Free Republic

Europe’s last primeval forest is facing what campaigners call its last stand as loggers prepare to start clear-cutting trees, following the dismissal of dozens of scientists and conservation experts opposed to the plan. Poland’s new far right government says logging is needed because more than 10% of spruce trees in the Unesco world heritage site of Białowieża are suffering from a bark beetle outbreak. But nearly half the logging will be of other species, according to its only published inventory. Oak trees as high as 150 feet that have grown for 450 years could be reduced to stumps under the...

Bialowieza and Podlasie If you want to escape the bustling city life, there is no better place in Poland to go than to Białowieża Forest in the eastern Polish region of Podlesia. By Gabriel Stille Known as the home of the Zubr, the European bison, The Bialowieza National Park protects a rare remnant of the primeval lowland forest that once covered most of Eastern Europe. And Podlesia, a region who cherishes its age-old ties to the east, is an interesting place in itself. The Polish part of the Białowieża forest comprises of over 10,000 hectares of land, of which almost...

Mat Schulz goes hunting for the endangered bison in a primeval corner of Poland. For most people, Poland is connected with images of factories, coalmines and shipyards. But between the industrial landscapes there are mountains, lakes and sea. Most surprisingly, on the border with Belarus, Poland also has mainland Europe's last primeval forest - 8000 years old and 1250 square kilometres in size. The Bialowieza Forest still exists because Polish and Lithuanian royalty used it for hunting from the 14th century. When, in the 19th century, the land became part of Russia, the tsar reserved it for the same purpose....

Government licence to fell ancient trees leaves trail of destruction Loggers rip into Poland's wild forest Government licence to fell ancient trees leaves trail of destruction Sophie Arie in Bialowieza forest Friday August 29, 2003 The Guardian Late at night the howling of wolves still echoes through the dark shadows of Bialowieza forest, where the last European bison roam and more elks than humans tend to tread. For centuries only the odd Polish king, Russian tsar or Lithuanian duke out hunting disturbed this vast forest, a last fragment of the primeval woodlands which once covered much of Europe. But since...