 species belonging to two classes: Gastropods and Bivalves. The most common mollusc in the Park is the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis), which forms numerous underwater mussel fields on the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

Of 450 species of birds observed in Poland, 270 have been observed in the area of the Park since the beginning of the 20th century and, among them, 181 species that bred or still breed. The remaining 89 species appear here during the migrations, spend winter here or irregularly visit the Park.

The Teri fauna of Slowinski National Park is rich: about 60% of species of mammals noted in Poland dwell here. Among the most valuable species we can enumerate: the Mediterranean water shrew, the rearmouse, the harbour porpoise, the grey seal. The populations of the following animals, valuable on a European scale, are plentiful in the Park: the beaver, the otter, 10 species of bats, 3 of which are: the barbastelle, the common noctule and the parti-coloured bat. There are also foxes, beavers and the European hare.

Also the raccoon and the American mink belong to local predatory fauna. A wolf and the footprints of a lynx and were observed.