Let's Dive in!
In 2019 we have joined 1% for the Planet initiative and since then 1% of sales from all our products goes back to support organizations working for environmental protection. This way, by choosing your favorite outdoor equipment, you can make your next trip 1% better! Whether you look for a new sleeping bag, jacket or a hammock set up your choice can make a difference:
THANKS TO OUR CUSTOMERS, LAST YEAR WE’VE COLLECTED MORE THAN 43,000 EUR TO SAVE SWAMPS!
WHY SWAMPS?
They are extremely efficient at storing carbon dioxide, preventing flooding, and contributing to local climate mitigation. What is more, wetlands are a mainstay of wildness and a place of life for many completely unique and endangered species! Additionally, they are one of the most important reservoirs of fresh water on our planet. Now, when there’s so much talk about droughts and the lack of sufficient drinking water, the role of wetlands becomes even more important!
This is why, since last year we are supporting Wetland Conservation Center! Thanks to our financial support they are going to protect valuable natural areas in the Rospuda Valley… and that’s just the beginning! They start with plots of 3.49 ha in one of the most unique swamps in Poland. And soon they will buy drained areas that were once wetlands so that they can be rewetted and to give them their amazing abilities back!
In order to get to know these extraordinary ecosystems better, together with the Wetland Conservation Center, we recently visited two valley wetlands, that are typical for northern Poland. We started in the valley of the Brzezianki stream, getting to know a low swamp with a slightly disturbed hydrology - once there were ditches to drain water from the edge of the swamp to the river flowing in the middle. Therefore, in the fragment we visited, there were a lot of sphagnum mosses, trees (pines) and larger sedges. On the other hand, the marsh has retained many natural values - orchids or interesting mosses.
Then we visited a similar, but less transformed swamp on Lake Dlugie. One of the most numerous populations of Lipiennik Loesel in Poland (estimated at 13,000 individuals) is located there. We went up the small river (Święta Struga) that crossed this wetland and came across its previously drained fragment. It is estimated that in Poland about 90% of wetland areas have been drained and converted for agricultural purposes (mainly for meadows). In many Western European countries, that number is even more frightening, e.g. in Germany, only 2% of swamps are still wet! As a result of draining, wetlands emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere instead of absorbing it. What is more, they cease to be a place of life for many completely unique and endangered species! There are really countless reasons to protect them, but there is really no time to wait anymore…
