Poland
starts logging primeval Bialowieza forest despite protests
More
than 180,000 cubic metres of forest to be cut down in area that is
home to Europe’s largest mammal and tallest trees
Agence France-Presse
Wednesday 25 May
2016 02.32 BST
Poland has started
logging in the ancient Bialowieza forest, which includes some of
Europe’s last primeval woodland, despite fierce protests from
environmental groups battling to save the World Heritage site.
“The operation
began today,” national forest director Konrad Tomaszewski said of
the plan to harvest wood from non-protected areas of one of the last
vestiges of the immense forest that once stretched across Europe.
He said the goal was
“to stop forest degradation” – by combating what the
environment ministry says is a spruce bark beetle infestation – and
protect tourists and rangers from harm by cutting down trees that
risk falling on trails.
But environmental
campaigners warn that the tree chopping will destroy an ecosystem
unspoiled for more than 10,000 years that is home to the continent’s
largest mammal, the European bison, and to its tallest trees.
“We’re calling
on the European Commission to intervene before the Polish government
allows for the irreversible destruction of the Bialowieza forest,”
Greenpeace Poland activist Katarzyna Jagiello said in a statement.
Campaigners have
taken issue with the government rationale for the project, saying the
beetle’s presence does not pose any threat to the forest’s
ecosystem.
“The minister does
not understand that this insect is a frequent and natural visitor,
that it has always existed and the forest has managed to survive,”
Jagiello said.
Greenpeace said its
patrols had come across the first signs of logging between the
eastern town of Hajnowka on the border with Belarus and the village
of Bialowieza to the north.
The Bialowieza
project is the latest action by Poland’s new rightwing government
to draw criticism at home and abroad, including an overhaul of the
country’s top court and legislation strengthening state control
over public broadcasters.
The environment
ministry has said loggers will chop down more than 180,000 cubic
metres (6.4m cubic feet) of wood from non-protected areas of the
forest over a decade, dwarfing previous plans to harvest 40,000 cubic
metres over the same period.
Last month, seven
groups including Greenpeace Poland and the Polish branch of WWF
lodged a complaint with the European Commission over the logging.
EU environment
spokeswoman Iris Petsa said at the time that the Commission “is
concerned” about the project.
Bialowieza, which
was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979, covers about
150,000ha (370,650 acres) in Poland and Belarus.
It is home to 20,000
animal species, including 250 types of bird and hundreds of European
bison, plus firs towering 50m (160ft) high and oaks and ashes of 40m.
In Belarus the
entire forest is protected as a nature park, but only part of the
Polish section is protected.
Warsaw has vowed
that the logging would not take place in the protected areas.
Tomaszewski said
forest management would refrain from logging in two “reference
areas” to allow “nature to fend for itself”.
Environment minister
Jan Szyszko said the operation was aimed at protecting sites of great
heritage value that are part of Natura 2000, an EU network set up to
preserve Europe’s most valuable and threatened species and
habitats.
But the non-profit
environmental law organisation ClientEarth said it was “surprised
that Szyszko had invoked EU law to justify the logging”.
“The decision to
multiply the cutting is not compliant with EU law because it was not
preceded by an environmental impact study of the species and the
protected sites,” said ClientEarth lawyer Agata Szafraniuk.
“A case before the
EU court is unfortunately becoming more and more likely.”
A delegation from
Unesco is due to visit Bialowieza between 4 and 8 June to assess the
situation.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário