Pałace na wodzie. Tropem polskich bobrów

These largest European rodents lived in primordial forests, building their complex abodes with the use of tools that Homo sapiens had no concept of at the time. In this way, they banked up water or changed its course, influencing forest biodiversity and shaping the landscape like architects. The names of many lakes, villages, towns and routes, chosen all the way back in the Middle Ages, still attest to the ancient relationships between humans and beavers. The pelts of these animals were incredibly valuable then as material for making coats and hats which protected against the cold and damp. Their meat, tails, teeth and fat were also used, and the beaver secretion called castoreum had its uses in medicine, and later in perfumery. This is why after World War II their population was much reduced. Only a post[1]war, state-owned beaver farm in Popielno (in Masuria) made it possible for these beautiful, unique rodents to be returned to nature almost at the last moment, before they went completely extinct. In the seventies and eighties Polish beavers were transported hundreds of kilometres from Masuria to countries like the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, where they could live in nature reserves or in the wild. Humans, who once almost exterminated the species, are today the only ones responsible for protecting it.

In his lyrical nature reportage Adam Robiński takes the reader to central and eastern Poland, to the dense, still barely accessible forests of Masuria, Warmia, the  Greater Poland region and the  Bieszczady Mountains, where today many beaver families live in the wild, well-hidden from humans. He also demonstrates the extent to which Polish and European culture is indebted to nature – the beaver was and is an inspiration to many artists, writers and film-makers. The ecosystem of which humans are also a part is hugely valuable to us, but requires care too.