The discovery was reported by activists gathered in the Wild Carpathians Initiative. The felling of old trees took place in the Carpathian Primeval Forest in the buffer zone of the Bieszczady National Park. Trees several hundred years old went under the axe
The felling took place in the Stuposiany Forest District. However, the State Forests are not boasting about the event. The felling was reported by activists from the Wild Carpathians Initiative, who came across the felled trees during organised forest patrols
Another sad find in the Carpathian Forest. 10 particularly old trees – from 170 to even 290 years old – have been felled by the Stuposiany (section 218d and 139b) and Lutowiska (section 13a) Forest Inspectorates in the buffer zone of the Bieszczady National Park, writes the Wild Carpathians Initiative on its Facebook profile
As they report, these are the oldest felled trees they have encountered so far. Previously, they have found trees estimated to be between 150 and 220 years old. This time, they found that one of the felled trees was as old as 290 years, meaning that it “remembered” the times of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the reign of King Stanisław Leszczyński and later King August III
Tests carried out on site prove that the felled firs were between 290 and 170 years old. A total of 10 such old trees were felled
Old trees have a very important function in the forest – nowadays scientists refer to them as mother trees, which are a guarantor for the sustainability of the forest and a shelter for many organisms. At the same time, they have great significance for us humans. What do you feel when standing in front of a nearly 300-year-old tree? Admiration, humility, respect, something else? – adds the Wild Carpathians Initiative
Activists have been calling for years for the Carpathian Primeval Forest to be included in the Bieszczady National Park and thus gain better protection. Friday first September marked the end of a five-day protest they organised outside the headquarters of the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Krosno. on 28 August they also handed in a petition ‘in defence of the oldest trees’, which was signed by 22,000 people. Will the protest and the petition make the felling of old trees stop? Unfortunately, we have no such guarantee
photo: Wild Carpathians Initiative(www.facebook.com/dzikiekarpaty)
source: Inicjatywa Dzikie Karpaty, Money.pl
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