Cross-border Polesie

Polesie is a vast geographical land stretching over parts of Poland, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. Its natural and cultural wealth is unique on the European scale. The landscape of Polesie is dominated by marshes, bogs and rivers, with charming picturesque villages kept intact by Western influences.

For the needs of the project ‘Development of tourist information system for cross-border eco-tourism in the Euroregion Bug’, the area of Polesie has been confined to its cross-border part:

  • Polish Polesie (Lubelskie Voivodship): parts of the Chełm Poviat, Łęczna Poviat, Parczew Poviat, Włodawa Poviat, selected Communes within the Biała Podlaska and Lubartów Poviats;
  • Ukrainian Polesie: parts of the Volyn Oblast (districts of: Kivertsi, Kovel, Kamin-Kashyrskyi, Lyubeshiv, Luboml, Manevichi, Ratno, Rozhysche, Stara Vyzhivka, Shatsk and Turiisk)
  • Belarusian Polesie: parts of the Brest Oblast (districts of: Brest, Drahichyn, Kobryn, Malaryta and Zhabinka).

All the Polish, Belarusian and Ukrainian parts of Polesie are very attractive for tourists due to their unique natural ecosystems, beautiful scenery and cultural heritage.

The most interesting places within the Polish part of Polesie are the West Polesie Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, which belongs to UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme, and the Polesie National Park. There are also many nature reserves and four landscape parks – Sobibor, Chełm, Nadwieprzański and Łęczna Lakeland Landscape Park.

In the Volyn Oblast in Ukraine there is the Shatsk National Park, Prypiat-Stokhid National Park, Tsumanska Pushcha National Park, Cheremski Zapovednik Nature Reserve and numerous smaller nature reserves.

The Pribuzhskoye Polesie Biosphere Reserve situated in the Brest Oblast in Belarus, together with the Shatsk National Park in Ukraine and the Polesie National Park in Poland constitute the core of the West Polesie Transboundary Biosphere Reserve.

Meandering rivers and their vast wetlands are typical features of the Polesie landscape, which offers great opportunities for active tourism, such as canoeing or other water sports. Presently this area requires development and improvement of tourist infrastructure and better promotion.

Rivers in the Polish part of Polesie: the Krzna, the Uherka, the Wieprz, the Włodawka, and the Zielawa; in the Ukrainian part: the Prypiat, the Stokhid, and the Turiia; in the Belarusian part: the Prypiat, the Shchara and the Stvyha.

Tourism development analysis of Polesie indicates the strong and weak points of the area. The strongest asset is the natural environment, and the weakest points: poorly-developed tourist and technical infrastructure, irrational development of West Polesie and insufficient tourist marketing. Another important issue is the fact that natural assets of the area are largely under environmental protection, which restricts their use for tourism.

The objective of the project is to improve the tourist attractiveness of Polesie in the Lubelskie Voivodship, the Brest Oblast and the Volyn Oblast by means of closer co-operation between Poland, Ukrainie and Belarus in the field of tourism. To achieve that the Polish-Belarusian-Ukrainian Cross-border Tourist Cluster has been established.