14 Feb 2019      Conference resolution

The conference closed yesterday with the Resolution "Białowieża Forest: Hands off and eyes on!". The Resolution urges to stop all forestry operations immediately and to protect the whole Białowieża Forest as a National Park. Scientists also encouraged authorities to implement a conservation strategy based on science and on the protection of ecological processes and to develop a program for the sustainable development of the local communities.

Old-growth forests have a high conservation value, but they comprise less than 1% of Europe's forest area. Białowieża Forest is the best preserved lowland old-growth that still remains in Europe. It is an invaluable place of high diversity, where natural processes have been operating for twelve thousand years. After the loggings in 2017 were ruled illegal by the Court of Justice of the European Union, Białowieża Forest is still at risk.

The conference was attended by about 150 participants from 24 countries. It has been organised by the Society for Conservation Biology-European Section and University of Warsaw in cooperation with the Faculty of Forest Sciences of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, University of Wrocław and the Institute of Nature Conservation of the Polish Academy of Science. Today, part of the participants went on a 2-day field trip to Białowieża Forest.