valley and Lake Vistytis, situated on the border with Lithuania. On the Lithuanian side, this area would encompass Vistytis Regional Park, which is situated east of Lake Vistytis near the border with Poland and Kaliningrad District.

The Romincka Forest area is of outstanding natural value. For several centuries it has been a hunting area famous throughout Europe, a favorite of the rulers of Prussia and later of Germany, and it enjoyed strict protection prior to World War II. The natural and historical value of the Romincka Forest can be compared to that assigned to the Bialowieza Forest, and the opening up of this area for sightseeing and exploration will certainly attract many tourists, especially from Germany. In turn, Suwalski Landscape Park and Vistytis Regional Park in Lithuania are areas of particularly valuable landscape with post-glacial landforms. The attractive landscape and suitable climatic conditions (allowing for winter skiing) create favorable conditions for the development of varied forms of tourism here all year round.

This area is situated on the borders of three countries: Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus. On the Polish side, it would include Wigierski National Park, as well as Puszcza Augustowska (the Augustow Forest) and parts of the Sejny Lakeland east of Sejny. On the Lithuanian side, this area would encompass the northeastern edge of Puszcza Augustowska, as well as Meteliai and Veisiejai Regional Parks and the adjacent part of the Neman River Valley. On the Belarusian side, this area would include the southeastern edge of Puszcza Augustowska along with Sopockinskij Reserve and part of the adjacent Neman River Valley.

The huge forested area of Puszcza Augustowska combines with lakelands of outstanding landscape value to create perfect conditions for the development of ecotourism. An additional attraction is the prospect of bringing the cross-border section of the Augustow Canal back into use. A European-scale tourist attraction would be created by setting up canoe routes joining the Augustow Lakes, or Lake Wigry, with the Neman River, and by establishing tourist passenger transport from Augustow (Poland) to Grodno (Belarus) or Druskininkai (Lithuania).

In the future, it would be possible to increase the area of the TOCh considerably by adding environmentally valuable areas on the border between Lithuania and Belarus. The TOCh would then include a large, compact area of forest stretching from Augustow almost as far as Vilnius.

An area straddling the border between Poland and Belarus, this TOCh would embrace the whole of Puszcza Bialowieska, including Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park and Dikoye Reserve on the Belarus side, as well as Poland's Bialowieski National Park. The creation of an international Polish-Belarusian Biosphere Reserve is also proposed for the whole of the Bialowieska Forest.