A Natura 2000 forest refuge in the moraine landscape of the Bytów Lake District.
Ostoja Masłowiczki
Ostoja Masłowiczki is a Special Area of Conservation within the Natura 2000 network, designated in 2011 under the European Union Habitats Directive to protect a representative slice of the moraine landscape of the Bytów Lake District in northern Poland. The site lies in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, spanning parts of the gminas of Miastko, Kołczygłowy, and Tuchomie, and covers an area of roughly 1,680 hectares of forest, peatland, and lake-associated habitats shaped by the last glaciation.
The area was recognized as a Site of Community Importance because it preserves a notable concentration of natural habitat types listed under the Habitats Directive, including dystrophic and eutrophic lakes, active raised bogs, transitional mires, species-rich lowland meadows, and several types of beech and oak woodlands. Together these habitats support a complex mosaic of woodland, mire, and open-water ecosystems that is uncommon in the lowland Polish countryside.
Beyond its formal conservation status, Ostoja Masłowiczki reflects the broader ecological value of the post-glacial landscapes of Pomerania. Its combination of moraine forest, peatlands, and lake basins gives it importance for habitat connectivity, water protection, and the long-term survival of habitat types that depend on traditional land use and undisturbed hydrology.
