The Honorable President Lech Kaczynski
President of the Polish Republic
ul. Wiejska 10, 00-902
Warszawa
POLAND

RE: Your action needed to protect the Bialowieza Forest

Dear President Kaczynski,

I urge your personal intervention to protect Europe's last natural lowland forest -- the Bialowieza Forest. In recent years protection for this ancient forest has deteriorated. Centuries-old oaks and other trees have been cut for timber, new roads have been opened to public traffic, and each commercial management unit applies different designs for the forest. Only a small fragment has protection as a national park. It is an unacceptable tragedy that this unique, ecologically complex woodland is disappearing because of the lack of a comprehensive, well-coordinated protection plan.

The current area protected by national park status is not nearly enough to protect the ecology of a forest that has been evolving since the end of the last ice age. Commercial logging must end. Many rare and wild species, including European bison, which roams throughout the whole forest, urgently need full protection.

I urge you to act quickly to ensure that the Bialowieza Forest is protected from development, urbanization, and commercial timber operations. This treasure of the European landscape should be protected equally on both sides of the Polish/Belarusian border in one trans-boundary national park. Please do whatever it takes to fully protect the Bialowieza Forest.