Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
Tatra National Park covers the whole of the Polish part of the Tatras range (Western Tatras), the youngest and highest mountains in Poland (up to 2,499 m). At lower altitudes there is heavily modified subalpine spruce
Picea forest, followed by upper subalpine forest, then the mountain pine
Pinus mugo zone, followed by alpine pastures and rock towers at the highest elevations. There is a great variety of land-forms with many mountain lakes (High Tatras) and karst features (Western Tatras; e.g. caves). The site is contiguous with the `Tatry' IBA across the border in Slovakia.
Breeding species include
Crex crex (of global conservation concern but not meeting IBA criteria) and two of the 10 species in Europe that are restricted to the European high-mountain biome when breeding (
Prunella collaris in especially good numbers). A total of 200 species have been recorded.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Threats include air and water pollution (air-borne deposits from industry upwind), tourism/recreation, transportation, infrastructure development up to the Park border, and a proposal to hold the Winter Olympic Games here.
National High
International High21,164 ha of IBA covered by National Park (Tatrzañski, 21,164 ha). Over 50% of IBA covered by Nature Reserves (details unavailable; most or all are contiguous). 21,164 ha of IBA covered by Biosphere Reserve (Tatra, 21,164 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Tatra mountains (Poland). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/tatra-mountains-iba-poland on 22/12/2024.
