Bialowieza is a unique place, Polish National Park and Natura 2000 site: 1,500 sq km of woodland on the border of Poland and Belarus is the last lowland remnant of what covered our continent after the ice age. It is home to 20,000 species, including 12 carnivores, 120 species of breeding bird and rare insects and invertebrates that were lost to the rest of Europe a century or more ago.The forest boasts Europe’s tallest trees and largest mammal, the bison. It is a national treasure for Poland and an international treasure for us all. 

But Poland’s government announced a drastic increase in the logging of the old forest around protected areas. Local communities were permitted to harvest 48,000 cubic metres of timber each year but the government is to allow at least 180,000 cubic metres. The new environment minister, Jan Szyszko, claims that the forest is “rotting away”.

Tracts of the forest are unique because they have never been felled, but the forest is not completely “primeval”. It supports an indigenous human population that derives its livelihood from tourism, honey, mushrooms, hunting or timber and the Polish government’s case for destruction mixes cultural warfare with a dishonestly selective use of science.

International scientists have spoken out against the logging, as has WWF and Greenpeace Polska.

The EU must intervene, cajole and penalise the Polish government until its vandalism is stopped. If the EU can’t save Białowieża, its environmental protections aren’t worth the – sustainably sourced – paper they are written on.

The untouched character of Białowieża has an economic value far greater than a once-in-200-year tree harvest!

Please sign and save the forests in Europe!