Located on the northern border of Debrecen the Great Forest sit upon an area of 1086.1 hectares. The forest was donated by King Sigismund in 1405 to the towns of Debrecen. This was confirmed by Zsigmond János in 1583, György Rákóczi I. in 1665, and Lipót I in 1669.
On October 10, 1939, 30 hectares of the Great Forest, the northeastern corner, was registered as the first protected area in the Hungarian Nature Conservation Register. Finally, in the spring of 1992, the then Minister of the Environment extended protection to cover the entire Great Forest area. The national protected area is a part of the Natura 2000 network.
Nyírerdő Zrt. the forestry company has just recently renovated the Amber Trail (Borostyán tanösvény), which was established almost two decades ago in the Great Forest.
Eleven stations have been set up along the study trail next to the forestry centre of Nyíredő where children can learn about animals and plants typical of the area with the help of modern interactive boards.
The staff of the Forestry School use magnetic boards to show the forest levels – soil, shrub, foliage, wildlife, edible and poisonous mushroom species, and children can also learn about animal and bird sounds. Animal feeders for animals as well as new composting and selective waste collectors were also established along the trail to increase environmental awareness.
