PL
Ochrona przyrody wymaga szeroko pojętej współpracy międzynarodowej. Duże znaczenie ma ochrona obszarów granicznych między sąsiadującymi państwami, ponieważ są to często tereny o szczególnych wartościach przyrodniczych. Przykładem różnych form współpracy na tym polu jest granica czesko-słowacka; wzdłuż niej można wyróżnić 6 rejonów, z których każdy ma inne cechy przyrodnicze, różne kategorie obszarów chronionych, różne tradycje współpracy. Obecnie w niektórych przypadkach działają mechanizmy na poziomie lokalnym, w innych - głównie w rezerwatach biosfery - zaangażowane są instytucje międzynarodowe.
EN
In view of present endangerement and transformations of the natural environment in the world, the natural protection requires a large cooperation, also between the adjoining countries. This requirement is of particular importance in regions of state frontiers which frequently run through the main ridges of mountain chains, along the watersheds or rivers and divide either the natural ecosystems or those weakly transformed by man. These frontier areas are more and more often protected either by single states or in form of bilateral or trilaterial cooperation of adjoining countries, which leads to creation of protected transfrontier areas.The problem of protected transfrontier areas belongs to the activities of such international organizations, like UICN (International Union of Natural Protection) or UNESCO. The list of protected natural areas which „meet together" along the state border-lines, comprised in 1992 - on the world scale - 90 objects. To the problem of protected transfrontier areas were devoted the debates of one from among fifty workshops, namely the IVth World Congress of National Parks and Protected Areas held in 1992 in Caracas. Along the Polish-Slovakian border-lines running through the main ridges of West- Carpathian Mountains and through a small section of East-Carpathians, arose a chain of protected natural areas of frontier or transfrontier character. Within this system, six following regions (Fig. 1) may be distinguished: - West-Beskid region (having a differentiated structure and now only a weak transfrontier cooperation), - Tatra-Mountains being since 1992/93 the International Biosphere Reserve, previously characterized, for many years, by cooperation between the adjacent national parks, - Pieniny - the region of two adjacent national parks having the most ancient - in Europe and in the world - traditions of bilateral cooperation, - Poprad-River region - having, for the time being, a frontier landscape park on the Polish side, - Low-Beskid region - two adjacent areas: Polish region created in 1992 is now in the course of organization, - Bieszczady - East-Carpathian region - International Biosphere Reserve „East Carpathians", the first in the world design of the trilateral reserve, already realized in Polish and Slovakian parts; having an interesting programme of cooperation. Creation of protected areas along the frontier and transfrontier regions does not mean - even when they have a status of international biosphere reserves - that the process of protection has reached its final phase. It should be rather designed as a beginning consisting in formal establishment of the chain of natural protected areas. The analysis of environmental protection performed along the Polish-Slovakian frontier shows both strong and weak links of this protection and should be useful for determination of the strategy for Polish-Slovakian cooperation.