Poland Threatens Fragile Forest Despite EU Warning

Polish authorities on Wednesday said they would begin building a section of trans-European highway in a protected forest and wetland region, despite an EU warning that it would breach environmental rules. "We will start tomorrow," Polish highway service chief Tadeusz Topczewski was quoted as saying by the PAP news agency. Environment Minister Jan Szyszko visited the planned construction site in northeast Poland on Wednesday, and decided it was too late to opt for an alternative route, PAP reported.

EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said Tuesday that he had sent Warsaw a written warning, threatening to request a European court order to halt the project if Polish authorities did not revise their plans.

If Warsaw stuck to its guns, Dimas warned, it would represent a "major catastrophe in this precious area of Poland."

Dozens of activists have pitched camp to try to halt the construction in the Rospuda Valley, a swathe of near-untouched peat bogs and woodland near the border with Lithuania.

The area is home to protected birds including cranes and black grouse, as well as otters, beavers and lynx. It also boasts rare orchids.

The European Commission launched an initial round of legal action in December against Warsaw over its plans to build parts of the so-called Via Baltica road corridor from Finland to Poland in various protected areas.

The Rospuda project has been in the pipeline for more than a decade, well before Poland joined the EU in 2004.

Polish authorities say that the road is needed to ease the burden on the nearby town of Augustow.

Some 4,500 heavy goods vehicles cross Augustow every day on their way to and from the Lithuanian border.

The authorities also say that the 40-kilometre (25-mile) bypass would cause minimal damage, because the plans include a bridge spanning around 300-500 metres (yards) across the Rospuda Valley rather than a highway directly on the ground.

Although EU environmental authorities have Warsaw in their sights, Brussels has also been pressing Poland to upgrade its infrastructure in the face of ever-increasing road trade between eastern and western Europe.

Source:terradaily.com