Profile of the Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park

© Peter Prast

Landscape in motion

The unbridled energy of the wind and waves carries the coasts away, transporting sand and depositing it elsewhere. This creates wind flats, sand hooks and, in the end, a mosaic of dunes, saltwater ponds and swamps. This dynamic development of the coastal landscape is a hallmark of the national park.

© Klaus Haase

Rich in Nature

Change is the order of the day in the typical habitats Baltic Sea, exposed tidal flats, heather, bogs and forest. Animal species large and small, from the red deer to the blue moor frog, find exclusive habitats here, spread over a large area.

Feathered residents and visitors roost here in their thousands. The spectacle of cranes occurs every year throughout autumn and attracts more and more nature lovers. In winter little red knots hurry across the beach; they are not the only winter guests from the Arctic. Wide reed belts blur the transition between water and land. The realm of the bittern and marsh harrier stretches to here.

Herring, garfish and many others use the shallow lagoon waters as nurseries.

© K. Bärwald

From dunes to forest

Pines germinate in the dune sands and prepare the way for rustic beech forests. Extensive alder forests grow in the swamps between the dunes. Particular flora especially feel at home in the dunes and bogs.