Słowiński National Park: Active Dune Conservation

The Park and Its Setting

Słowiński National Park (Słowiński Park Narodowy) is located in the Pomerania region of northern Poland, centred on the town of Smołdzino and with the coastal town of Łeba to its northeast. Established in 1967 and recognised as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1977, the park covers approximately 186 square kilometres, of which a substantial portion is lake and lake-edge habitat. The coastal belt — the area of active dunes between the Baltic Sea and the coastal lakes of Łebsko and Gardno — constitutes the most internationally recognised element of the park.

The dune area within the park is notable for containing one of the largest expanses of moving (shifting) coastal dunes in Europe. The main dune mass, known as the Łącka Dune and adjacent formations, migrates eastward at a rate that has been documented over many decades. This movement is driven by a dominant westerly wind regime and the absence of vegetation on the slip face of the dunes, which allows sand to be transported continuously in the downwind direction.

Why Dunes Move Here

Sand movement on the Słowiński dunes is not a recent phenomenon, but it has been shaped by human activity over centuries. Historical deforestation of the dune hinterland, particularly during the medieval and early modern periods, removed the vegetation that once stabilised the sand surface. Without root systems to hold it, the sand began to move under wind action, burying forests and farmsteads as it migrated. Historical records document villages that were lost to the advancing sand.

Since the park's establishment, the moving dune zone has been managed with the explicit goal of preserving the dynamic process — that is, allowing sand movement to continue rather than attempting to stabilise the dunes. This represents a departure from the general tendency in Polish coastal management to arrest sand mobility wherever possible.

Zone Management Structure

The park is managed through a zoning system that distinguishes between areas where natural processes are allowed to operate without intervention (strict protection zones) and areas where active conservation management is applied. For the dune habitats, the key distinction is:

• Strict protection zone: the active moving dune and its immediate surroundings. No vegetation work, no visitor access on foot, no stabilisation measures. Monitoring only.
• Active protection zone: the fixed dune and scrub areas adjacent to the moving dune. Here, vegetation management may be applied to maintain the open dune habitats required by the Habitats Directive — including removal of woody vegetation that would otherwise convert open grey dune to dune scrub or dune forest.
• Landscape protection zone: the outer areas of the park where traditional land uses and visitor infrastructure are accommodated under general park regulations.

Vegetation of the Moving Dune

The active face and crest of the Łącka Dune are almost entirely bare. Sand is transported from the western (windward) face, deposited on the eastern (leeward) face, and the dune moves as a mass. The rate of movement is not uniform and has varied with changes in wind patterns and sand supply over the decades for which records are available.

At the dune margins, where sand deposition is slower, sparse vegetation can gain a foothold. Ammophila arenaria appears at the leading edge of sand movement, and can briefly colonise areas of fresh deposition before being overtaken by the advancing slip face. Behind the active zone, in areas that were previously buried and are now being uncovered as the dune passes, a distinctive post-burial vegetation forms, often including mosses and the first vascular plants to recolonise bare sand.

Fixed Dune Conservation Challenges

The fixed dunes of the park — those that are no longer actively migrating and are covered by vegetation — present different conservation challenges from the moving dunes. In these areas, the target habitats are open or semi-open: grey dunes, dune heaths, and dune slacks. Without management intervention, succession leads these habitats toward dense scrub dominated by Hippophae rhamnoides and eventually toward dune woodland dominated by Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine).

The park's active conservation programme in these zones involves periodic removal of scrub, particularly sea buckthorn, to maintain the open character of protected habitats. This work is prioritised in areas where Natura 2000 habitat types 2130 (grey dunes), 2140 (Empetrum dunes), and 2170 (dunes with Salix repens) have been mapped and require favourable status to be maintained.

Monitoring and Research

The park maintains long-term records of dune movement, vegetation cover, and species composition in its various habitat zones. Aerial and satellite imagery has been used alongside ground-based vegetation surveys to track changes in the extent of individual habitat types over time. The monitoring data are submitted as part of Poland's obligations under the Habitats Directive reporting cycle.

Research institutions including the Institute of Biology at the University of Gdańsk and the Polish Academy of Sciences have conducted studies in the park on topics ranging from dune geomorphology to the population dynamics of plant species characteristic of the dune succession sequence. The park publishes its own scientific bulletin and cooperates with Natura 2000 monitoring programmes at the national level.

Visitor Management as Conservation Tool

Visitor pressure on the coastal dune zone is managed through a combination of infrastructure and regulation. A defined network of raised boardwalk paths channels foot traffic away from the most sensitive dune vegetation. Entry to the strictly protected zone is restricted. The visitor centre near Rąbka provides context on the park's ecology before visitors enter the dune area, which the park uses to reduce informal off-path movement.

The seasonal pattern of visiting — with the highest numbers occurring in July and August — means that management effort is concentrated in those months. Staff presence is increased, and compliance with path restrictions is monitored more actively during the peak season.