Green Legnica

Legnica, which is known mainly for its copper ore processing industry, also has a beautiful natural environment and diverse landscape features. It has always been a green city with a rich flora and exotic trees. The city has many parks, which in total cover 100-ha. The vegetation in Legnica enjoys favorable climatic conditions, since Legnica is the warmest city in Poland with a medium temperature of 8.5° C and the longest vegetation period in Poland (225 days). In Legnica, you will find avenues lined by rare trees, such as London sycamores (50 trees with a girth of 400-500 cm), small-leaved limes, maples, Kentucky coffee-trees (one of the most magnificent examples in Poland), poplars, Japanese pagoda trees and maidenhair trees. The oldest trees, several of them listed as natural monuments, are exceptionally impressive thanks to systematic cultivation and maintenance.

The inhabitants of Legnica are especially proud of the park, the plans for which were prepared in 1810 and which was built throughout the 19th c. and at the beginning of the 20th c. The park would be even more attractive if its greenhouse from late 19th c. was fully opened to visitors. Some of tropical plants in the greenhouse originate from the time when the park was founded. Its most precious species include palms, laurels, fig-trees and banana plants. For several years, the local authorities have been looking for investors to refurbish the greenhouse.
 Over the last few years, work has been carried out on a northern bathing beach that was destroyed during the 1977 flood. The water reservoir, which serves a flood-prevention function, has been adapted to playing a recreational role, and a beautiful park with old trees surrounding the beach only adds to its attractiveness.
 The city is also establishing new green areas. In early 1990's, work on the construction of the Bielański Park in the Kopernik housing estate commenced. Each year, greening projects are implemented in Legnica with the active participation of the local youth and other residents. For several years, many of them have actively participated in a competition for the most beautiful garden and balcony, organized by the mayor of Legnica.

 In early 1980's an active pro-ecological social group was established in Legnica to fight the emission of pollutants into air from the Legnica copper works, which posed a threat to the Lasek Złotoryjski forest complex (46-ha). In the mid-1990ťs, as a result of restructuring, the copper works ceased to be the leading pollutant and the zone under protection was decreased from 1,100-ha to 631-ha (which is currently forested). Last year, the copper works was erased from the list of 80 companies that are most harmful to the environment in Poland. Other local entities are also modernizing their technologies and heating systems.
 The local authorities in Legnica, who strongly promote ecology, are also carrying out numerous investments. In the early 1990's, the expansion and modernization of a municipal landfill (whose capacity is designed to suffice for the next 30 years) commenced. Apart from its five state-of-the-art sections, a new section for selective collection of municipal waste is being built.
 Although the local heating network covers 60% of the city's houses and industrial plants, the fight for air protection has commenced in Legnica. The highest annual concentration of sulfur dioxide and suspended dust has been noted in areas where houses are heated with coal or from local boiler houses. Therefore, the liquidation of

local boiler houses and expansion of the heating network has become a top priority in Legnica. Over the last decade, over 80 boiler houses have been closed and a heating network over 10-kms in length has been built. Moreover, the City Board has initiated a program for eliminating low emission, whose main priority is the liquidation of coal heating in the city center. Local inhabitants are actively participating in the programs and introducing ecological gas heating in their homes.

Maria Kubasik