The reserve is home to a rich variety of fauna and flora, including over half of the bird species found in Poland.

[11] The name of the reserve comes from the Old Polish language, derived from the words łęg and łęgi, which referred to wetland areas covered by forests or meadows on marshes.

[6] The oldest historical references to this area date back to the 13th century, indicating that local inhabitants practiced fish farming there.

[6][9] The Cistercians utilized the oxbow lakes of the Oder river to create an artificial system of reservoirs by constructing sluices and embankments.

[6] In 1683, King John III Sobieski passed along the road between the ponds on his way to the Battle of Vienna and possibly planted several oak trees there.

The new owners altered the ponds and forests by introducing monoculture spruce plantations and established pheasant breeding for hunting purposes.

In 1906 and 1910, German Emperor Wilhelm II, accompanied by Duke Victor III of Racibórz, participated in hunts in the area.

[6] On 23 January 1957, by order of the Minister of Forestry and the Wood Industry, the area was designated as the Łężczak nature reserve.

With EU funding amounting to 5 million PLN, the area underwent modernization, including embankment repairs and the construction of artificial islands on the ponds.

[15] Since 16 October 2015, following an ordinance by the Regional Director of Environmental Protection in Katowice, the reserve has been officially named Łężczok.

[6] Also notable are the embankments planted with various tree species, forming linden, oak, hornbeam, and field alleys.

The gaps in the alleys are filled with shrubs, and the entire arrangement creates an ecological niche for many species of plants, fungi, and animals.

Its location near the Moravian Gate, geographical and climatic factors, and past economic activities have made these tree-lined embankments one of the unique features of the reserve.

This community includes trees such as oaks, hornbeams, small-leaved lindens, larches, eastern white pines, and birches.

[8][12] The alder-ash riparian forest is another community in the reserve, dominated by common alders, occasionally accompanied by ashes, pedunculate oaks, and spruces.

Near the edges of the ponds, where the ground is slightly waterlogged, as well as in marshy areas, species such as common skullcap, purple loosestrife, mugwort, black-bindweed, yellow flag, greater spearwort, and Carex grow.

[6] The ponds are overgrown with plants that have submerged rhizomes and roots, including common reed, bulrush, sweet flag, simplestem bur-reed, American waterweed, and arrowhead.

[6] The meadows in Łężczok host species such as broad-leaved marsh orchid, autumn crocus, cock's-foot, hornworts, soft-grass, clover, bird’s-foot trefoil, Vicia, chrysanthemum, lady’s mantle, bistort, and true forget-me-not.

Protected fungi in the reserve include parasitic bolete, giant polypore, hen-of-the-woods, and common stinkhorn.

[16] Rare species like the ferruginous duck, river warbler, collared flycatcher, purple heron, squacco heron, Eurasian spoonbill, barnacle goose, red-breasted goose, pied avocet, whiskered tern, and black-winged kite (unique in Poland) have also been observed.

Noteworthy species include the hedgehog, common shrew, bats, muskrat, and predators such as the fox, beech marten, European polecat, weasel, and Eurasian badger.

[6] Protected animals in the reserve include the Roman snail, caterpillar hunters, European tree frog, true toad, common spadefoot, European fire-bellied toad, newts, sand lizard, black-headed gull, grebes, waterfowl, great cormorant, storks, Eurasian bittern, little bittern, lesser spotted eagle, common buzzard, owl, Eurasian golden oriole, Eurasian treecreeper, Old World flycatcher, common blackbird, shrew, Talpids, Erinaceidae, bats, beech marten, and weasel.

The first trail focuses on the aquatic ecosystem of the Brzeziniok and Grabowiec ponds, where one can observe white waterlilies and yellow water-lilies.

[21] The final educational trail examines the aquatic ecosystem of the Babiczok Południowy pond, featuring floating fern and islands hosting breeding colonies of black-headed gulls, common terns, and black-necked grebes.

[14] He mentioned this in his memoirs:[13]Then there was a grand duck and snipe hunt at the Brzezina pond, which ended with wine drinking on the dam.

They threw a wine barrel into the air, and everyone shot at it while it was flying.In 1906 and 1910, the German Emperor Wilhelm II participated in hunting trips in this area.

To please the Emperor, Duke Victor III of Ratibor bought hundreds of game birds, which he released in the forest.

When their singing and laughter pleased the creature, the water levels in the ponds and rivers remained low, allowing the farmers to safely begin their work.

The prank involved showing them a will-o'-the-wisp in the dark forest, leading them in the wrong direction, or sometimes transforming into a log under their feet, causing them to fall.