European Commission asks to fine Poland for logging in Białowieża

The European Commission asked the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice to fine Poland for violating the ban on logging in the primeval Białowieża forest during a hearing on Monday. Back in July, ECJ issued an order that Warsaw immediately stop logging in the oldest parts of the forest, and to prove that Poland defied it, which is a first such instance in the EU’s history, showed satellite pictures of the forest showing logging activity. Polish Environment Minister Jan Szyszko defended his actions saying 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. EU argues that it violates EU nature preservation laws and causes irreversible damage to the forest. The Bialowieża 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.