The world of nature and culture of the Eastern Carpathians - joint promotion - better protection

Beneficiary: Bieszczady National Park

Polish partner: Połoniny National Park

Implementation period: 01/03/2020 - 28/02/2021

Realized project value: € 53 933.92, including ERDF co-financing: € 45 843.80

Bieszczady, this is where the Milky Way is available at your fingertips! Far from civilization and artificial light, you can see over 7,000 stars there during a cloudless and moonless night! The Upper San Valley is an excellent place to observe the sky due to the lack of light pollution, and the partner national parks are also part of the international network of star sky parks. If only we can stay where it is dark at night ... One of the goals that the partners set for themselves while implementing the project was to promote the natural and cultural wealth of the Bieszczady National Park and the Poloniny National Park through joint information and education activities promoting the natural and cultural heritage of the borderland. The educational values of nature trails, including cross-border trails, were made more attractive, along with a Polish-Slovak multimedia guide, and places for astronomical shows were equipped. A joint photo session with Polish-Slovak workshops and an open review of diaporamas and nature films was organized.

The main activities carried out under the project:

• Natural and cultural heritage of border national parks - joint information and educational promotion . Taking into account a wide group of recipients with different access to information due to age, education and profession, or the availability of the Internet, the partners planned information and education activities promoting the natural and cultural heritage of the borderland through various forms of media, both traditional and innovative. The publication "Bieszczadzki National Park and Połoniny National Park - natural and cultural peculiarities" has been published in three language versions: Polish language version: 1000 items, Slovak version - 1000 items and English version - 1000 items. The publication is popular science, richly illustrated and attractively published in terms of graphics. An educational offer was also made in Polish and Slovak, which will contribute to strengthening Polish-Slovak cooperation and will bring closer the natural heritage of the borderland. The offer also includes an educational program in the form of films that were broadcast on TV and are available on the websites of both national parks.
• Beauty in the frame - Polish-Slovak plein-air and photo workshops with a diaporama review. In the area of the Bieszczady National Park and the "Połoniny" National Park in Slovakia, a photographic open-air session for nature and culture photographers was organized to create a photo database for information and education purposes. The plein-air was combined with photo workshops for employees of both national parks. 25 people participated in the multi-day photo gallery, including members of the Association of Polish Nature Photographers, the Association of Photographers in Slovakia and employees of two border national parks - Bieszczadzkie and Połonina. During the open air, there was a show of diaporamas and nature films showing the beauty of Polish and Slovak natural and cultural heritage. A total of 30 people took part in the show. Due to sanitary restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the open air was closed, and the presented shows were made available on the website. The result of the plein-air is a database of photos, created for the information and educational purposes of the Bieszczadzki NP and PN "Połoniny", which have been cooperating for years within the International Biosphere Reserve "Eastern Carpathians". The classes inspired employees of national parks to take more conscious photography and its promotion, as the impact of photography on the audience is very high. National park employees also had the opportunity to take advantage of practical advice from professional photographers on the rules of photography - composition, depth of field, exposure, etc.
• In the upper San valley - increasing the attractiveness of the system of educational paths on the Polish-Slovak border. In Tarnawa Niżna, by the path in the upper San valley, a portable observatory for observing the stellar sky was constructed in the form of a small wooden object, locked, with a sliding roof for observing the sky and with the possibility of storing the purchased equipment.

As part of the task, the BIESZCZADY & GÓRNY SAN smartphone application was also made, available in Polish, Slovak and English language versions, which will allow you to discover the beautiful, wild areas of the Upper San valley along the Polish-Ukrainian border. It will delight not only nature lovers, but also everyone who wants to know the history of these places. You can walk along natural and historical paths, discover the traces of the former inhabitants of the villages of Beniowa, Sianki, or Dźwiniacz Górny. Beautiful photographs, spherical panoramas and 3D models of non-existent sacred objects, or the former manor of the Stroiński family from Sianek, will help in exploring these areas. An additional attraction are audiobooks prepared for the natural and historical paths "In the Upper San Valley" and "Tarnawa Niżna-Dźwiniacz Górny".

We encourage you to download the mobile application https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.amistad.treespot.dolinaGornegoSanu&hl=pl&gl=US and watch film materials from the activities carried out under the project https: // www. youtube.com/watch?v=b_7X6GcZZmI , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkBqxDDuSxU&t=1s , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0Vu55MrogQ