The Biebrza river together with its flood waters is one of the most unique places in the world, which attracts and makes one "positively addicted".

The main attraction of the north-east region of Poland is the richness of the wildlife and, splendid national parks. The most magnificent, extensive and greatest of them is the Biebrza National Park with its impressive area of 59 223 ha.  The forest areas constitute 15 544 ha, cultivated lands - 18 180 ha, waste lands - the famous Biebrza Swamps, and in fact, the most precious environmentall ecosystems - 23 428 ha. The most natural swamp in Poland and in Central Europe with a complex of low, temporary and high peat bogs with the their specific division of plants into zones  is the strict reservation of the Red Swamp. The area of the Biebrza Valley is also the most important breeding area of the waterfowl and marsh birds in Europe. Therefore, the area of the Biebrza Park was embraced by the RAMSAR International Conference.

Did you know that:

• The area of the park and the cleading is filled with a thick layer of peat. The whole of the territorial area was divided into basins: the Northern Basin embracing the valley east from Sztabin, the Central Basin - from Sztabin to Osowiec and the South Basin from Osowiec, to the mouth of the Biebrza River to the Narew River.
• The Northern basin, also called the Upper Biebrza Basin embraces a 40-kilometre section of the valley 1-3 km wide. The peat deposits reach from 3 to 6 m here. A characteristic feature of the land is the occurrence of moraines
• The Central basin has a trapeze-like shape with the dimensions of 20 x 40 km. The peat deposits reach from 1 to 3 m here. A characteristic feature of the land is the occurrence of sandy dunes surrounded by peatbogs and channels (the Augustowski Channel, the Woźnawiejski Channel, the Rudzki Channel)
• The South basin, also called the Lower Basin has a channel-like shape with the length of 30 km and the width of 12 - 15 km, and is the most natural basin in the Biebrza River Valley. The peat deposits reach from 1 to 2 m here. A characteristic feature of the land is the occurrence of dunes, especially in the north-eastern part.
• The length of the Biebrza river is 152,5 km. This is a typical lowland river winding sharply with numerous bends.
• In the Biebrza Valley there is an occurrence of over 920 species of vascular plants, 67 of which are embraced by legal protection (e.g. the fritillary, the peaty violet, the Alpine cotton-grass and the berry-leaf willow). There are groups of 73 plant communities, including almost all groups of water, marshy and peaty habitats to be found in Poland. What is especially precious is the large group of sedge-mossy and mossy groups.
• The Biebrza Valley is a unique enclave for waterfowls marsh birds in Europe. So far 271 species of birds, including 181 breeding species have been observed here. From among 56 species acknowledged in Poland as extinct, dying or threatened with extinction, 17 species nest in the park (e.g.: the double snipe, the vacuole, the black tern, the small-winged sea swallow, and the greater spotted eagle). For some of them, the Biebrza Swamps are some of the last sanctuaries which guarantee the survival of their population in Central Europe.
• In the area of the park an occurrence of 48 species of mammals, including  10 species of bats and the grey squirrel, which is rare in Poland, 12 species of amphibians, 5 species of reptiles and 37 species of fish have been ascertained. The invertebrates are weakly recognizable. As yet, one registered here the occurrence of: 788 species of butterflies, 699 species of beetles, 450 species of spiders, and 339 species of invertebrates from other systematic groups.
  
• The King of Biebrza is the elk - the greatest representative of deer, dwelling in the wet and boggy forests of Northern Europe, Siberia, northern China and Mongolia and the part of Northern America from Alaska to the northern regions of the USA. Seven sub-species of the elk are known, the greatest of which dwells in Alaska. The body length: 240-310 cm, the tail length: up to 10 cm, the height at withers 180-235 cm, the body weight: 300-820 kg. The so-called female elk ("klępa" or "łosza"), attains smaller sizes than the male elk. The antlers in adult males have a shovel-like shape (so-called "łopatacz") or an arborescent shape (the so-called "badylarz") and possess numerous appendices. The eyes are not large, the muzzle is strongly elongated and wide, the withers are distinct and marked with a small hump. The coloration of the coat is brown and in winter, it has a grey tint. The hooves are large, long and narrow, and supplied additionally with so-called “raciczki”, enlarging the pressure areas of the hooves in the wet field.  With a daily lifestyle, it feeds also at nightfall. It possesses a perfectly developed sense of hearing and smell, swims perfectly and willingly and performs distant migrations, including those during floods or plagues of insects. Generally, males are loners and meet with females only in oestrus for several days. Males then have strenuous fights for females and during this period, they give characteristic sounds called "groans". The pregnancy lasts 242-264 days, the female bears 1-3 young elks which often stay with their mother until they are two years old. Elks feed on leaves, bark, soft wood, water plants and meadow plants, fungi, needles of coniferous trees, mainly pines, and sometimes on farmlands. In Poland, the elk is a hunted animal with a close-season.