WARSAW, Poland (AP) – A European court ordered Poland on Friday to immediately stop cutting trees in Europe’s last pristine woodland, the Bialowieza Forest.
The European Union’s Court of Justice said the measure is temporary and is meant to give European authorities time to analyze Poland’s position on the matter. Poland has until Aug. 4 to explain its policy to the European Commission, which will then decide whether to seek a permanent ban on the logging.
European authorities and environmental groups say the logging threatens the continent’s last unspoiled woodland, which is included on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites. They say the felling of trees, done with the use of heavy equipment, destroys the forest and the habitats of animals and other native species.
Poland’s Environment Ministry would not comment, saying it had not yet received the court’s order.
Environment minister Jan Szyszko last year authorized increased logging in the forest through the year 2021, tripling the amount of logging over an earlier level seen as environmentally sustainable.