Mójka

Mójka is a forest nature reserve near Ujazdy in Błażowa commune, in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. Established on 25 July 1997, it covers 287.80 hectares within the Hyżnieńsko-Gwoźnicki Landscape Protected Area and protects fir-beech forest and the European beaver living in its wetland habitats^[1].

The European beaver is a flagship species. Other animals recorded include the three-toed woodpecker, fire salamander and black stork^[1]. The beaver and deer give the reserve's two trails their names.

The forest includes wet fertile beech forest with wild garlic, acidic mountain beech forest and riverside mountain alder forest. About 340 vascular plant species grow here, 24 of them protected, 18 under strict protection, including lesser butterfly orchid, broad-leaved and spotted orchids, and clubmosses. A beech in compartment 86b, about 310 cm in circumference, is a protected natural monument^[1].

The reserve's terrain includes ravines and streams, and the Deer trail ends at the Błędny Kamień boulder, a monument at the south-east edge of the reserve^[1].

The Carpathian foothills of south-eastern Poland have a temperate climate with cold winters and warm summers. The wet beech and alder woods here depend on a steady supply of moisture from streams and rain.

The reserve and its educational trails were developed jointly by Błażowa commune and the Strzyżów and neighbouring forest districts. Near the entrance, about 200 m from the tourist field outside the reserve, a beech called "Miłosz" is another monument^[1].

Mójka was established by a ministerial order of 25 July 1997 to protect its fir-beech forest and its beaver population^[1]. It is managed by the Strzyżów Forest District.

Two educational trails start and end at the tourist field beside the Ujazdy–Kąkolówka road. The red Beaver Trail is easier, takes about 1.5 hours, has 14 information stops and stays inside the reserve. The yellow Deer Trail is harder, running through ravines and streams to the Błędny Kamień boulder before looping back^[1].

The reserve is reached from the north along the Błażowa–Ujazdy road or from the east via the Przemyśl–Domaradz road, turning toward Błażowa in Ujazdy. Visitors park at the area by the tourist field, and the entrance gate is across the road^[1].

Protection centres on the fir-beech forest and the beaver, plus its orchids and other protected plants, in a Landscape Protected Area. Visitor use is channelled onto two marked trails. The Strzyżów Forest District runs the reserve and answers enquiries at ul. Mostowa 9 in Strzyżów^[1].