More than 230 people of culture and science appeal to the President and Prime Minister to protect the Białowieża Forest
More than 230 representatives of the world of culture and science appealed for protection of the Białowieża Primeval Forest in a letter to President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Beata Szydło. The letter was signed, among others, by director Agnieszka Holland, actor Jerzy Stuhr, writer and Nobel laureate Herta Mueller.
Referring to the letter, the Ministry of the Environment spokesman Paweł Mucha stated that the current activities were aimed at restoring the forest to a state where "it amazed with its beauty".
People of culture and science appeal in their letter "to intervene and immediately stop the devastation of the oldest Polish forest". "We are asking t initiate mediation in which the parties to the conflict could develop a common model of protection of the Białowieża Primeval Forest and end the dispute that is disruptive for the local community" - signatories of the letter asked the President and Prime Minister.
The letter was also signed, among others, by writers . Olga Tokarczuk, Krystyna Kofta, Marek Zagańczyk, Ingo Schulze, actors Krystyna Zachwatowicz, Adam Ferency, Jan Nowicki, directors: Jerzy Skolimowski, Andrzej Jakimowski, Borys Lankosz, Xawery Żuławski and historian Prof. Andrzej Friszke.
"In the area of Białowieża Primeval Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, felling of centennial stands occurs more and more often" - the letter reads. As emphasised, a moratorium on old-growth forests was in force until now, however, the State Forests have challenged it in unclear legal circumstances.
"Scientists, naturalists and people of culture are concerned about the destruction of the oldest forest, but also by the creation of ad hoc law that only apparently justifies its devastation" - the authors noted in the letter. As they pointed out, the text of the "special felling decision" is "a closely guarded secret, just as the felling itself". "To avoid witnesses, the forest trails in Białowieża and Hajnówka forest districts were closed" - noted the authors of the letter.
Referring to the letter, Paweł Mucha told PAP that the current activities were aimed at restoring the forest to a state where "it amazed with its beauty". "And today we have a lunar landscape" said Mucha. As he added, at the same time he was "delighted by the fact that the representatives of the world of culture have the good of the Białowieża Forest at heart".
"I would like to emphasize, however, that at this moment in the Białowieża Primeval Forest, only the removal of diseased trees takes place, i.e. those infected by the outbreak of the bark beetle" - he said. He added that mainly spruces were being removed.
"We operate on the basis of the experience and best knowledge of the foresters and the fact that the Białowieża Primeval Forest was made by man" - emphasised Mucha. According to him, this is indicated by documents and testimonies of people who claimed to have planted the forest. "So the claim that the Białowieża Forest is a primeval forest is not reflected in reality" - the spokesman said.
"We have an obligation to remove diseased trees and those that pose a threat" - said Mucha. As he pointed out, it was for this reason that the State Forests and the two forest districts named in the letter had closed certain tourist routes. "It is not that the Białowieża Primeval Forest is closed to the people" - he noted.
In the letter, people of culture and science reminded that the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has distinguished the Białowieża Forest due to its universal values that "the forests of the Earth have already lost". "To perceive it as a source of wood material is as seeing only the boards in an old iconostasis or the Altar of Veit Stoss" - they added. "Every fallen old tree is like a page torn out from the Chronicle of the Polish Legacy in the Heritage of Mankind. We must remember that it is not a very thick book. As its depositors, not owners, we should care for it and preserve it for future generations" -the representatives of the world of culture and science argued.
Citing studies, they emphasized that the tourist and aesthetic value of the forest would give it an economic future, "not further cubic metres of timber". "The voice for stopping the felling is a voice for the future of the local community, but also for the development of scientific research in the region, because the Białowieża Forest in its present state is an inexhaustible source of topics and intuition - research material that no one in the world has, one that must not be burnt in a stove. The last natural forest of Europe in the lowlands deserves a science centre, such as the Copernicus in Warsaw, a new felling plan" - the letter reads. (PAP)
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