Tatra People's Park

(in Polish, Tatrzański Park Narodowy; in Czech, Tatranský národní park), a protected area in the Carpathian Mountains, in the Tatra Mountains; encompasses 22,000 hectares (ha) in Poland, placed under protection in 1954, and 50,000 ha in Czechoslovakia, placed under protection in 1948.

Individual forest tracts and some animals in the area that is now the Tatra People’s Park have been under protection since the late 18th century. Polish-Czechoslovak cooperation on the protection of the area began in 1924. The park is intended mainly to protect the coniferous forests and the fauna of the Tatras, including the bear, chamois, roe deer, and marmot. Preserves occupying 10,000 ha in Czechoslovakia and 2,300 ha in Poland have been set aside in the park. Natural conditions are studied by scientific research stations in Zakopane and Tatranská Lomnica. Collections of the transactions of the Tatra People’s Park are published in Czechoslovakia. The peripheral zones of the park and sections between preserves are used as summer and winter resorts; among them are Zakopane in Poland and Starý Smokovec, Tatranská Lomnica, and Štrbské Pleso in Czechoslovakia.