The article is authored by Patryk Strzałkowski, a journalist for Gazeta.pl.
Radosław Ślusarczyk from the Workshop for All Beings is raising the alarm about the possible return of logging in Białowieża Forest. "Climate Minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska announced that the integrated management plan would be part of the Constitution for the Forest. If the Constitution means destroying this forest, it will be a disgrace before UNESCO and the public demanding protection of the Forest" - he says.
The concern revolves around the ongoing work on the Management Plan for the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Białowieża Forest". Every World Heritage site must have a detailed document outlining its protection plan for the next 20 years. The Forest still lacks such a plan.
Workshops, which are part of the efforts to develop this plan, took place on August 28 and 29. Ślusarczyk believes that the proposal presented by the Institute of Environmental Protection (IOŚ) not only fails to provide adequate nature protection but may even lead to the Forest losing its UNESCO World Heritage status.
Should logging take place in the Forest?
As a UNESCO natural heritage site, Białowieża Forest is expected to protect key habitats, biodiversity, and natural processes. The Forest is divided into four zones for management purposes. In zones 1 and 2 (the national park and nature reserves) and zone 3 (over-century-old tree stands and habitats of valuable species), forestry activities are prohibited, the organization reminds. However, zone 4 allows for forestry management.
The debate centers on which parts of the Forest - if any - should be designated as zone 4 in the plan.
If the IOŚ proposal with the zone corrections comes into effect, Donald Tusk's government will open the door to logging in Białowieża Forest. The document's provisions remove protections and allow for the logging of some over-century-old tree stands, including 300-year-old oaks
- says Radosław Ślusarczyk. He adds, "We expect the Ministry of Environment to completely eliminate zone 4 and protect natural processes across the entire Białowieża Forest".
He believes that allowing forestry in over-100-year-old tree stands endangers not only nature but also the Forest's UNESCO World Heritage status. "After the illegal logging in 2017 and the construction of the wall on the Polish-Belarusian border, we still face the threat of Białowieża being placed on the list of World Heritage in Danger, so we must repair the damage done to the Forest" - he says. The organization plans to intervene with the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
Białowieża National Park is the second oldest national park in Poland, established in 1932. However, it only protects one-sixth of the Forest's area in Poland. For decades, conservationists and environmentalists have been advocating for extending protection to the entire Białowieża Forest.
The Workshop for All Beings reminds us that in this year's Ipsos survey, commissioned by the organization, 89 percent of Polish women and men supported extending protection to the entire Białowieża Forest.
The "Constitution for Białowieża Forest" is still missing
Protecting Białowieża Forest was one of the first issues tackled by Climate Minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska after taking office - or at least, that's what she promised. In January, she visited Podlasie and announced a "Constitution for Białowieża Forest" - a strategic document on managing and protecting the Forest's nature.
At the end of March, she stated that the draft law - the Constitution for Białowieża Forest - would be presented "within the next few weeks". "The Constitution for Białowieża Forest is being written" - the minister assured.
In May, summarizing the first six months of work, the Ministry of Climate reported that work on the "Constitution" was still ongoing. Since then, neither the draft law nor its assumptions have been published - although the ministry claims that "actions to strengthen the protection of Białowieża Forest are one of the government's priorities".
