27.02.2017 change 27.02.2017

Animals and plants of the Białowieża Forest can be watched online

Internet users around the world will be able to see the animals and plants of the Białowieża Forest. 1400 research plots have been designated and inventoried - Minister of the Environment Jan Szyszko said last week on Thursday.

The press conference summing up, among other things, the inventory of the Białowieża Forest was held last week on Thursday. Minister of the Environment said that a natural and cultural inventory of the forest was carried out over the past year in order to describe the state of nature. It was carried out by over 200 specialists, in 1400 designated research plots. The cost of the inventory exceeded 5 million zlotys.

Szyszko said that this was the first phase of the inventory. He added that maps of more than 200 species had been prepared. "We would like to interest the whole world in these data and these activities" - he said.

More than 1400 sites have been inventoried in terms of presence of animals and plants. "Everyone around the world will be able to access each of these carefully inventoried 1,400 points online, watch these tree stands, see what species live there. Internet users can also keep track of what will be happening there in the coming years" - said Szyszko.

Director General of the State Forests Konrad Tomaszewski, who attended the press conference, emphasized that the inventory of the forest was a unique project. "What we have done with the help of hundreds or even more people in the Białowieża Forest, is an absolutely unique undertaking" - he said.

"Archaeological research and satellite observations, and finally documents queries, leave no doubt that this area, which UNESCO has recognized as pristine and untouched by human hand, was very strongly penetrated by human activity in the past, possibly including an episode of agricultural use of this land over a long period" - he said.

Szyszko argued that restoration of habitats in the forest was being done "in accordance with applicable law, in accordance with the principles of protection tasks related to Natura 2000". He reminded that so-called reference areas had been designated in one third area of the forest. New plantings or sanitation felling is not carried out in these areas. Such activities are to be conducted in the remaining area. The ministry argues that they are necessary to save valuable natural habitats.

Poland has also proposed an experiment similar to that which is carried out in the forest to other EU countries, where the human activity destroyed original habitats, similar to those of the Białowieża Forest.

We also proposed to "export" our bison. Szyszko said that five countries responded to this proposal: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Germany and Romania. Bulgarians and Romanians are interested in "importing" bison, while the Germans and the Dutch have not expressed interest.

Minister Szyszko explained that Bulgaria declared willingness to accept six animals, while Romania is interested in receiving the bison only from the Lowland-Caucasian line, but without specifying the number. Representatives of the Czech Republic informed that the country was still in the process of preparing a bison breeding project, while the Netherlands pointed to the very small area of the country. As a barrier to the introduction of the bison into the environment, Germany named the fact that the country was densely populated and had a small number of habitat areas that would be suitable for this species.

Bison in Poland live not only in the Białowieża Forest, but also in the Borecka Forest and Knyszyn Forest, in the Bieszczady Mountains and in Western Pomerania. According to the data for 2015, the size of the bison population in Poland was 1565, including 218 animals living in captivity and 1347 in the wild.

Białowieża Forest is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014. In July 2016, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee decided to keep it on the list, but announced that the issue would be discussed again in 2017. This year\'s session will be held in Kraków.

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