Dear Readers,

The second of February is the 30th anniversary of the Ramsar Convention, celebrated with World Wetlands Day. For this occasion, on Saturday, February 3rd, we would like to invite all those willing to an outdoor excursion on the Mazowian Landscape Park's Calowanie Peatland, concerning the problems of protecting the area. This peatland is the most precious one in Mazowia, which, despite reclamation of the area years ago, is still a site with many valuable and endangered species of plants and animals. The present peatland is especially threatened by attempted commercial development of the area (building of fish ponds, peat extraction, housing developments). On Saturday's excursion, we will observe the most valuable parts of the peatland (including the only ... birch site in Mazovia) and we will be able to evaluate the destructive effects of mentioned investments. After our walk, we invite you to the nearest eatery for a discussion about the possibilities of efficiently protecting this unique area.
We will be meeting at 10:00 in the village of Podbiel - Roslonce, by the milk bar, the fire station and store. It is possible to park cars there and it is also the PKS bus stop where there are many buses from the PKP station in Celstynów. We ask all those interested to contact us for organising ride sharing possibilities.

Sincerely yours,

Pawel Pawlikowski, Polish Ecological Club
Tel: 810-40-46, e-mail: ledrion@mercury.ci.uw.edu.pl

Wiktor Kotowski, Department of Nature Protection in Rural Areas- IMUZ
Tel. 720-05-31 ex. 233 (work) and 720-05-66 (home),
e-mail: W.Kotowski@imuz.edu.pl