***********************************************
WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Polish
Forests, Largest Remaining in Europe, Still Threatened
***********************************************
Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
April
30, 1995
OVERVIEW
& SOURCE
Environmentalists
are calling for international support for their
campaign
to stop logging of Poland's Bialowieza forest, the last
remaining
area of lowland temperate primeval
forest in Europe
dating
back to 8000 BC. Within three years,
this area is expected
to be
much diminished. The forest is a famous
refuge for European
bison
which were reintroduced in 1952. It is
also home to 58
species
of mammal including wolf, lynx, beaver, masked shrew and
moose,
and 168 breeding bird species including crane,
lesser-spotted
eagle, black stork and all but one of the European
species
of woodpecker. According to the Polish
environmentalists
the
logging activities in Bialowieza forest are running at a loss.
This
alert was posted in econet's rainfor.general conference by a
coalition
of European environmental groups, including Workshop for
All
Beings, a Polish group.
*******************************
RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
/** rainfor.genera:
167.0 **/
**
Topic: urgent help needed for polish fore **
**
Written 2:01 PM Apr 27, 1995 by gn:prmunic in
cdp:rainfor.genera
**
URGENT
ACTION APPEAL
INTERNATIONAL
SUPPORT NEEDED FOR BIALOWIEZA ANTI-LOGGING CAMPAIGN
Environmentalists
are calling for international support for their
campaign
to stop logging of Poland's Bialowieza forest, the last
remaining
area of lowland temperate primeval
forest in Europe
dating
back to 8000 BC.
At
present only a small core "island" of 47 sq. km is completely
protected
as a National Park, while logging in the remaining 550
sq. km
is accelerating. It has long been accepted by the Polish
government
and the scientific community that the core protected
area
needs to be greatly enlarged in view of the immense
conservation
importance of the whole forest area.
As a
result of a demonstration on 26th April in Warsaw and the
ongoing
vigil outside the Polish Parliament organised by the
Polish
environmental group Workshop for All Beings with
environmentalists
from 14 other countries, Polish Government
representatives
agreed to a meeting. Mr Borowski, the Chief of the
Council
of Ministers agreed to present environmentalists demands
to the
Prime Minister. These include: extending the present
National
Park boundary to cover the whole of the Bialowieza forest
and a
halt to logging of old growth stands. The issue will also be
debated
in Parliament on May 9th. In addition, Mr Borowski agreed
to the
possibility of an independent enquiry on the Bialowieza
forest.
While
these promises indicate willingness to discuss the issues,
environmentalists
fear that the authorities' "talk and log" policy
is a
smoke screen allowing politicians to delay taking action.
Meanwhile
logging continues unabated.
They
are therefore calling for a moratorium on logging old growth
areas
until a firm committment to extend the national park has
been
secured. Despite police harassment, they are determined to
continue
their vigil on the pavement outside the Parliament
buildings
until this happens.
The
Polish authorities need to be convinced of the widespread
international
concern about the fate of Bialowieza. Please send
politely
worded faxes in support of this campaign. Send to
The
Prime Minister of Poland. Fax: +48 2 6284222
Mr
Borowski, Chief of Council of Ministers. Fax: +48 2 413981
Please
send copies of your letters to:
Workshop for All Beings
("Pracownia
na rzecz wszystkich istot") ul. Modrzewskiego 29/3
43-300
Bielsko-Biala Poland tel/fax +48 30
294 96
Main
points to include:
- Congratulate the Polish Government on its
interest in expanding
the
protected area.
- The
whole forest area is recognised nationally and
internationally
as being of immense conservation importance.
-
Bialowieza is literally unique; a priceless part of Poland's
natural
heritage.
-
Express your concern that while discussions and negotiations are
taking
place, the logging is accelerating
-
Support the Workshop for All Being's demand for a moratorium on
all
logging until the Polish Government has made a firm
committment
to extend the protected area.
-
express your support for the environmentalists' actions and
vigil
to save Bialowieza forest.
International
Forests Alliance
PRESS
RELEASE
11am
27th April 1995 Warsaw Poland
Camp
demands end to logging
Three
international activists were detained by police at 2am this
morning
for setting up camp outside Government House (Urz%d Rady
Ministr"w)
in their struggle to save Bialowesia, Europe's last
ancient
temperate forest. Police gave the reason for arrest as:
damaging
the grass verge by sleeping on it. Yesterday 100
activists
from 15 countries marched on the building to present
their
demands for a complete ban on logging old growth trees in
the
forest and for an expansion of the National Park to protect
the
whole area.
Theo
Hopkins, one of those arrested from England said, "The last
area of
primeval temperate forest in Europe will be gone in three
years
if the Polish Government doesn't act now!"
After
an unproductive meeting with officials, activists set up
camp in
the rain under the watchful eye of police. At 10pm three
spokespersons
were finally admitted to meet with Mr Borowski,
Chief
of the House of Ministers. Sabina
Nowak, Polish campaigner
for the
Workshop for All Beings said, "We presented the situation
in the
forest that he was not aware of and presented our proposal
to
expand the park".
Mr
Borowski agreed to discuss the matter with the Prime Minister
including
the possibility of an independent inquiry.
However
Borowski
warned activists not to expect quick results on their
ultimatum:
"We started our meeting from the position of demanding
an
immediate moratorium on logging of old growth tree stands",
Said
Grzegorz Kubicki of Polish group, Workshop for All Beings.
Activists
remain concerned that the Government response was no
more than
a political delaying tactic and vowed to continue their
vigil
outside the building until they get more serious
consideration
of their demands. Police released those detained at
7am
this morning.
Polish
and English speaking spokespersons for the group may be
found
at the camp.
For
more information today contact: +48 2 618 37 81 Fax\Tel: +48 2
618 28
94
------------------------------------------------------
Background
Notes:
The
National Park was designated a Man and Biosphere Reserve core
area in
1977 and in 1979 was selected as the only Polish natural
site
for inclusion on the World Heritage List.
There
is consensus within the Polish scientific community
(including
the Polish Academy of Science, the Ministerial Council
for the
Protection of the Natural Environment, the Scientific
Council
of the Bialowieza National Park, the Mammal Research
Institute,
the Warsaw University and Geobotany Station and the
Polish
Society for Bird Protection) that the protected area should
be
extended from the present core "island" of 4,747 hectares.
The
forest is famous as the most important refuge for European
bison
which were reintroduced in 1952. It is
also home to 58
species
of mammal including wolf, lynx, beaver, masked shrew and
moose,
and 168 breeding bird species including crane,
lesser-spotted
eagle, black stork and all but one of the European
species
of woodpecker.
The
managed forest around the National Park, which is being
irreversibly
damaged by normal forestry operations, contains plant
communities
not represented within the National Park. For example,
only
450 of the 1,050 species of vascular plants and 40 of the 113
plant
communities known from the whole forest are represented in
the
National Park. Furthermore, the National Park does not provide
a big
enough territory range for certain animals and birds, such
as
wolf, lynx, crane and eagle owl, which are vulnerable to
hunting
and poaching in the unprotected area.
According
to the Polish environmentalists the logging activities
in
Bialowieza forest are running at a loss. Logging is carried out
by the
state logging company which sells on to private mill
owners.
The money raised from timber sales is not enough to cover
the
costs of extracting the timber plus the payment of a stumpage
fee to
the local communities. The argument that logging is an
economic
necessity does not hold water.
In 1992
the World Bank agreed a loan package of 146 million US
dollars
between 1994 and 1997 for the development of the whole of
PolandTs
forestry sector. This investment
provided an opportunity
for
Poland to access funds from the Global Environment Facility
(GEF),
which is partly administered by the World Bank. Bialowieza
forest
was identified as a suitable recipient of funds and a grant
application
for creation of a 150 sq km protected buffer zone
around
the National Park was submitted. The
Bialowieza forest and
the
Sudety mountains received a GEF grant of 4.5 million US
dollars
but two and a half years on, at the end of the first pilot
phase
of the GEF project, there has been no discernable increase
in the
protection afforded to the area outside the National Park.
In fact
it is more likely that contrary to the scientific findings
the
GEF-funded research has stimulated logging in the area as
companies
race to extract timber before proper protection is
enforced.
###RELAYED
TEXT ENDS###
You are
encouraged to utilize this information for personal
campaign
use; including writing letters, organizing campaigns and
forwarding. All efforts are made to provide accurate,
timely
pieces;
though ultimate responsibility for verifying all
information
rests with the reader. Check out our
Gaia Forest
Conservation
Archives at URL=
http://forests.lic.wisc.edu/forests/gaia.html
Networked
by:
Ecological
Enterprises
Email
(best way to contact)-> gbarry@forests.org
Phone->(608)
233-2194 || Fax->(608) 231-2312