COUNTRYSIDE RULES IN POLAND...

As i live in the countryside of Poland i would like to know what the rules are , i guess they have some sort of countryside code , as well as laws about what you can and can,t do in the forests , and on farm land....Keeping dogs on leads etc

Is all farmland privately owned , or is it state land that is just farmed under some agreement , and can i drive over it providing of course there isn,t a crop growing at the time..?

i have been told that you cannot drive in the forest , unless its on a track that goes to a village , and i know all about not lighting fires during a hot summer , but at what times of the year is it illegal , or does it depend on how dry the forest is...?

I own a 4 x4 so i quite like to explore the forests and countryside , and as somebody who cares about the envoirenment i have no wish to damage it....

I am not one of these people that want to turn a slightly muddy track into a bottomless mud pit by charging in there with big tyres on , i do enjoy that kind of stuff , but there are places where i can legally do that during an off road competition , such as the Ladoga in Russia....

So , countryside dwellers , can you tell me what the laws and the rules are for forest activities...?

well I don't know the litteral rules
you should stick to common sense as for lighting fire in woods
if you light a fire on a peat soil care should be taken to put it out thouroughly afterwards
now it's quite dry in the woods for example - so lighting a fire could not be welcome by forest rangers - even if you are very cautious (and well prepared)

methinks there is actually some rule against lighting any fire in the woods but you can get away with it if it looks you have taken good care of the fire and the surrounding.

as for driving in the forests - you can take chances - but when you get caught by Straż Leśna they are gonna be very indiscrimanate - it does not matter if you drive slowly - it is because they are not that often to be seen - there's not so many of them - so when they actually catch anybody they have little mercy. (it is because as usual in Poland too many people take advantage of not so many Forest Guards and do take chances)

in the hot summer days there are often bans issued against entry into the forests (it is being regional)

many people who work in the forests these days have nothing or little to do with the forest rangers administration - they are hired small companies and workers

they do drive in the woods to get to and back from work as do the forest rangers

as for the land - hardly any land is beign actively cultivated by state or state-owned companies - now it's all sold or leased. but there is plenty of land that is not being in cultivation in many areas especially Western Poland, some of these are in such neglect that noone claims any right to it. Many military training grounds have fallen from use and are just ideal for some off-road activities. There was an abundance of such in Pomorze Zachodnie (for example between Szczecinek and Czaplinek - former Russian military training grounds).

you could have heard of Borne Sulinowo as well
i think you can find the locations of such grounds in the internet

I wouldn't advise driving on farm land even if there are no crops there (just bare soil) at least for fun, you won't be looked upon favourably if you cruise the fields around in an off-road.

btw I am just looking at a page that might be interesting to you - an archive of pretty detailed (low-scale) German maps of western Poland - (1:25000) - mapy.amzp.pl/faq.shtml

Thanks , this is really usefull information , yes i know all about lighting fires , especially on peat soil , where the fire can burn underground for weeks , then spring up and start a forest fire , i have no wish to start a forest fire , i live in it..!

Yes i know Borne Sullinovo , i have been there , a very interesting place there is a military zlot there every year , but i have not managed to get to it yet....

Szczecinek is quite close to where i live , so i will check that out..

As for the farm land , i shall keep off it , unless its the land farmed by my neighbours , and i have permission to go on there , i do let them go onto my land to take a short cut to theirs....

Thanks for all the great information....

In forests you usually have apropriate signs saying that you can't drive by them especially if it's some kind of national park. From what I know country people have a pretty developed sense of territory ("Sami Swoi" Polish movie is precisely about this sense), don't trespass, don't walk into my turf, that kind of things. I remember talking to a neighbour older lady in a mountain village, she was completely mad furious about her neighbour apple-tree dropping apples onto her gardens plot - it's not a joke, an actual situation.

It maybe that they are more keen on people from out of their local community, and only hostile in their neighbour relations, I'm not sure.

There are lots of wild trash dumps in forests, because it's cheaper for them to just drive into the forest and throw everything away under a tree I guess..

art. 29 forest law: Ruch pojazdem silnikowym, zaprzęgowym i motorowerem w lesie dozwolony jest jedynie drogami publicznymi, natomiast drogami leśnymi jest dozwolony tylko wtedy, gdy są one oznakowane drogowskazami dopuszczającymi ruch po tych drogach. Nie dotyczy to inwalidów poruszających się pojazdami przystosowanymi do ich potrzeb.

§ 36. 1. W lasach i na terenach śródleśnych, na obszarze łąk, torfowisk i wrzosowisk, jak również w odległości do 100 m od granicy lasów nie jest dopuszczalne wykonywanie czynności mogących wywołać niebezpieczeństwo pożaru:

1) rozniecanie ognia poza miejscami wyznaczonymi do tego celu przez właściciela lub zarządcę lasu;

Another words:)


yes. You cannot drive in the forest unless the sign will allow you to do this.


You cannot light the fire in forest all the year but ranger (leśnik) can provide information about particular place(s) in forest where it is allowed. Ring your leśnik or nadleśnictwo then.

Sometimes, mainly in the mountains you can stumble upon specially prepared places with a wooden hut with a place for bonfire in the middle..

fires are regularly made by those who work in the forest if it's not very warm outside, yes there is law but there is also reason if you act reasonably and what you do looks reasonable you can get away with lighting fire in forest (not when there is a place designed for making fire near)

it's not the same with driving in the forest if some catches you