• the Bieszczady Mountains, as a unit of the Eastern Carpathians representing part of the whole Carpathian system; and

• the Mazurian/Lithuanian Lakeland, which is continuous (via the Pomeranian Lakeland) with the Mecklenburg Lakeland.

• The national scale has areas including links at the level of neighboring countries. These are:

  • the Vistula Lagoon;

  • the drainage basin of the River Bug; and

  • Roztocze.

• The regional scale includes units having links which embrace border regions. These are:

  • the Bialowieza Primeval Forest (Puszcza Bialowieska). However, Bialowieza Forest should be considered on the national scale according to the highest value of natural forest ecosystems; and

  • the Romincka Forest (Puszcza Romincka).

• The delimitation of transboundary ecological areas at the local level requires research along the border belt with depths down to about 20 km. It may be anticipated that this will result in the delineation of transboundary reserves or areas of ecological use.

In the future, geoecological research on various spatial scales may provide a basis for the elaboration within spatial management plans of different scales of a system of transboundary protected areas for countries bordering Poland. It is to this end that natural research modeled on Polish methods has been conducted across the border in Ukraine.

If transboundary ecological areas are classified on the basis of the dominant categories of environmental protection, additional studies must be conducted in some regions. However, as a general rule, the delimited areas may be classified in the following way (Fig. 2) into areas of strict or partial protection.

• Areas with a predominance of strict protection include:

  • the Bialowieza Primeval Forest; and

  • the Bieszczady Mountains.

• Areas with a predominance of partial protection include:

  • the Mazurian/Lithuanian Lakeland;

  • the Vistula Lagoon;

  • Roztocze;

  • the Romincka Primeval Forest (Puszcza Romincka);

  • the Augustowska Primeval Forest; and

  • the Podlasie Gap of the Bug River.

Front Matter (R1-R6)

Overview (1-12)

1 General Issues of Conservation of Protected Areas (13-54)

2 Biodiversity Conservation in the Participating Countries (55-106)

3 Biosphere Reserves and Natural Conditions in Central European Border Regions (107-164)

4 Wildlife and Tourist Management in Transboundary Protected Areas (165-218)

5 Monitoring and Measuring the Diversity of Life in Border Areas (219-258)

Appendix A: Basic Principles and Research Agenda (259-264)

Appendix B: Workshop Agenda (265-270)

Appendix C: List of Participants (271-279)