nucleus of the Biosphere Reserve is protected by the Tuchola Forest National Park covering and of the 25 nature reserves lying within the buffer zone. The buffer zone includes Tuchola, Wda, Wdzydze and Zaborski Landscape Parks. There is also a transit zone which includes the town of Tuchola and surrounding districts. The core area of the Reserve covers , and the three zones together cover . Ethnocultural region The term Tuchola Forest or Bory Tucholskie understood as an ethnocultural region and a historical land of Poland carries a much narrower geographical sense than the area covered by the actual forest. In this meaning, the designation refers exclusively to the part of the forest which is inhabited by the Tuchola Borowians (or Borowians) Polish ethnographic group, comprising the area located roughly north-east of Chojnice (Rytel, Gutowiec, Czersk, Łąg), south of Czarna Woda (Osieczna, Osówek), north-west of Świecie (Świekatowo, Lniano, Drzycim), north-east of Sępólno Krajeńskie (Wałdowo, Przepałkowo), stretching south to the suburbs of Bydgoszcz (Koronowo, Pruszcz), encompassing the entire Tuchola County (Tuchola, Raciąż, Bysław, Cekcyn, Śliwice, Legbąd, Lińsk, Gostycyn, Kęsowo, Żalno, Lubiewo). Borowians speak a specific dialect of Polish (gwara borowiacka or gwara tucholska) belonging to the Greater Polish dialects, albeit under strong influence of Kashubian. Prior to World War II, the western part of the region partially overlapped with the Kosznajderia vel Kosznajdry or Koschneiderei former ethnocultural region inhabited by a relatively secluded solid community of Catholic German settlers brought from the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück by the Teutonic Order State during its brief control of the area at the end the 14th century, who maintained their original culture (including clothing) and spoke Koschneiderisch, a distinct South-East-Pomeranian or Süd-Hinterpommersch dialect of Low German which preserved many features of Westphalian dialect of Middle Low German (spoken by the original pioneer founding settlers), itself heavily influenced by the Middle Dutch. Other areas of the forest (including the National Park) are inhabited by neighbouring ethnographic groups: Kashubians (including Krubans, Borans and Zaborans), Kociewians (including Lasans and Piaskarze) - approximately 30% of the area, as well as Krajnians. Community-led local development In order to co-ordinate in the region various development activities related to training courses, promotion of tourism to the region, promotion and marketing of regional products, promotion of regional cuisine, organizations of regional culture activities, festivities or contests, a Local Action Group ″Tuchola Forest″ (technically a union of associations) was established by several associations of