KRAJOBRAZ KULTUROWY BIESZCZADZKIEGO PARKU NARODOWEGO I JEGO OCHRONA

The characteristic features of the landscape of the Bieszczady National Park include a mutual penetration of elements of nature and culture. Areas representing supreme natural merits are composed of the polonina ranges (downs) and the lower mountain forests, together with their unique resources. On the other hand, superior cultural assets belong to historical landscapes in the 'land of valleys', preserving traces of old development and material culture, harmoniously inscribed into natural configurations. These traces are recorded with the help of vegetation and stones, including unkempt orchards, rows of old ash trees, balks and tracts, ancient linden trees and elms, as well as the overgrown underpinnings of cottages, manor houses or churches, either Eastern rite or Uniate, abandoned cemeteries, roadside crosses and derelict cellars. The permanent existence of a cultural landscape calls for systematic protection. A pertinent programme has been inaugurated within the Plan for the Protection of the Bieszczady National Park; its scope ecnompasses recommendations about protection, intent on, i. a. the preservation of the former structures of villages and traces of development, the protection of old trees and the retention of old names as well as rendering all those resources available for educational purposes. Particular conservation is due to roadside crosses and tombstones, whose survival is to a considerable degree imperilled. Nonetheless, it is quite possible that these souvenirs of a bygone world will be meticulously examined and subsequently preserved. The group of persons interested in the history and culture of the region is consistently growing, and the number of publications and historical iconography is on the rise.