The project aims to create conditions to encapsulate the historical range of lynx occurrence in northern Poland \u2013 currently these predators occur in isolated populations in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Masuria and Podlasie.<\/strong> They require active protection, as the modern world is full of threats and restrictions for them. They fall victim to collisions on the roads, they are decimated by dangerous diseases and poaching.<\/strong> They have difficulties to move freely and pass on genes due to the progressive colonization and expansion of roads<\/strong>. The condition of lynxes from Podlasie was also affected by the wall on the border with Belarus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spych\u00f3w Centre<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to strengthen the currently existing lynx populations in the north of the country, more individuals are released into the wild <\/strong> \u2013 obtained from breeding and other countries. The West Pomeranian Nature Society (ZTP) successfully carries out such activities in West Pomerania<\/strong>, where it has released over 100 individuals together with partners over the last 6 years<\/strong>. The organization also takes care of lynxes that are sick, m.in. with dangerous scabies, and prepares them for return to the wild in the rehabilitation center in Jab\u0142onowo. In order to carry out reintroduction activities in Masuria and Podlasie equally effectively, there was a need to build a similar rehabilitation center in the east of the country<\/strong>. As part of the currently implemented Life project, such a task was undertaken by the Spychowo Forest District in the area of the Piasutno Forest Nursery.<\/strong> The center has just been opened and although no naturalists wish the lynx a need to stay in such a place, from now on the animals can count on rehabilitation care in Masuria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rehabilitation center near Spych\u00f3w ready to receive lynxes in need of help. The lynx rehabilitation center near Spych\u00f3w is located in a picturesque scenery Workshop on lynx conservation strategies<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The opening of the center was a great opportunity for scientists, naturalists, representatives of state and local government institutions present at the event to conduct a number of discussions about the future of lynx conservation in Poland. To this end, the WWF Poland Foundation organized a workshop on the need to create a lynx conservation strategy<\/strong> \u2013 a document that could systematize and regulate the protection of this predator in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Professor Krzysztof Schmidt from the Institute of Mammal Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences presented the participants with a report on the historical foundations for the future strategy. He reminded about the „Lynx Protection Program in Poland” created in 2011, which was never implemented<\/strong>. Beata Piwowarska from the General Directorate for Environmental Protection presented the challenges and legal requirements that must be faced during the implementation of programs for the protection of endangered species<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the discussion panel, the participants discussed the topicality of the „Lynx Protection Program in Poland” from 2011. Maciej Tracz from ZTP pointed out that over the last 15 years, the road infrastructure has changed \u2013 it has improved from a human perspective, the number of expressways has increased, but they are serious ecological barriers<\/strong>. Stefan Jakimiuk from WWF, in turn, emphasized the problem of emerging housing estates on the border of forests and fields<\/strong>, in the so-called ecotone zones, where both lynxes and their victims live. However, all experts agreed that the creation of ecological corridors that allow animals to migrate is necessary to restore the lynx population in northern Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The discussion during the workshop involved many experts Conference of the project „Expanding the range of lynx populations in northern Poland”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n During the conference in Spych\u00f3w, held the next day, the experts summed up the next year of the 101114131 project \u2014 LIFE22-NAT-PL-LIFE LYNX PL LT DE „Expanding the range of the lynx population in northern Poland<\/strong>. Malwina Kujawa-Strejk from ZTP reported, including the field activities and efforts of her organization to obtain new lynxes for re-introduction. The effects of information and educational activities were also presented, for which the responsibility in the project lies with the WWF Poland Foundation and partners from Lithuania (Association of the Center for Ecosystem Protection) and Germany (Rewilding Oder Delta and Germany).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scientists and naturalists also attempted to assess the state of conservation of the lynx population in Poland, using various research methods. Maciej Tracz from ZTP presented the importance and effectiveness of telemetry collars<\/strong> in monitoring animals such as lynxes. Professor Miros\u0142aw Ratkiewicz from the Faculty of Biology of the University of Bialystok talked about genetic research as an essential element of the reintroduction and monitoring process<\/strong>. Dr. Tomasz Borowik from the Institute of Mammal Biology presented the results of camera trap monitoring of lynxes in the Podlaskie forests<\/strong>, and Stefan Jakimiuk from WWF talked about similar monitoring results in Masuria<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tomasz Borowik during his speech at the conference in Spych\u00f3w. At the end of the conference, Prof. Krzysztof Schmidt from IBS PAS presented the methodology for assessing the state of conservation of the lynx population in Poland, <\/strong>prepared for the Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection, and Dr. Wojciech \u015amietana from the Nature and Science Foundation recalled other historical studies on lynx abundance in Poland and compared them with those carried out as part of the National Environmental Monitoring<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project 101114131 \u2014 LIFE22-NAT-PL-LIFE LYNX PL LT DE „Expanding the range of the lynx population in northern Poland”, which included an event in Spych\u00f3w, aims to reconstruct the historical range of the Baltic lynx metapopulation in Central Europe, to create conditions for effective dispersion and gene flow in the Baltic lynx metapopulation in Poland and Lithuania, and to enable the natural return of lynxes to the lowlands of north-eastern Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The organizations implementing the project also aim to maintain social acceptance of the conservation status of the lynx in Poland, Lithuania and Germany, and to gain support for the strategy for the conservation and management of the Baltic population of this species in Poland, developed in cooperation with key stakeholders and partners from abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n __________________________ Ceremonial opening of the rehabilitation centre, from the left: Wojciech Matuszczak from RDLP Olsztyn, Stefan Jakimiuk from WWF Poland, Krzysztof Krasula from the Spychowo Forest District, Patrycja Zas\u0119pa from the Ministry of Culture and Forestry, Maciej Tracz from the West Pomeranian Nature Society, photo: Piotr Mierzejewski On December 4, 2025, the ceremonial opening of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rysie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rysie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rysie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rysie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rysie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2928"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rysie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2976,"href":"https:\/\/rysie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2928\/revisions\/2976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rysie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rysie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rysie.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rysie.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image.png\")
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Photo: Piotr Mierzejewski<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rysie.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-1.png\")
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photo: Adrian P\u00f3\u0142rolniczak<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rysie.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-2.png\")
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photo: Piotr Mierzejewski<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rysie.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-3.png\")
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photo: Piotr Kalata<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The activities are carried out by the West Pomeranian Nature Society as part of the Project LIFE22-NAT-PL-LIFE LYNX PL LT DE „Expanding the range of lynx populations in northern Poland”.
Funded by the EU. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author or authors only and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the European Union or the European Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor CINEA are responsible for them.
Co-financed by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and the WWF Poland Foundation.
The partners of the project are: West Pomeranian Nature SocietyWWF Poland, Spychowo Forest District, State Forests
Ekosistem\u0173 apsaugos centras
Rewilding Oder Delta
#LIFEprogramme<\/a>
#LIFEproject
#LIFEAmplifier<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rysie.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-27.png\")
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