Stoleckie Rocks Nature Reserve

The Stoleckie Rocks Nature Reserve lies in the village of Stolec, in the Ząbkowice Śląskie municipality, in the Niemcza-Strzelin Hills in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.

What the reserve protects

This is a faunistic nature reserve, established in 1965, covering an area of 2.03 ha. It was originally set up to protect the only site in Poland, and the northernmost site in the species' range, of four insect species typical of Mediterranean regions, including a mason bee (obrostka murówka) and three hymenopteran species. Today the area is also a habitat for twelve bat species, among them Geoffroy's bat, the greater mouse-eared bat, the western barbastelle and Bechstein's bat.

Rocks and terrain

The area occupies a disused, partly wooded limestone quarry on the southern slope of Góra Wapienna. Species growing here include oak, silver birch, rowan, alder buckthorn, common broom, dog rose and black elder, and on the rocks, naturalised white stonecrop. The reserve lies within the Henryków Forest District.

Practical information

• Location: the village of Stolec, Ząbkowice Śląskie municipality, about 4.4 km east of Ząbkowice Śląskie
• Access by tourist trails: the black trail from Szklary through the Dobrzenieckie Hills, and the yellow trail from Bardo through Ząbkowice Śląskie
• A protected natural site - the area can be visited on foot, with no tourist infrastructure described in the sources