Poiana Brazilor Marsh is a protected area of national interest — a forestry, floristic, faunistic and hydrological nature reserve (IUCN category IV) on the administrative territory of Giulești commune, in the Igniș Mountains, north-east of the Tăul lui Dumitru reserve, at an altitude of up to 1,000 m, near county road DJ183.
It was declared a protected area by Law no. 5 of 6 March 2000 and covers 3 hectares.
The area is an oligotrophic wetland sheltering a great variety of peat-bog plants (reedmace, bogbean, sedge), as well as areas covered with woody vegetation (spruce, juniper) and pastures. The fauna includes mammals, birds and reptiles. The marsh overlaps the Natura 2000 Igniș site.
What grows and lives here
The marsh is oligotrophic — its water is acidic and poor in nutrients — and the vegetation has adapted to this scarcity: sedges, cottongrass and mat-grass on the peat carpet, surrounded by spruce and juniper, with patches of meadow in between. It has mixed protection precisely because several things come together here: the forest, the bog plants, the wildlife and the water regime.
The area is home to mammals, birds and reptiles typical of the high-altitude forests of the Igniș Mountains. Being permanently wet ground in a clearing surrounded by fir forest, it is also a good place for quiet wildlife watching — early in the morning, from the edge of the clearing.
The reserve was designated in 1977 and confirmed by Law no. 5 of 2000; it overlaps the Natura 2000 Igniș site.
Getting there
The marsh lies within Giulești commune, near county road DJ183, north-east of the Tăul lui Dumitru reserve. The two can be visited on the same outing.
Visiting responsibly
This is a protected area: stay on the path, don't pick plants or take anything out of the reserve, don't light fires and take your rubbish with you. Peat bogs are especially fragile — a trampled layer of moss takes decades to recover, and it is the living carpet on the surface that holds the whole ecosystem together. Don't leave the trail to get closer to the pools of open water.
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Photo gallery
