The Narwianski National Park was created in 1996 and is located in the Podlaskie Province. The area of the park is 6,810 hectares with a buffer zone of 15,408 hectares. The park includes the marshy valley of the Upper Narew on the stretch between Suraz and Rzedziany. It is called the “Polish Amazonia” and is recognised as one of Europe’s last, natural, regularly flooded river valleys. The most important natural aspect of this park is the unique character of the river. The River Narew, within the parks borders, flows in a number of channels which are interlinked and form an irregular complicated network. The great wealth of the park and its surrounding valleys is its avifauna. There are over 200 different species of birds here including 28 species which are threatened in Europe and also the world. The emblem of the park is the silhouette of the Marsh Harrier. Other rare birds include ruffs, waders, snipes, bitterns and aquatic warblers. There are also over 40 different mammals that inhabit the park, among others the wild boar, deer, roe deer, elk, beaver, fox, common polecat, ermine, otter and marten. There are also 13 different species of amphibians and many species of fish (roach, pike, tench, ide, bitterling, weatherfish, loach and eel). Narwianski National Park (woj. Podlaskie) www.npn.pl