After years of efforts to limit the scale of logging and increase the amount of protected areas in the Białowieża Forest, Poland, the Polish Government has begun intensive logging using the outbreak of the spruce bark beetle as an excuse. In the first four months of 2017, over 10 thousand trees have been cut in parts of the forest with the oldest trees, over 100 years old. The recently imposed legal ban on entering major parts of this UNESCO’s World Heritage Site serves to prevent citizen control of the intensified logging. A group of activists have set up a camp to stop the devastation of the forest and advocate for turning it into a national park, successfully blocking the logging on several occasions. The group calls for people to join the camp, spread the word and donate to support their actions. Read the full statement in English here:
After years of efforts to limit the scale of logging and increase the amount of protected areas in the Białowieża Forest, Poland, the Polish Government has begun intensive logging using the outbreak of the spruce bark beetle as an excuse. In the first four months of 2017, over 10 thousand trees have been cut in parts of the forest with the oldest trees, over 100 years old. The recently imposed legal ban on entering major parts of this UNESCO’s World Heritage Site serves to prevent citizen control of the intensified logging.