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Poland has launched the first of its new community forests near its cities to protect green spaces for urban dwellers and visitors.

The woodland around Poland’s third-largest city, Wrocław, have become the first to be protected by the government’s new scheme.

The forested areas around Wrocław cover approximately 13,000 hectares (32,000 acres), with 8,000 (19,000 acres) of these hectares being given a social forest status.

The remaining areas will be classed as “natural forests” where nature will be left undisturbed or have minimal intervention.

“This is a historic moment and the beginning of a new approach to forest protection – with residents in mind first and foremost,” climate and environment minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska said at an inauguration ceremony outside Wrocław on Sunday, Notes from Poland reports.

“Community forests are places where residents can relax, play sports and simply spend time close to nature,” she added. “At the same time, they are crucial to our security and quality of life: they retain water, regulate the climate, purify the air and protect the soil.”

The initiative was first announced in 2024 to make social areas out of forests near cities such as Gdansk, Kraków, Warsaw, Łódź, Wrocław and more.

The Ministry of Climate and Environment in Poland hopes the forest will provide places of recreation, education and activities that promote health and mental wellbeing.

The aim is to promote the forests as places to walk, run, cycle and picnic.

Ms Hennig-Kloska said educational trails, as well as hiking and cycling paths, will be established in Wrocław, but plans for the other community forests in the country are yet to be revealed.

While logging will be able to continue in community forests, work to produce these raw materials will be restricted in a way thas to not interfere with its social functions.

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