- Title: Poland spares forest to win EU favour, but damage already done
- Date: 19th February 2018
- Summary: WARSAW, POLAND (FILE - FEBRUARY 2, 2018) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) ENVIRONMENT MINISTER, HENRYK KOWALCZYK, SAYING: "There is no evidence of logging after November 20 (2017) except due to safety reasons."
- Embargoed: 5th March 2018 17:55
- Keywords: Bialowieza forest logging environment minister EU court order
- Location: BIALOWIEZA, TEREMISKI, NAREWKA, WARSZAWA, POLAND
- City: BIALOWIEZA, TEREMISKI, NAREWKA, WARSZAWA, POLAND
- Country: Poland
- Topics: Environment,Nature/Wildlife
- Reuters ID: LVA004837VVI1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:When Poland sought to ease tensions with the European Union by declaring a halt to logging in the ancient Bialowieza forest, it did not say how many trees it had already cut down.
In fact, logging quotas to 2021 had already been reached and in one part of the forest an expanded quota, declared illegal by the European Commission, had been more than half fulfilled despite an injunction, official forestry data shows.
In July, the European Court of Justice ordered a halt to logging while it looked into the Commission's case that the increase broke European environment law. Warsaw refused to comply and four months later, the court threatened to fine Poland 100,000 euros for each day it felled trees for sale.
At the beginning of this year, a reshuffled Law and Justice government in Warsaw said it had complied with an order from the European Court of Justice, first issued in July, to stop logging in Bialowieza, setting a new tone it wants Brussels to match.
Environmentalists said the announcement came too late to prevent irreparable damage, albeit to a limited area.
The woodland, a UNESCO World Heritage site that is home to the largest roaming population of European bison and some of the continent's oldest trees, is emblematic of the rift between the EU executive and the nationalist party ruling Poland since 2015.
At stake is not only the unique biodiversity of the woodland but also, some lawyers and environmentalists say, the future of European institutions and the rule of law.
Poland faces a preliminary opinion on the legality of the increased target at the European Court of Justice on Feb. 20. It could be ordered to drop the plan for increased logging adopted in March 2016 and fined, at a later date, if it does not comply. The consequences of the extra felling already done are not clear. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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