Its characteristics and the problem associated with it Białowieża Forest Its characteristics and the problem associated with it
Table of contents Essential information Location History Flora Fauna The problem The conflict Solution Ending
Essential information Białowieża Forest is a forest loacted partially in Poland and partially in Belarus. It has many qualities, not only natural but also historical. The biggest herd of aurochs lives in this place. It is the only National Park in Poland guarded by UNESCO. It is also worth noting, that it is one of the last and largest remaining parts of the immense primeval forest.
Location
History Orginaly, the whole area of north-eastern Europe was covered by forest similiar to that of Białowieża Forest. The forest has been in such state since the end of ice age. That is about 11 000 years ago! Of course, it has been there before, but different plants and animals lived there.
Flora From many groups of plants present in Białowieża forest, the one containing vascular plants is the biggest. There are many plants, which are rarely visible anywhere else like Viola epipsila, Eriophorum gracile or Linnaea borealis. The most common kinds of trees are pine and spruce.
Flora
Fauna There is no other place in Poland offering as many animals as Białowieża Forest. Surely the most popular specie of this place is auroch, visible in the background. There even is a beer brand named after this animal. There is no place on Earth that has more aurochs than the Białowieża Forest
Auroch is on this Park’s symbol
The problem Last year, about 200 000 spruce trees were discovered to be home to bark beetles. It happend on area of 40 square kilometres.
And then the conflict When the executive power changed in Poland, the new minister of environment, Jan Szyszko, had many accusations against old ministers. In one of them, he said that decreasing the cut of trees in Białowieża Forest was bad and had invalid reasoning. He also calculated, that it made the country lose 800mln PLN
Solution After some time, it has been decided, that more trees will be cut, but only in two third’s of the forest. The other part will be constantly monitored. Minister said that it can not be avoided beacause of the bark beetle.
Sources: pl. wikipedia. org www. bialowieza. gmina. pl parkipolski Sources: pl.wikipedia.org www.bialowieza.gmina.pl parkipolski.blogspot.com Creators from Junior High School in Topola Królewska, Year 2: Wojciech Misiak Dawid Psiurski Adam Staruszkiewicz