Scientists warn Poland's border wall will harm wildlife and taint protected forest
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Loading... - Joan Davidson
- 12 Jul 2022
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The Bialowieza Forest stretches across the border between Poland and Belarus.
A dispute between the two countries now threatens its purity and its inhabitants.
Poland has completed a heavily-defended wall, extending 186 kilometers, just under half of the length of the border.
It took the decision to fortify an existing fence when thousands of migrants started crossing into the country from Belarus in 2021.
Warsaw says the Belarusian government lured migrants to Minsk with a promise that they could enter the European Union (EU) easily.
Construction on the wall began in January and was completed at the beginning of July.
Scientists are concerned that corners were cut in assessing the environmental impact on the forest, which has been protected for centuries.
"Bialowieza Forest is one of the best-preserved, I would like to say the best preserved forest on the European lowland in the temperate climate zone," says Bogdan Jaroszewicz, the Director of the Geobotanical Station at the University of Warsaw.
"That's because it was protected for a very, very long time. We usually say the protection of the forest began at the end of the 14th century because that's when it became a part of the royal ownership."
Since then, agriculture and logging have been mostly banned. The forest is protected under a number of Polish and EU regulations. Read More…
