ACTION ALERT!
Stop the single most environmentally destructive undertaking in Europe!
We need your URGENT help in the campaign to save the Bialovieza Primeval Forest! The only old-growth area in the the Mid-European Lowlands, now threatened with intensive LOGGING !
Registered under the UNESCO - World Heritage List, this pristine wilderness area, is one of the last remaining places where ancient evolutionary processes still exist uninterrupted. Treasured for its unique diversity of plant and animal life, Bialowieza Forest is a home to European bison, wolf, bobcat, deer, elk, beaver, crane, badger; and some of the oldest oaks and spruce trees. A place of such beauty and natural value should be covered with the highest form of protection - which in Poland is the status of a National Park.
During most of the recent years, only less than 10% of the forest area has been included in the Bialowieza National Park. The remaining area of the virgin growths are regarded as an economic forest and managed using regular logging practices.
For this reason, in 1994 a coalition of Polish ecological organizations has formed, and initiated "Save the Forest" campaign, which started by putting the stump of a 300 year old tree cut from the Forest in front of the Polish Parliament. BISON coalition, established in the USA, organizes manifestations in front of the Polish embassies in many countries. In 1995 activists from 15 countries traveled to Poland to demand, along with the coalition, that the Polish government protect the Bialovieza Forest and that the entire forest be granted national park status. In 1996, as a result of these efforts and the pressure placed on Polish authorities by other nations, the park was enlarged slightly to less than 17% of Bialovieza. The government has also issued a moratorium on logging trees over hundred years old. Well organized international campaign, among others, involve Native Forest Network , WWF, and several pro green organizations in U.S. and Polish American Environmental Alliance. Finally in 1988, the Polish Government promised make the whole Forest a national park before the end of 2000. Such & similar promises were given up to 2000 and even 2001. Meantime, international tension went down, Polish environmental groups lost their unity and resources.
The word has not been kept and today over 80% of the primeval forest area still lacks proper protection. The issue is very complex, involving a lot of misleading, often false, information being spread by those for whom the forest means nothing more than economic profit. The threat is even greater now, when in spite of the moratorium issued in 1996, many of spruce trees, some as old as hundred and fifty years old, are being cut down under the pretext of preventing the gradation of bark beetle. Bark beetle is a natural pest, and in the past, the forest dealt with it many times using its own natural ways. Today the fight against the beetle has become a convenient argument for the loggers.
The situation is urgent, and we are coming together once again, uniting our efforts to renew "Save the Forest" campaign, possible only with the help of the international community. Letters to the Polish Prime minister will be helpful, but most importantly, we need signatures under the Bialowieza Charter, which now plays a significant role as a sign that we didn't forget Bialovieza.
The face of our planet is rapidly changing. We are loosing precious wilderness areas, while most ecosystems have already been greatly disrupted. Today we need a collaboration of people from all over the world to preserve the remaining natural places- not or ourselves, but for the health of the entire planet and for the future generations of all beings. The responsibility to protect places such as Bialovieza Forest extends beyond national boundaries. It belongs not only to the Polish people, it belongs to all of us. It will require our unified creativity - including cooperation of scientists, politicians, artists, and spiritual leaders - to find a way to protect this ancient forest. Each person, organization, and group plays significant roles in this effort.
Please, send letters (address and samples, and detailed info can be find at http://www.paeasite.com ) to the Polish Prime Minister to express the urgent need to preserve the Bialovieza Primeval Forest; and to demand that the promise be kept and that the old growths be given a proper protection. Also, please sign, the Bialowieza Charter and ask your friends to do so. Earlier 500 000 people all over the world signed similar petitions, the results (even when governments didn't keep up the promises) is that there is much less destruction going on in Bialowieza. With signatures from American & Polish American organizations, the Tatra National Park (most unique mountains in the region) is saved from the Olympics. Well organized, we can save the Bialowieza Forest.
