List otwarty w sprawie przyszłości Zakola Wawerskiego
Znajdujemy się w momencie, w którym Zakole Wawerskie można uratować, zamiast przeznaczać ogromne środki na odtwarzanie siedlisk, jak ma to miejsce w całej Europie. W ostatnich latach podjęto formalne kroki w kierunku zabezpieczenia Zakola Wawerskiego jako zielonego terenu podmokłego – uchwalono miejscowy plan zagospodarowania przestrzennego oraz zarekomendowano jego ochronę w ramach uchwalonej przez miasto Zielonej Wizji Warszawy*. To słuszne wstępne kroki i deklaracje, które jednak nie zapewniają pełnej ochrony tego wrażliwego i podatnego na zaburzenia ekosystemu.
Niemal cały obszar Zakola Wawerskiego jest własnością prywatną kilkuset rodzin niegdyś uprawiających te tereny. W tej sytuacji odpowiedzialność za kluczowy element zielono-błękitnej infrastruktury Warszawy jest rozproszona i spoczywa na właścicielach, a przyszłość Zakola pozostaje niepewna. Brak systemowych rozwiązań prowadzi do narastania napięć i poczucia niesprawiedliwości, zarówno wśród właścicieli i właścicielek gruntów, jak i mieszkańców i mieszkanek Warszawy, dla których ten teren pozostaje w dużej mierze niedostępny.
*Zielona Wizja Warszawy – dokument przyjęty uchwałą przez Radę m.st. Warszawy. Zawiera zestaw rekomendacji i propozycji inwestycyjnych, mających doprowadzić do osiągnięcia neutralności klimatycznej przez miasto do 2050 roku.
~~~~~
English version:
To the Warsaw City Council,
Zakole Wawerskie (Wawer Bend) is a wetland in Warsaw, encompassing peat bogs with alder carrs, reed beds, wet meadows, and former farmlands and orchards. The area is crucial to Warsaw's ecological and sustainable future*—it cools the city, tempers the local climate, retains rainwater to protect against the impact of severe storms and droughts, and stores massive amounts of carbon, preventing its release into the atmosphere. Zakole Wawerskie provides countless ecosystem services and is part of our natural heritage. As an urban haven of biodiversity with a past rooted in agriculture, it is a source of inspiration for a wide range of social, educational and artistic initiatives. At the same time, the area suffers from neglect and is at risk of degradation. Illegal dumping of bulky waste, land raising, water regime disturbances, and growing ecosystem fragmentation—these are the consequences of the entire site having been left for many years without systemic protection.
We are at a juncture when Zakole Wawerskie can still be saved, instead of—as is the trend across Europe—expending vast resources on habitat restoration. In recent years, formal steps have been taken to secure its status as a green wetland: Warsaw has adopted a local zoning plan and recommended that the site should be protected under its Green Vision of Warsaw strategy*. While these initial steps and declarations are valid, they fail to ensure that this fragile, highly vulnerable ecosystem is fully preserved.
Nearly all of Zakole Wawerskie is privately owned by a few hundred families that once farmed these lands. As a result, responsibility for this critical part of Warsaw’s green and blue infrastructure is fragmented, resting with individual landowners, while the future of Zakole remains uncertain. The absence of systemic solutions has fueled tensions and a sense of injustice—both among the landowners and Warsaw residents, who to a large extent have no access to the area.
Protecting Zakole Wawerskie requires more than just banning development in certain areas, a measure that has already been enforced. What is truly needed is a model that could prevent its gradual degradation. A holistic, long-term plan to manage and protect the ecosystem is essential—one that accounts for biodiversity, the water environment, and the site’s function as an urban green area and wetland.
Environmental groups and local residents advocate for gradient-based approach to functional planning that could reconcile the needs of the residents with wetland conservation. In the south, this could mean creating a wetland park for walking and recreation, while the northern section, the wildest and most water-rich, could be designated as a nature reserve, offering opportunities to experience nature without interference and learn about the role of water and wetlands in urban environments.
We call for treating Zakole Wawerskie as a priority within the climate crisis strategy. We expect the land acquisitions recommended in the Green Vision of Warsaw to be carried out, along with developing a plan to protect the site in collaboration with the local community and non-governmental organizations, while also exploring new models of managing public green spaces. We believe that we must work together to find solutions that go beyond the conventional approaches employed so far—innovative stewardship models that take to heart the voices of environmentalists, activists, artists, and the local community. This will not be possible without involvement from the city, which could coordinate these efforts and guarantee effective action.
Zakole Wawerskie has the potential to become a symbol of a modern, multidimensional approach to urban ecology—a space where biodiversity and social diversity reinforce one another. Even so, without a land acquisition strategy and well-defined co-management principles, the ecosystem remains in limbo, at risk of continued degradation. The future of this unique urban wetland depends on taking decisions that must be bold, responsible and forward-looking. We believe that such decisions will be made.
*Green Vision of Warsaw: a document approved by the Warsaw City Council. Contains a set of recommendations and investment proposals aimed at achieving climate neutrality by the city by 2050.
www.zakole.pl