Fight for World Heritage

• Prize
• Photographer
  Krystian Maj, Poland
• Studio
  FORUM Polish News Agency

After the elections in Poland in October 2015 the victorious Law
and Justice party announced it would allow logging in the
Bialowieza forest, the oldest primeval forest in Europe, and a
UNESCO World Heritage. The environmental minister claimed the
spruce bark beetle plague necessitated the logging but
environmentalists disagreed.
Scandal broke out after information was leaked that the
government planned to cut 200 000 trees, some of which were in
zones strictly prohibited by UNESCO. The European Union Tribunal
of Justice demanded Poland stop the activity but the Polish
Minister of Environment said the Bible allows man to rule the earth
and logging would continue.
Environmentalists from all over the world came to Bialowieza in
the summer and fall of 2017 to defend the unique forest. These
pictures document the controversial decision of the Polish
government and the dedication of ordinary people committed to
protecting the forest.