The purpose of the FoMoBi project with a budget of PLN 700 thousand is to show the users of the Polish coast the values, on which we should build a modern, ecological society and ecological tourism. It will provide accurate knowledge of the state and transformation of the Polish coastal dunes, which cover more than 80 percent of the coast.

HOW THE POLISH DUNES CHANGE

Investments in surface facilities, hotels and tourist attractions often are an obvious threat to nature and contrary to the campaigns for its protection, and law. The purpose of Dr. Łabuza’s project is to identify the most valuable places, opportunities for their protection and use and the factors that threaten their development.

The research project "The location and morphodynamics of the frontal dune environment and vegetation fluctuations - biodiverse habitat on the Polish coast" (FoMoBi) started in October 2011 and will continue until March 2014. In the second edition of the Lider programme it was the only natural sciences project, mobile and open to local communities. Dr. Łabuz emphasised that this kind of research requires work on the entire Polish coast for the benefit of all Poles.

"The natural environment of the Polish coast frontal dunes disappears as a result of climate change and human activities. It is a high biodiversity habitat, one of the conservation priorities of Nature 2000" - the young scholar justified his research.

Dr. Łabuz is working on physical and geographical characteristics of the Polish coast frontal dunes: temporal and spatial variation of the surface, biodiversity and environmental stressors. He will propose ways of their use and management methods.

"These data are necessary to determine the state and variability of the natural environment and to prepare management plans included in the strategies for provinces and the environment. The resulting information platform will raise ecological awareness and economic value of the Polish coastal dune nature" - he argued.

PARADOXES OF A DEVELOPING COUNTRY

The researcher reminded that the Polish coast is under the influence of development, related to tourism. In recent years, infrastructure aggressively takes more and more natural sections of the coast.

"Legal aspects of coastal management resulting from the European Union economy development projects are in conflict with the need to maintain biodiversity, the idea also approved by the EU in 2010, the forefront of which was the establishment of Nature 2000" - pointed out the scientist who has been studying Polish dunes for several years.

He explained that at present Poland, trying to perform under the agreements on economic development, including tourism, should assess the natural values of the Baltic coast in order to properly use and protect it. He stressed that tourism development is a boost for business, but we should not forget about the protection of biologically valuable areas, also for future generations. According to Dr. Łabuz, issue has not yet been addressed systematically for the whole coast, which was a significant mistake in terms of natural processes that are interconnected throughout the coast and ignore the boundaries of municipalities and states.

The scientist observed that tourist investments in the last 20 years have limited the places where natural processes occur and where there is a unique flora with many species of animals. He predicts that we will suffer the fate of the countries of Western Europe, which first brought the natural assets to decay, and now are trying to regain themwin them.

NATURAL VALUES ARE A PRIORITY

Scientific result of the project will be a description of changes in the environment of coastal dunes and their accumulation segments, those where the Polish coast now grows. According to the author, so far nobody has pursued research in this environment simultaneously in all places.

The results are addressed to local authorities (in order to raise awareness), to offices (in order to provide new quantitative and qualitative data) and to tourists who need environmental education and awareness of the functioning of nature.

Research in the project is carried out only in areas where we can still observe the natural processes of the coast development. In these regions, there is a wealth not only of flora, but also many animal species, from those inhabiting the dunes to those living on beaches.

The study covers about 70 km of coastline, or 15 percent of its length ( of 464 km of the open sea shores), and 17 percent of dune sections. In some cases, studies are carried out in coastal areas of Nature 2000.

Dr. Łabuz warnes that the remaining sections suffer from erosion and anthropogenic impact. He called the FoMoBi project a "light in the tunnel" which may help to realise the size of the problem.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland

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