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The Piska Forest is situated in the south-west part of the Land of Great Masurian Lakes. It was once inhabited by the Prussian tribe of the Galinds, hence it was also referred to as the Galindzka Forest.
The Piska Forest, with the area of 1,000 km2 is the biggest woodland area in Poland. It is overgrown in 80% with pines and spruces, with an admixture of deciduous tress, such as oaks, lindens, maples, birches and hornbeams.
The oldest trees, about 400-year-old oaks, have been considered monuments of nature. Within the Piska Forest you will find numerous picturesque lakes, for instance Bełdany, Nidzkie, Mokre, Pogubie and some smaller ones. By the lakeside you will encounter many beautifully situated resorts with history dating back to the medieval times.
The Piska Forest used to be abundant in game. Thus, it was a valuable source of food for local people, as well as supplies for Teutonic castles, royal courts, manor houses and soldiers getting ready for wars. Great hunting events organized by the royal court, mainly for entertainment, made a considerable loss in local wildlife. This predatory exploitation of the forest was not stopped until the 19th century.
In the course of time the Piska Forest was plagued by harmful insects. Between 1912-1914 and 1923-1927 the insect pine beauty destroyed the total area of 15,800 ha, whereas between 1979-1981 and 1993-1994 the nun moth caused destruction to several thousand hectares of the forest. It was necessary to use planes in order to get rid of the horrifying pest. The Piska Forest suffered also many hurricane attacks, the worst of them occurred in 1702, 1833, 1839, 1867, 1880 and 1894.
The worst natural disaster, however, plagued the Piska Forest on 4 July 2002, when within just 15 minutes all tress of area of 12,000 ha were blown down by a hurricane, causing destruction to 3.6 mln m3 of the forest.
The Piska Forest is abundant in fungi, raspberries, wild strawberries, blackberries and blueberries, which makes an additional lure for forest explorers. A great variety of flora and fauna and the need to preserve its beauty and protect it from extinction contributed to the creation of the Masurian Landscape Park.
www.przyroda.polska.pl
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