Environment minister appoints new director for Tatra National Park

Yesterday Environment Minister Antoni Tokarczuk appointed Pawel Skawinski as the new head of the Tatra National Park (TPN). "I was surprised by this appointment. I agreed on the condition that the Park's resources are not cut. I received such guarantee from the Ministry" says Skawinski. He declared that on the issue of protection of the Park and its borders, he will pursue the policy started by the dismissed director of TPN, Wojciech Gasienica Byrcyn. Skawinski gives lectures on ecology and environmental protection at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. He has worked in TPN for 30 years. In related news, on Saturday the environment minister will officially open the 23rd national park in Poland on the lands of the former Slonsk reservation, the largest ornithological reservation in the country. (Rzeczpospolita, p.A11) A.Z.