A Natura 2000 habitat refuge where outwash sands, kettle lakes, and peatlands form one of northern Poland's richest ecological mosaics.
Sandr Brdy
Sandr Brdy is a special area of habitat protection within the European Natura 2000 network, located in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of northern Poland. The site spans roughly 7,492 hectares of the Równina Charzykowska mesoregion, an outwash plain shaped by glacial meltwater at the edge of the historic Brda (Brdy) river system. Its landscape combines inland dunes, post-glacial lakes, peat bogs, heathlands, and fragments of acid oak forest, producing one of the most habitat-diverse lowland areas in the Polish lowlands.
The sanctuary was established to secure long-term protection for a wide spectrum of threatened habitats and species, ranging from relict lake types such as lobelia and dystrophic waters to raised bogs, transition mires, and calcareous fens. It also supports a notable fauna community that includes European beaver, Eurasian otter, gray wolf, fire-bellied toad, great crested newt, pond lamprey, and thick-shelled river mussel, alongside rare plants such as floating water-plantain, Fen orchid, lady's slipper orchid, and a rare sickle moss.
Beyond its ecological value, Sandr Brdy sits within the broader Bory Tucholskie landscape, where these glacial landforms connect with neighbouring protected areas such as Zaborski Landscape Park. The combination of hydrological richness, sandy soils, and minimal human alteration gives the area its characteristic mix of open water, mire, heath, and forest habitats.
