Climate Change

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Battle for Europe's last ancient forest

Climate change, border disputes and the opposition of residents to expansion threaten eastern Poland's unique woodlands. Gabriela Baczynska reports

The Bialowieza Primeval Forest in eastern Poland supports more than 3,000 species of fungus and is also home to Europe's largest herd of bison

reuters

The Bialowieza Primeval Forest in eastern Poland supports more than 3,000 species of fungus and is also home to Europe's largest herd of bison

Acontest between competing needs of conservation and economic growth is threatening the future of large parts of Europe's last ancient forest. The 380,000-acre Bialowieza Primeval Forest, which straddles the border between Poland and Belarus, is one of the largest unpopulated woodlands remaining in Europe. It has been a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1979, is home to the continent's largest herd of bison, and resembles – in appearance and the self-contained food chain it supports – the fabled wildwood that covered much of Europe's plain, and, indeed, England before man intervened.

On the Polish side of the border, residents are opposing plans to extend the protected zone of this unique habitat, which is under threat from rising temperatures and declining rainfall. Encouraged by international conservation agencies, Warsaw wants to enlarge the area's national park, which occupies less than a fifth of the Polish part of the forest. It has offered up to 100 million zlotys (£20m) to be shared among the nine communities that would be affected by broader regulations protecting wildlife.

However, the region is among the poorest in Poland, and the 2,400 residents of Bialowieza district are sceptical, fearing it would discourage investment, cause job losses and reduce the community's tax revenues. "You may think we are fools not willing to take the money," Mayor Albert Litwinowicz told Reuters. "But it will only go for green investments, while we need roads."

Forests occupy more than 80 per cent of the Bialowieza administrative district and provide a significant part of its income, thanks to government cash. Revenues come mostly from woodland and other subsidies from the central government, plus grants and other state aid, Mr Litwinowicz said. Income would be halved if the whole area were incorporated into the national park, and most of about 50 forestry workers, responsible for maintaining the woodland as well as for cutting the timber, could be laid off, he added.

Bialowieza district would be fully incorporated into the national park under the current proposal. "Building anything in the middle of a national park with strict conservation rules would be almost impossible and we want to develop better transport and other infrastructure," Mr Litwinowicz said.

There are no major industrial centres nearby. Every year, 150,000 people visit Bialowieza, but tourism accounts for only a tenth of the district's revenue. However, unemployment in Bialowieza is almost non-existent, partly because a quarter of the population has left since 1990.

Signs of climate change that could threaten the forest have become more evident. "The average annual temperature has risen by 0.8C over past 50 years. This is a lot for a primeval forest," Elzbieta Malzahn of the Forest Research Institute told Reuters. "That's enough time to call it a change to climate. There is less rain in the summer; winters are milder and end sooner, prompting vegetation to start earlier."

National park officials say the level of ground water has fallen by 20 inches in the past three decades. "Spruce roots are very shallow and they just run out of water. We are observing falling number of spruce," said park employee Mateusz Szymura.

Bialowieza was kept pristine from the 14th to the early 20th century because it was a royal hunting preserve. It is home to more than 3,000 species of fungi, 178 kinds of breeding birds, and 58 species of mammal. These include wolves, lynx and 800 wild European bison, the continent's heaviest land animals weighing up to one ton each and standing more than six feet high. So far, the changes have not endangered the bison because they adapt easily to a shifting environment. Bialowieza had undergone many changes over the centuries and the forest had adjusted to new conditions. "The problem is if the changes we are now causing are too fast and too unpredictable and leave nature little chance to catch up," Ms Malzahn said.

Political arguments between Belarus and Poland have stifled joint efforts to safeguard the forest. Since Poland joined the European Union in 2004, the EU's eastern border runs through the forest, marked by a fence built by Belarus years ago. The barrier prevents bison on each side from intermingling. However, they remain genetically similar since the species was regenerated using just a few animals that survived in a zoo after they had vanished from the wild in the 1920s.

To extend the protected area on the Polish side, the government needs the approval of local authorities and says the scheme would cost between 1.5 million and three million zlotys. "For years local people have opposed plans to enlarge the park and we are now presenting a programme that shows they can go on operating with an enlarged park," said Janusz Zaleski, the deputy environment minister.

Mayor Litwinowicz did not seem convinced. He said he was considering holding a referendum among residents. "If where we live is so unique for the whole of Europe, why shouldn't the residents benefit rather than suffer?" he said. "Personally, I am against it, but the people will decide."

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Comments

[info]thomasgoodey wrote:
Sunday, 2 August 2009 at 03:09 am (UTC)
"... [the bison] remain genetically similar since the species was regenerated using just a few animals that survived in a zoo after they had vanished from the wild in the 1920s." You should give credit where credit is due. This was a project organized by Herman Goering, who loved hunting and loved big mammals.
Socialism vs Capitalism
[info]fin_d_empire wrote:
Sunday, 2 August 2009 at 07:44 am (UTC)
Socialism preserved the forest, Capitalism threatens to destroy it.
Socialism preserved and restored historical cities like Prague, Warsaw and Riga. The oligarchs and gangsters unleashed by capitalism on these cities turned them into gaudy sex-tourist-traps.
A socialism under a constant aggressive siege by Yank-aligned capitalism was tough to live under but opening the gates to the capitalist hordes has been pure unmitigated disaster for Eastern Europe.
Re: Socialism vs Capitalism
[info]twb103 wrote:
Sunday, 2 August 2009 at 08:15 am (UTC)
I dont know about other Eastern European countries but the majority of people in East Germany say - for all its faults - life was better under communism and Stasi intrusion (which is saying something!) and there seems to be a nostalgia for pre fall of Berlin Wall according to an East german friend of mine.
Re: Socialism vs Capitalism
[info]dennis_mundo wrote:
Wednesday, 5 August 2009 at 04:25 pm (UTC)
At the first free elections the CDU got well over 60% in East Germany because they were for a fast reunification. Other parties that were elected were also for reunification. So the vast majority of East Germans couldn't wait to reunite after 40 years of dictatorship in which they were prohibited to travel, choose their career freely, have different opinions or having to wait 14 years on average for a new car! But people forget when they find new things to moan about.
It is probably one consequence of life in a dictatorship that people stick together and have a great sense of community (which is what they all miss now) which is nice in itself. But that still does not make it a credit to a dictatorship, described as socialism or whatever.
You have to be able to distinguish between a felt sense of community and the political reality of a dictatorship that took control over every aspect of peoples life and killed hundreds of my fellow countrymen. To now go and whish it back is nothing but outrageous! Shame on those people, think of those who were shot or imprisoned for political reasons!
That people have lost a sense of sticking together may be a regrettable consequence of freedom. But it is a freedom that many thousands were denied under "socialism". And people have the freedom to form close communities and reject capitalism. If not it perhaps shows their weakness rather than the absence of socialism. The grass is always greener on the other side but I'd rather stand on grass with no hidden landmines and in the shade of a wall with guns pointing at me.
Re: Socialism vs Capitalism
[info]acidpen wrote:
Sunday, 2 August 2009 at 08:41 am (UTC)
i agree with what you say most of the time, today is no exception although im sure many of the voices which would be heard from east Europe may not agree with you, its amazing what power shops full of crappy products exert on people.
Re: Socialism vs Capitalism
[info]informedpole wrote:
Sunday, 2 August 2009 at 09:05 pm (UTC)
Socialism vs Capitalism, I think your arguments are misguided. Yes, the former communist government may have restored the old parts of cities such as Warsaw but when it comes to the environment, socialism/communism has nothing to bragg about. The communist government in Poland and other countries promoted heavy industries with no regard for the environment whatsoever even when judged according to the standards of the time in the West - That is why until a few years ago, my town Krakow, was coated in grime from the soot emanating from the nearby Nowa Huta steelworks. It is also why Upper Silesia, the industrial centre of Poland with many mines and steelworks, is the most polluted part of the EU and you can literally see the trees withering the closer you get to the area - A legacy of socialist/communist disregard for the environment. I am not a right winger, indeed I am a social democrat, but I am a realist and I can also see that what Poland has now is much better than what it ever had under communism and at least it has a future rather than the stagnation it had under communism. There might be some nostalgia for communism in places such as East Germany - Hence the relatively strong electoral presence of the PDS there, but there is little such nostalgia in Poland as shown by the fact that there are no socialist parties elected such as the PDS (the SLD is social democrat, more like the SPD in Germany). Also, not sure if you have been to Warsaw - It certainly isn't a city of the gaudy sex-tourist-trap variety!
Somebody please explain
[info]mounty1 wrote:
Sunday, 2 August 2009 at 09:51 pm (UTC)
"A contest between competing needs of conservation and economic growth".

Is this like "a contest between the competing needs of children and paedophiles" ?

OK, pejorative analogy but surely your lead-in must make people ask themselves about the absolute imperative of economic growth at any cost. Surely ?
scotlands deforastiation
[info]beaverassasin wrote:
Tuesday, 4 August 2009 at 08:22 am (UTC)
this is not a question of socialism vs capitalism. it is the needs of people living in the area probably below some poverty line. until people realise we need more forest not less our goverments will continue to decimate the green places in our world just like the luxury complex planned for in rannoch that will destroy the black forest. scotlands people need to take back the lands that were stolen and re-plant the great caledonian. beauty and wildlife will flourish and surely the correct type of tourism will follow. the same is what i wish for polands bialowieza.
Enlarge the park.
[info]jamesklich wrote:
Wednesday, 5 August 2009 at 12:45 am (UTC)
Enlarge the park and build a green resort in the area. You could also build a train connection. You could showcase green energy solutions at the resort and the resort could use all electric cars.
Climate Change
[info]global_changes wrote:
Friday, 7 August 2009 at 10:53 am (UTC)
it would be a major set back for climate change if the economy is put first. It will only end up costing us more later
(no subject) - [info]iq_test_2009 - Monday, 10 August 2009 at 05:47 pm (UTC) Expand
Support your country!
[info]ukiqtest wrote:
Tuesday, 11 August 2009 at 04:06 pm (UTC)
Support United Kingdom in a contest to name the smartest country in the world. Everyone can join!
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