According to the Act on Protection of Nature of April 16, 2004, (article 5 par. 12), “a habitat is a place offering conditions conducive to the existence of endangered plants, animals, or mushrooms, or rare species.” It is interesting to note that until the 1980s the nearby Puławy Nitric Acid Plant was one of the largest environmental polluters in Poland. The fertilizer dust, fly ash, ammonia, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emanating from the chimneys caused the death of the neighbouring forests. The destructive industrial activity had far more extensive consequences, as in addition to the air pollution; the soil, ground water and underground water were damaged as well. About 600 ha of the neighbouring pine forests died completely, while over 2,000 ha of forests were sick. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts undertaken on a larger scale, aiming at restricting the negative impact of the nitric acid plant on the environment, after 25 years the damages caused by the chemical plant impact on the environment were almost entirely reversed and rectified. Nowadays, thanks to the change of production technology and the implementation of the latest industrial solutions, the Puławy Nitric Acid Plant stopped being a burden for the natural environment. Thanks to the reduction of the pollution emission by 80%, the forests were reborn and now return to their former stands. What is more, the forest grows near the very plant, as well. Thanks to people’s rational policy, nature recultivates itself: the Piskory Nature Reserve was established nearby and at present, you can even encounter the White-tailed Eagles in the vicinity of the Vistula River at the mouth of the Kurówka River. A water discharge canal and the so-called marshes in the vicinity of Wólka Gołębska are an excellent site for bird watching. The canal water – thanks to the slightly higher temperature – has for many years now been the habitat for birds and fish in the wintertime. The White-tailed Eagles that feed on large fish weighing up to a few kilos can prey on carps and also on waterfowl (the Mallards, Eurasion Coots, Moorhens and others). Several species of birds of prey live on the very plant premises, mostly the Common Kestrels. The plant chimney features a nest of the Peregrine Falcon.