Tourist and educational offer of the State Forests

TOURIST AND EDUCATIONAL OFFER OF STATE FORESTS IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF LUBUSZ VOIVODSHIP

Lubusz forests, occupying 50% of the voivodeship area, are a recognized asset of our region. No other province in Poland can boast of such a high forest cover. Therefore, also foresters, as the managers of this property, for many years have been preparing tourist and educational infrastructure in the most attractive places.
The forests in the southern part of the province are managed by 20 Forest Districts, within the boundaries of the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Zielona Góra.

The tourist offer in the Lubusz forests is so wide that everyone will find something suitable for themselves, whether they want to go on a short trip, have a day-long picnic or spend several days at the lake. There are hiking, biking and canoeing trails, horseback riding trails, as well as resting places and camping sites. Foresters have prepared lookout towers for those who love beautiful views. The highest, 41-meter tower, in the shape of a lighthouse, is located at the Natural Forest Education Center in Wysokie Lake near Brodów, in the Lubsko Forest District. From its terrace you can admire a beautiful panorama of the area, and even see the forests of our western neighbors. Another object of great interest to tourists is a wooden tower (29.5 m) located on the geotourist path called "Former Babin Mine," built by the Lipinki Forest District. From the tower it is possible to admire the extraordinary landscape of multicolored lakes, located in the UNESCO World Geopark "Łuk Mużakowa.” Another wooden observation tower, called "Joanna" with a height of 40 m, is located in the Sława Śląska Forest District, by the "Świętobór" recreation glade near Konotop, and the historic stone observation tower from 1864 in Zielony Las near Żary (Lipinki Forest District) has regained its former glory after renovation. Slightly lower, wooden observation towers are located at the Cybinka Forest District on the "Ptasi Raj" path, and in Zagórze in Świebodzin Forest District. Another tourist attraction is a wooden platform in the reserve "Pawski Ług" near Łagów, which allows you to enter an interesting peat bog.

Various sports, such as cycling, canoeing, horse riding, running or Nordic walking, can be safely practiced thanks to tourist paths and trails leading through the local forests. The network of bicycle paths is being developed for the increasing number of cyclists. They are also happy to use the new fire roads with a good gravel surface, which are ideal for longer trips. Those who ride horses have 34 trails at their disposal. On some of them there are specially prepared resting places where, apart from typical tourist shelters, there are also horse pens. For those interested in learning the secrets of the forest there are educational paths, which lead to the most charming forest backwoods and allow them to learn about historical and natural curiosities, as well as the specific nature of foresters’ work.
Resting in the forest is above all a contact with wild nature. Therefore, for motorized tourists, forest parking lots and car parks have been prepared, located on the outskirts of forest complexes or near the most interesting places.

Tourist offer of RDSF in Zielona Góra
• hiking trails – 1200 km
• cycling trails – 750 km
• horse trails – 400 km
• educational paths – 40 with a length of 185 km
• observation towers – 6
• car parks and parking spaces – 50

FOREST EDUCATION, I.E. THE PLEASANT WITH THE USEFUL

In the area of RDSF in Zielona Góra the regional center of forest education is the Forest and Nature Education Center in the Wysokie Lakes near Brody, operating within the Forest Nature Complex "Bory Lubuskie,” covering the area of Lubsko Forest Division. It is visited by nearly 14 thousand people a year, mainly school children, but the number of individual tourists is growing steadily every year.
However, forest education is carried out by all Forest Districts in Zielona Góra. Thanks to their efforts, 40 educational paths have been created so far (didactic, nature-forestry ones), and several new are being designed. The paths enable the understanding of laws governing nature and serve to get to know interesting species of plants, mushrooms and animals in their natural environment. Thanks to them you can also learn about the work of a forester. Most of the paths have several thematic stops with boards and exhibitions. On the routes there are resting places, shelters and viewpoints.
Organized groups can hike the trail with a guide, which is a forester who knows the area very well. In such a case, it is necessary to contact in advance by phone with the Forest District, on the territory of which the path is located.
In addition to didactic paths, several Forest Districts have educational chambers equipped with, among others, interesting natural exhibits. Here, classes with young people are conducted. A good example of a "forestry workshop" is a richly equipped didactic room in the Cybinka Forest District building, created under a Polish-German project. In the Gubin Forest District, in Dzikowo, a new, wooden educational shelter called "Gubin Pine" was built. In Osiecznica, in the Krosno Forest District’s seat, there is an interesting exposition of a few dozen animal specimens, and in Żagań, near the Forest District’s building, a Forest Educational Complex was created, consisting of an educational chamber with interesting exhibits, an educational path and a mini dendrological garden. In the Forest District Zielona Góra nature and forestry education is carried out in the open air. Next to the spacious shelter, there are wooden didactic boards, which are very popular among visitors. Nearby, there is a mini-arboretum, where you can get to know the domestic dendroflora. The Sława Śląska Forest District decided to focus on modernity and placed three interactive boards and two multimedia stands next to its seat, which is the Educational Multimedia Point "Nature’s Way,” enriched with a collection of domestic tree and shrub species.

More information about the State Forests tourist offer can be found on dedicated websites: www.czaswlas.pl and http://www.zielonagora.lasy.gov.pl/sciezki-edukacyjne

Marek Maciantowicz