The Cultural Benefits of Conservation

An expanded national park in the Bialowieza forest is the best bet for protecting not only invaluable natural habitats, but also the traditions and economic livelihood of the local Belarusian minority. by Stefan Jakimiuk 26 November 2002 HAJNOWKA, Poland--After reading Michael Fleming's article on the Bialowieza forest conflict, I would like to respond--not only because I am an employee of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and work in the forest, but because I am also a biologist, an Orthodox Christian, and of Belarusian origin. My family has roots going back many generations in the region of the Bialowieza forest. Mr. Fleming frames the dispute over the future of the forest and the local community in black and white, but the reality is much more sophisticated, and the dividing line does not run along nationalities or religions. Rather, the main issues are connected with human hopes, fears, and interests.


Courtesy of the Bialowieza Forest Campaign

The Bialowieza forest, located on the Polish-Belarusian border, is considered the best-preserved and most important lowland forest in Europe. Its immense biological value and natural character stems from a long tradition of conservation by Lithuanian princes, Polish kings, and Russian czars--all of whom protected the lands as their favorite hunting grounds. The forest consists of stands of deciduous, mixed, and coniferous trees that were once characteristic of European lowlands. Due to the complicated age structure and species composition of some tree stands, experts consider the Bialowieza forest to be an important reference point for many of the European forests that have changed much over the past few centuries.

The forest is also a priceless gene bank. More than 5,500 plant species have been found here, along with 3,500 species of fungi (including 430 species of cupped mushrooms). The fauna is estimated to consist of over 25,000 species (including 15,000 insects). Some 250 bird species have been recorded, 179 of which are breeding species. Wild herds of European bison, wolves, and lynx roam freely.

The value and renown of the forest are not simply due to its natural richness, however: The cultural value of the surrounding area is also impossible to overestimate. Unique ethnic, religious, and national diversity is reflected by the variety of customs and architecture, as well as by the dialects of Ruthenian--which served as both the common and official language when these lands formed part of the Great Duchy of Lithuania.

MOVING THE FENCES BACK

Since 1915, intensive exploitation and large-scale timber harvesting of the Bialowieza forest have taken place. As a result, approximately 27 million square meters of old-growth stands have been logged, and the surface area of natural stands (those not planted by man) has shrunk from 80 percent to 30 percent. Although the natural reserve established in 1921--the predecessor of the present national park--was expanded in 1996, it still encompasses a mere 16 percent of Bialowieza forest. Many precious tree stands remain outside the national park.

With that in mind, activists launched a campaign designed to expand the national park to include the entire forest and thereby protect the last natural lowland forest in Europe--and in the process stimulate the economic development of local communities. Those plans include gradated protection zones: from strict protection sectors for old-growth areas to restoration zones that would satisfy local demands for timber, allow the picking of mushrooms and berries, and encourage the development of tourism.

At first, the backers of an enlarged national park seemed to have the upper hand. In 1998, the Polish government signed an agreement with the Association of the Communities of Bialowieza Forest. The deal called for the allocation of 8 million euros by the year 2000 to the local authorities, mainly as compensation for expected losses due to the enlargement of the national forest and to kick-start local development. The money funded, for example, improvements in infrastructure such as roads and sewage systems, as well as strategic plans for the communities.

At the same time, the logging lobby began to spread false information about threats to the region posed by the enlargement of the Bialowieza forest, intending to rile up local citizens.

BACKTRACKING AND MISCONCEPTIONS

A public opinion poll published in the local edition of the daily Gazeta Wyborcza in March 2000 was a turning point. Violating standard rules for public polling, the survey included one question--"Are you for a national park or for the people?"--that was clearly biased and predetermined the outcome. Voting for a national park thus meant voting against the people--an absurd thought. Together with the inefficient policy of the Environmental Protection Ministry, this led to the withdrawal of the Polish government from its earlier commitment to enlarge Bialowieza National Park by 1 January 2001.

Ethnic minorities and small communities in general are under threat from many current trends, such as globalization and growing cultural uniformity. The most serious threat to the Belarusian minority in Poland is migration from villages to towns, leading to the disappearance of language and culture. But that is not the result of the protection of the Bialowieza forest. Just the opposite: The expansion of the national park would safeguard cultural values and local traditions as enshrined in Polish nature conservation law. For instance, tumuli or ancient grave mounds, traces of early charcoal-burning, the remains of primitive distilleries, and many trees once used for forest beekeeping, along with mass graves from World War II, are all preserved in Bialowieza National Park. In other parks--more altered by human hands--the WWF and local people have been implementing projects designed to keep alive local traditions as well as protect nature. One example is Biebrza National Park, where traditional hay mowing has been preserved, along with open spaces indispensable as nesting grounds for some bird species.


We live here too.
Courtesy of the Bialowieza Forest Campaign

Depicting the problems surrounding the enlargement of Bialowieza National Park as religious or ethnic conflicts is just nonsense. The divisive factor here isn't nationality or religion but rather private business. Since high-ranking employees in the administration of the State Forestry Service in the Bialowieza forest receive salaries several times greater than the director of the national park, it's no wonder that they oppose the enlargement of the national park no matter who is affected. But that is a small yet influential group of people that does not represent the interests of the Belarusian minority or other members of the local community. Nonetheless, this political pressure group has often abused Belarusian issues as a way of frightening local communities into believing that "strangers" want to take the Bialowieza forest away from them.

THE PICTURE TODAY

Such propaganda, however, has been generating weaker and weaker results, as its initiators do not have much to offer people except arduous and badly paid jobs. Whatever their religion or nationality, many people have higher aspirations than working in a sawmill. And economic diagnoses worked out for this region show that timber harvesting in the Bialowieza forest has no future: The industry is facing a crisis and is in need of urgent restructuring. Even though logging has been expanding beyond the Bialowieza forest, losses have been increasing: to 1.8 million euros in 1999, 2.2 million euros in 2000, and 2.5 million euros in 2001. In those circumstances, only Poland's State Forestry Service can afford to subsidize these unprofitable institutions--even if the timber industry succeeds in lobbying the government to abolish a moratorium on the logging of old-growth trees (100 years and older) that was passed under public pressure in 1998. The logging of these precious trees might give the industry a boost, but only for a few years at most, and then large-scale social problems would ensue as work dried up.

Since 2000--when the conflict over the forest reached its apogee--much has changed. The timber industry took a further dive that year, and many businesses switched to using cheaper wood from Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. At the same time, tourism has been developing rapidly in the immediate surroundings of the national park, and this year should be the best so far. Thousands of tourists pass through the village of Bialowieza, where the entrance to the park lies. In 2002 three new hotels opened, and the number of beds is closing in on 1,000--all within a modest area in the heart of the forest. In contrast, on the edges of the forest, which the national park does not encompass, villages are becoming depopulated.

Local people have noticed these changes. More and more understand that the protection of nature in the Bialowieza forest and an expanded national park represent the future for their communities and for rescuing their cultural heritage. The question of whether short-term development of the sawmills or sustainable development based on tourism offers the best chance for the Belarusian minority has an obvious answer.

More information about Bialowieza forest issues is available on the WWF's Bialowieza page and the Bialowieza Forest Campaign page .