KORZENIESIE / ROOTING

2016
video performance
Czerlonka Leśna, Białowieża Forest, Poland

Białowieża is one of the last remaining fragments of the primeval forest that carpeted Europe 10,000 years ago, and it remains a haven for birds, wolves, lynx and 25% of the world’s European bison population.

Nestled across Poland and Belarus on the watershed of the Baltic and Black Seas, Unesco has classified the the forest as a site of “outstanding universal value”.

In 2016 the Polish environment minister Jan Szyszko tripled logging limits in Białowieża Forest, logging even in the protected National Reservation area (he was dismissed in 2018 and died in 2019). Camp for the Forest was established by scientists and environmental activists, together with protests around the country and abroad.

In 2018 Polish government has been accused by the European Commission of logging trees that are 100 years and older, an act which is illegal under EU law.

Forest patrols by Greenpeace Poland in following months found evidence of loggers violating the EU Court's decision in 16 of 30 forest areas.