Please save Europe's last natural lowland forest in Poland !

listy(at)prezydent.pl


Dear President Lech Kaczynski,

I am writing to ask for your personal intervention to protect Europe's last natural lowland forest - the Bialowieza Forest. In recent years real protection for this ancient forest has only deteriorated. Centuries old oaks and other trees have been cut for timber and new roads were opened to public traffic. Yet only a small fragment has protection as a national park. In an old-growth forest of unrivaled character on the European continent, it is unaccepetable that this ecologically complex woodland disappears before our eyes for the lack of one well coordinated protection plan for the whole forest.

The current area under national park status does not sufficiently protect the ecology of a forest that has been evolving since the ice age ended. Many rare species, including the invaluable European bison, which moves throughout the whole forest, need a plan that puts the protection of natural processes as its highest priority. This appeal is part of an international campaign to preserve the Bialowieza forest, led by the citizen's coalition BISON. We ask for your sincere attention to this urgent matter. Thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerly,