The Polish Ministry of Environment on Friday responded to the claims of the EU Court on the cutting down of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha, saying that Warsaw estimates the damage from the ban on works of 3.2 billion zloty (almost $ 900 million), PAP reports.
The EU Court on July 28 banned the Polish authorities from cutting down trees in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha before considering the case on an expedited procedure that could end in August and September of this year. At the same time, it was reported that the decision was not final – the Polish authorities were given time until August 4 to present their comments on the case to the court. Polish media claim that cutting down in the Pushcha continues, despite the court’s decision.
The Ministry of the Environment, in turn, claims that only “public security threats” are cut down, as well as “dead and weakened” trees.
“The suspension of logging in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, as the European Commission wants, will result in losses estimated at 3.2 billion zlotys,” the ministry said in a response.
The Polish side made a decision on the sanitary cutting of part of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha, which is not a territory of the reserve. It was reported that the reason for this decision was the unsuccessful struggle of the foresters with the bark beetle, which destroys the trees.
Belovezhskaya Pushcha, through which the border between Byelorussia and Poland runs, is the largest remnant of the primeval forest in Europe. On the Polish territory there is the Belovezhsky National Park, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.