Wybrzeże Trzebiatowskie Protected Area: Coastal Geography and Wetland Landscapes of West Pomerania

Wybrzeże Trzebiatowskie was officially designated as a Special Protection Area in 2007 by Poland's Minister of the Environment, marking the moment when the long coastal strip between Kamień Pomorski and Kołobrzeg received formal bird-focused Natura 2000 status under the European Union's Birds Directive. That designation formalized the area's role as a refuge for 35 bird species listed in Annex II of the directive.

The protection framework was reinforced by the inclusion of four pre-existing and newly established nature reserves within the area: Roby, Jezioro Liwia Łuża, the crowberry coastal pine reserve of Mrzeżyno, and the dune reserve between Dźwirzyno and Grzybowo. Together these reserves add localized, stricter protection to the most ecologically sensitive sites within the broader Special Protection Area.

Over the past several decades, broader land-use shifts have shaped the area's ecology. Many of the meadows and pastures that were once actively mown and grazed by livestock have been abandoned, allowing reed and gray willow communities to expand. Simultaneously, deterioration of drainage infrastructure along the Świniec and Niemica rivers has produced prolonged flooding in the western portion of the area, gradually transforming managed grassland into seasonal wetland and reedbed. The site also partially overlaps with the Trzebiatowsko-Kołobrzeski Pas Nadmorski Community importance area, extending its conservation context within the Natura 2000 network.

The landscape of Wybrzeże Trzebiatowskie is shaped by the combination of a flat, narrow coastal plain and the dynamic Baltic shoreline. The protected strip follows the southern Baltic coast for about 54 kilometers, producing a strongly elongated geographic footprint. Most of the area lies within the Wybrzeże Trzebiatowskie mesoregion, with its southern edge touching the northern portion of the Równina Gryficka.

Large coastal lagoon lakes are some of the most visible landscape elements. Liwia Łuża and Resko Przymorskie are the two biggest and dominate the hydrological character of the site, while smaller lakes, including Lake Jatkowskie, Lake na Górke, Konarzewo (Bagno Pogorzelickie), and Lake Borek, punctuate the low-lying inland sections. Together these lakes, along with extensive reedbeds and willow thickets, give the area a wetland-rich, low-relief coastal character.

The western portion is defined by the river floodplains of the Świniec and Niemica, where deteriorating drainage has produced persistent rozlewiska and more dynamic flooding patterns. Near the shoreline, the landscape shifts into classic Baltic dune systems and crowberry-pine communities, with the dune reserve between Dźwirzyno and Grzybowo representing one of the highest-quality sandy coastal stretches. The contrast between open water, inundated grassland, reedbeds, and forested dunes gives the area a strongly layered coastal identity.

Ecologically, Wybrzeże Trzebiatowskie is defined by the close interaction of freshwater, brackish lagoon, meadow, and dune environments along a relatively short stretch of coastline. The presence of the large coastal lagoon lakes Resko Przymorskie and Liwia Łuża anchors the area's value as a complex of nutrient-rich coastal waters, while the surrounding meadows and floodplain remnants add important wet-grassland character.

Roughly 47 percent of the protected zone consists of meadows and former pastures. After the gradual abandonment of mowing and grazing in the last several decades, many of these grassy areas have shifted into reed-dominated stands, with common reed (Phragmyna australis) and gray willow (Salix cinerea) becoming increasingly important habitat-forming species. Where drainage has failed along the Świniec and Niemica rivers, prolonged flooding has produced open water and shallow rozlewiska that support transitional wetland communities.

Along the immediate shoreline, the natural zonation of dune systems, mobile sands, crowberry pine forest (bór bażynowy), and coastal heath demonstrates the characteristic Baltic dune and dry habitat sequence. The combined presence of dune vegetation, pine forest, reedbeds, wet meadows, and lagoon lake margins gives the area a strong ecological gradient across a relatively narrow geographic band.

The primary wildlife significance of Wybrzeże Trzebiatowskie lies in its birdlife, which is the reason the area was formally protected. The site supports populations and habitats of 35 bird species listed in Annex II of the EU Birds Directive, reflecting its importance as a refuge for species typically tied to coastal wetlands, open water, and dune systems along the southern Baltic.

The combination of large coastal lagoon lakes, flood-prone meadows along the Świniec and Niemica river valleys, and extensive reedbeds makes the area especially valuable for waterbirds. The presence of reedbeds dominated by common reed and gray willow thickets provides nesting and shelter habitat, while the open waters of Liwia Łuża and Resko Przymorskie support species that depend on larger coastal lake environments.

Beyond birds, the area hosts the broader coastal ecological community associated with dune and crowberry pine forest habitats, as well as the wetland fauna typical of Polish coastal lagoon systems. Because the site was specifically designated under the Birds Directive, however, its conservation identity remains firmly anchored in its ornithological value.

The conservation significance of Wybrzeże Trzebiatowskie is rooted in its formal designation as a Natura 2000 Special Protection Area under the European Union's Birds Directive, with the explicit goal of protecting wild bird populations and maintaining their habitats in an undisturbed state. With 35 Annex II bird species present, the area functions as a key protected site within Poland's contribution to the European bird protection network.

The conservation framework is multilayered. Supervisory responsibility is shared among the Regional Director for Environmental Protection in Szczecin and the maritime offices in Szczecin and Słupsk, while forest areas are administered by the Gryfice Forest District (Regional Directorate of State Forests in Szczecin) and the Gościno Forest District (Regional Directorate in Szczecinn). Within the site, four nature reserves add stricter, more localized protection: Roby, Jezioro Liwia Łuża, Nadmorski bór bażynowy w Mrzeżynie, and Wydmy między Dźwirzynem a Grzybowem.

The site also partially overlaps with the Trzebiatowsko-Kołobrzeski Pas Nadmorski area identified as being of Community importance, extending its conservation role within the broader Natura 2000 habitat network. Together these designations ensure that the area's lagoon lakes, wet meadows, dune systems, and coastal bird habitats are protected under a combination of European, national, and local frameworks.

The most distinctive features of Wybrzeże Trzebiatowskie are concentrated in a relatively narrow coastal strip where large lagoon lakes, river floodplains, moist meadows, reedbeds, gray willow thickets, and Baltic dune systems coexist. The two biggest coastal lagoon lakes, Liwia Łuża and Resko Przymorskie, are central landmarks and anchor the area's role as one of the more important Baltic bird protection sites in Poland.

The four embedded nature reserves add extra weight to the site's conservation character: Roby, Jezioro Liwia Łuża, the crowberry pine coastal reserve at Mrzeżyno, and the dune reserve between Dźwirzyno and Grzybowem. The partial overlap with the Trzebiatowsko-Kołobrzeski Pas Nadmorski Community importance area further embeds the site within the broader Natura 2000 framework along the West Pomeranian coast.