Poland violated EU laws by logging in Bialowieża forest, court rules
Source: The Guardian
Poland violated EU laws by logging in Białowieża forest, court rules
Judge dismisses claims by Polish government that logging was necessary to protect ancient forest from outbreak of bark beetles
Arthur Neslen
Tue 17 Apr 2018 13.42 BST First published on Tue 17 Apr 2018 09.29 BST
The EUs highest court has ruled that Polands logging in the Unesco-protected Białowieża forest is illegal, potentially opening the door to multi-million euro fines.
At least 10,000 trees are thought to have been felled in Białowieża, one of Europes last parcels of primeval woodland, since the Polish environment minister, Jan Szyzko tripled logging limits there in 2016.
Greenpeace says that as many as 100,000 conifers and broad-leaved trees in the lowland forest may have been lost.
Poland had claimed that the chainsaws were needed to excise a spruce beetle outbreak but, in a damning ruling, the EU judges found that Polands own documents showed that logging posed a greater threat to Białowieżas integrity.
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Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/17/poland-violated-eu-laws-by-logging-in-biaowieza-forest-says-ecj