Cisy Nature Reserve in Łebki

The Cisy nature reserve in Łebki is a forest reserve in Herby municipality, in Lubliniec County, near the village of Łebki. It protects a natural stand of yew in a well-preserved alder carr beside a stream.

Establishment and area

The reserve was established by order of the Minister of Forestry and the Timber Industry of 17 May 1957, covering 22.36 ha. In 2016 it was enlarged to 55.45 ha. The area is under active protection, and the whole of it lies within the Upper Liswarta Forests Landscape Park.

Yews and forest

The subject of protection is the yew habitat in a streamside alder carr dominated by black alder. Also growing here are European ash, field maple, downy birch, Scots pine, spruce, fir and elm. In 1996 eight yews 6-8 metres tall were counted in the reserve, mostly bushy and multi-stemmed, and some of the mature trees were dying back. Even so, the species regenerates naturally here.

Under full protection the reserve has mezereon, a clubmoss (widłak wroniec) and clasping twistedstalk, and under partial protection blackcurrant and alder buckthorn. The waters flowing through the reserve deposit fertile silt here at times of high water. In 2007 surveys also showed a rich insect fauna, including the beetle known in Polish as pienik olchowiec.

In the neighbourhood

Less than two kilometres away lies a second forest reserve, Cisy nad Liswartą, and the whole area lies within the Upper Liswarta Forests Landscape Park.

Practical information

• Location: Herby municipality, Lubliniec County, near the village of Łebki.
• The reserve's protection rules apply; before your visit, check with the forest district or the regional directorate for environmental protection which paths you may enter by.