Middle Warta River Valley (926)
Poland, Europe
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2010
National site name: Dolina Srodkowej Warty
Central coordinates: Latitude: 52.2000, Longitude: 18.1667
System: freshwater, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 20 to 60
Area of KBA (km2): 571.78934
Protected area coverage (%): 100.00
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: A 120 km stretch of the middle Warta river between Babin village (near Uniejów town) and Pogorzelica village (near Pyzdry town), including the Ko³o valley (Kotlina Kolska) and the Konin basin (Dolina Koniñska). Much of the valley used to flood each spring, but after the construction of Jeziorsko reservoir, spring flooding stopped completely, and habitats changed greatly. As a result of river embankment, the Ko³o valley is now a mosaic of cultivated fields, intensively used meadows, pastures, small stands of woodland and settlements. The main land-use is grazing. The Konin basin, however, has a more natural character. Here the river floods onto wet meadows in April and hollows within meadows are permanently flooded and not cultivated. Low-lying oxbow lakes and their surrounding areas are covered mainly with water-fringe vegetation. There are also riverside beds of osier Salix, scattered plantations, small areas of carr, and sand-dunes covered with pine Pinus forest. Land-use here is mainly non-intensive agriculture, including haymaking in meadows and livestock-grazing on private farms.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that was identified using previously established criteria and thresholds for the identification of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) and for which available data indicate that it does not meet global KBA criteria and thresholds set out in the Global Standard.
Additional biodiversity: Up to 35,000 or more waterbirds roost here, mainly wildfowl Anser/Anas with lesser numbers of waders (Charadrii). Breeding species of global conservation concern that do not meet IBA criteria: Aythya nyroca (recently extinct here), Gallinago media (two pairs). A total of 153 species have been recorded breeding.
Habitats
Land use: agriculture (90%) | hunting | water management (10%)
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Wetlands(Inland) | 2 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 43 | |
| Other | 1 | |
| Grassland | 38 | |
| Forest | 16 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: The main threats are posed by changes in the water-regime of the Warta river following the construction of Jeziorsko reservoir upstream, by the abandonment of agricultural management of meadows, by the conversion of meadows to arable land following damming and drainage, and by agricultural intensification locally.