Błędów Desert

Desert in Poland

Błędów Desert (Pustynia Błędowska), is an area of sands and gravels located between Błędów (part of Dąbrowa Górnicza in Metropolis GZM) and the villages of Chechło and Klucze in Poland. The area lies mainly on the Silesian Highlands in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. The Błędów Desert is Central Europe's largest accumulation of loose sand in an area away from any sea, deposited thousands of years ago by a melting glacier. It occupies an area of The sands have an average depth of 40 m, up to 70 m at the maximum. The Biała Przemsza River divides the desert in two from east to west. The northernmost part of the desert is closed to visitors because it is a military zone, where exercises take place. The Błędów Desert was not created naturally, but rather as a result of human activity, which lowered the water table to such a degree that the ground could no longer support plant life. Beginning in the Middle Ages, the area's forests were aggressively cleared to meet the needs of local mining and metal working endeavors. This clearcutting exposed approx. 150 km2 of sand, which once reached as far south as Szczakowa. According to legend, the desert was created by the Devil, who wanted to bury the nearby Olkusz silver mine in sand. The desert was used as a military proving ground from the beginning of the 20th century. During the Second World War, the German Afrika Korps used the area to train soldiers and to test equipment before deployment in Africa. Military exercises continue in the area, including an airborne assault operation involving US, Canadian, and Polish forces in 2014. In the centuries since its appearance, much of the Błędów Desert has been grown over. In 2013 and 2014 EU lead intentional deforestation and destruction of the native plant life had restored some of the desert sands, continuing the damage to the ecosystem from the Middle Ages. The desert is entirely man made and not a natural habitat.

During the Ice Age, sands and gravels were deposited in the area of today's desert. Subsequently, the area was overgrown with dense forest, which was exploited for the silver and lead mines operating in the Olkusz area since the 13th century. Logging and groundwater extraction led to the creation of desert areas. At the beginning of the 20th century, the phenomenon of fatamorgana and sandstorms were observed here. Old photographs featuring the Błędów Desert show tall sand dunes that wandered through the desert, which allowed it to serve, among other things, as an open air location for the filming of "Pharaoh" by Boleslaw Prus. In the 1950s, much of the desert was planted with pine and holly willow to consolidate the local volatile sands and protect the surrounding fields from being buried by sand. This led to the disappearance of most of the desert area. The first geomorphological investigations, carried out at the end of the 1950s, proved that the Błędów Desert – as today – was composed of two significantly varying parts: northern and southern ones, divided by an “oasis like” area – a humid, green valley of the Biała Przemsza River. The northern part of „the desert” was characterised, as now, by a dominating, typical deflation relief. While a system of dunes, transverse in the western part and longitudinal in the eastern part, at various stages of development existed within the limit of the southern part of the area. Among the dunes more or less vast deflation surfaces and basins occurred. The area of the Błędów Desert is surrounded in the north and south by forest complexes. The neighborhood of forests is also characteristic of a part of the edge of the Biała Przemsza valley vicinity. Hence, characteristic dune border ridges have been formed on the verge between the flat sandy surface and the forest. Since the 1960s, the area of the Błędów Desert has started to change rapidly, due to secondary human interference, into a “desert” environment. However, that interference was completely different than it had been before. The vegetation was not destroyed but intensively planted to stabilize quick sands. There were mainly shrubs of willows Salix acutifolia and S. arenaria, as well as pines (Pinus sylvestris) and alders (Alnus). Since the 1970s, hydrological and hydrogeological conditions in the discussed area have also changed significantly. Until the mentioned year, the ground water level had been 3–8 m below the level of the ground. Later, it lowered abruptly by 20–30 m due to currentdeep exploitation of zinc and lead ores occurring in the neighborhood. However, the change of those conditions has not caused any changes in vegetation as the aforementioned species have adapted to the new water regime and continued to grow under arid conditions. In 40 years (in 1995), due to the mentioned human interference and also due to natural succession and expansion of willow shrubs and grass vegetation, the areas covered by plants have significantly increased. Young pine forests and psammophilous vegetation (mainly Corynephorus canescens, Koeleria glauca, Festuca ovina, rarely Elymus arenarius) with Salix acutifolia shrubs and S. arenaria covered almost the whole investigated area and the previous young forests had changed into mature ones Therefore, the unique “desert“ character of Błędów Desert has almost completely disappeared. In the years 2004–2005), the areas without vegetation – old active deflation basins (in SE part of the “desert”) were minute, they do not play their morphogenetic role and they are covered by clumps of Salix arenaria, forming characteristic phytogenic hills. Today, efforts are underway to prevent overgrowth and preserve the desert's unique landscape. Livestock grazing is also planned to prevent its overgrowth.

The area contains less than 100 species of various higher plants (vascular) adapted to sand soils and dynamic dune conditions. Examples of sandhill species include: grey hair grass, Morison's spurry, Teesdalia nudicaulis, common whitlowgrass, marram grass, sand sedge and common myrtle. Rarer or protected species include: stemless thistle, prince's pine, broad leaved helleborine, and Cochlearia polonica, which is a local endemic.

The desert fauna is mainly insects and birds (150 species). Among birds, the most noteworthy are the boric lark or the field pipit. The culms desert steppe birds once nested on the sands. The White Przemsza River flows through the middle of the desert, where muskrats and beavers can be found and stream lampreys can be found in the river. In the sands there are predatory northern dune tiger beetles beetles of green or purple color with white spots on their lids. Anteaters feed on loose sands; their larvae form funnel shaped holes into which ants fall.

In the area of the desert, many cyclic events take place such as runs, family picnics and concerts.

A wooden installation with bridges and platforms shaped like a wind rose symbol located near the road connecting neighboring cities Klucze and Hutki. A tourist path leading to Klucze begins next to the installation. A common point of interest for events taking place on the desert.

A hill in Klucze, acting as a viewpoint for the desert. Has several benches and tables for tourist activities and an observation tower acting as a fire lookout.

A viewpoint with a platform for desert observation situated near the village of Chechło. Next to the observation platform, a World War II bunker is located. The closed area of the desert is visible this location.