VALUE OF BIALOWIEZA FOREST FOR THE CONSERVATION OF WHITE-BACKED WOODPECKER DENDROCOPOS-LEUCOTOS IN POLAND

Data on white-backed woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos distribution, population size and habitat utilisation in the Polish part of the Bialowieza Forest were collected in 1991 in order to assess the status of this species in the forrest and to evaluate the importance of this forest complex for its conservation. The woodpecker was found to be still widely distributed in the Bialowieza Forest, especially in primaeval stands protected in the Biakowieza National Park, but also in several places in the managed part of the forest. Within the park it occupies deciduous stands of all types, whereas in the managed part its distribution is strongly dependent on the presence of swampy deciduous stands. An estimated 115-130 pairs of white-backed woodpecker pairs breeding in the Polish part, supplemented by a further 20-50 pairs in the Belarusian part, make the Bialowieza population one of the largest in central and northern Europe. Hence the Bialowieza Forest should be rated highly in any efforts to conserve this species; its future may best be safeguarded by enlarging the area of the Bialowieza National Park, to encompass the whole forest complex.