"The European Commission has decided to refer Poland to the Court of Justice of the EU for increased logging in the Bialowieza Forest, which is a protected Natura 2000 site. As logging operations have started on a significant scale, the Commission is also requesting the Court for interim measures compelling Poland to suspend the works immediately," the European Commission's press release read.
According to the Commission, the decision of the Polish authorities to boost logging operations in forest poses a great threat to the forest's diverse wildlife.
"These measures — which include the removal of century old trees — pose a major threat to the integrity of this Natura 2000 site. The Natura 2000 site protects species and habitats that are dependent on old-growth forests, including the availability of dead wood. For some of these species, the Białowieża Forest is the most important or the last remaining site in Poland," the Commission said.
In May 2016, Poland started logging in the non-reserved part of the Bialowieza forest with the nominal aim of removing trees affected by the bark beetle with almost 2,825,000 cubic feet of the forest felled in a year. Environmental organizations denounced the logging operation and filed a complaint with the European Commission.
On June 22, 2017, Polish Environment Minister Jan Szyszko addressed the prosecutor’s office to remove the Bialowieza Forest from the UNSECO World Natural Heritage list. Poland has also decided to start deforestation of the part of Bialowieza forest which is not in the heritage list. On July 5, UNESCO threatened to put the forest on its list of natural world heritage sites under threat, unless the Polish authorities halted logging operations.
