EP delegation: Polish government to stop logging in Białowieża

According to the MEP delegation, the Polish government declared it will stop logging in the primeval Białowieża forest in compliance to the European Court of Justice verdict. “We understood that the Polish side is ready to adapt to the transitional arrangements and to stop the logging in the forest,” said MEP Alojz Peterle. Another MEP, Seb Dance, added that the cutting will be limited to activities necessary for safety reasons. PM Beata Szydło explained during press briefing that the only logging activity, which has been conducted in Białowieża “all the time” is related to the “security and rescue of this unique complex,” Back in July, ECJ issued an order that Warsaw immediately stops logging in the oldest parts of the forest. Which according to the European Commission and various environmental activists group Poland never did. Polish Environment Minister Jan Szyszko claimed that logging is conducted to save the forest from a bark beetle infestation. Since logging started, timber harvesting has increased threefold in Białowieża, and brings PLN millions in profits to the state-owned company managing Polish forests. The Białowieża forest, which covers about 1,500 square kilometers of north-eastern Poland and Belarus, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a part of it forms a national park. It’s one of the few remaining parts of the primeval forest that covered most of Europe for thousands of years.