The original Sandomierz Forest

Today, the Sandomierska Forest is one of Poland’s most naturally beautiful forest complexes – the Natura 2000 “Sandomierska Forest” special bird and habitat protection area. However, little is known about the natural history of the place, and few visitors know that until the early Middle Ages, a dense mass of primeval forest stretched across the present Sandomierz Basin to Rzeszów, Janów Forest and Solska Forest up to the threshold of Roztocze. There was a virgin forest with a rich and varied stand of trees, as well as a motherland of numerous, now rare or extinct animals. The exhibition aims to present unique fauna, including bison, bears, wolves, deer, capercaillie and black grouse in the setting of the original primeval forest teeming with life, which was once the hunting ground of Polish rulers. A significant part of the exhibition will be occupied by insects and their adaptations to life in different habitats. The exhibition will also include an educational part aimed at children and young people. For the youngest will be prepared games of animal tracker and observer of nature under the microscope, film projections and quizzes to test knowledge about the forest. The fauna specimens on display at the exhibition come from the collection of the Natural History Museum of the ISEZ of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the unique bison and deer were made available by the Forest Culture Center in Goluchow. The State Forests in the Rozwadów Forestry Division and Kolbuszowa Forestry Division, as well as the Polish Hunting Association District Board in Tarnobrzeg, also joined in helping to build the exhibition.
Curator of the exhibition: Dr. Katarzyna Kopeć – head of the Natural History Museum of ISEZ PAN in Krakow
Coordinators:
Karolina Bielecka, technical specialist – environmental biologist of the Natural History Museum ISEZ PAN in Krakow
Elżbieta Skromak – curator of the Regional Museum in Stalowa Wola
3D visualizations and visual identification of the exhibition: Seabiscuit Dariusz Kuczera