The Ińskie Lake District

The Ińskie Lake District is a name of a meso-region, as well as an official name for an area of Natura 2000.

Its surface area is 10 299.0 ha. It includes a part of a meso-region of the same name, including its most diversified part in terms of its form.

It is an uneven area – there are many plains, hollows and hills. It is also an area diversified regarding its management. There are some fields and meadows, but forests constitute 60% of the area. They are mainly deciduous trees, but there are also some mixed forests.

Around the lake there are typical wet meadows. They are characterized by meadow plants, including many protected species threatened with extinction. Within the Ińskie Lake District there are also some small parts of peat lands, which highlight the uniqueness of the place. The most important habitats of the lake district include:

high peat bogs with peat forming vegetation
acidic beech forests
fertile beech forests
willow riparian forests.

The area of the lake district is also extremely important for animals which find shelter there. The most important birds include: owl, red kite, red-backed shrike, black stork, crane and many others. Apart from birds, there are also numerous mammals (beavers, otters) and fish (bullhead, brook lamprey and white-finned gudgeon).

The uniqueness of the place is also related to the fact that “botryobasidum pruinatum” was found there which for some time has been considered a completely extinct species.

Getting to these areas is not difficult. You can get there by car, train or bus. You can find hotels and restaurants in the towns within the Ińskie Lake District. Additionally, in these towns (Ińsko, Drawsko Pomorskie, Węgorzyn) walking, cycling and horse trails start which take you around the lake district. They have various difficulty levels.

The Ińskie Lake District is connected with other forms of natural protection for protection purposes and they overlap partially. They include Iński Landscape Park and several nature  reserves.