Episode Information

Tucked away on the border of Poland and Belarus lies an old-growth forest with a unique diversity of fungi, invertebrates and a cradle of the rebirth of European bison. Under the warrant of fighting a bark beetle infestation, the Minister of the Environment of Poland ordered a three-fold increase of the logging in this protected forest. Concerned citizens from Poland and Europe have flocked to an activist camp set up in the heart of the forest. While activists protected the forest on the ground, a group of environmental NGOs took it to the courts. European Court of Justice finally ruled in April 2018 that the logging operations in Bialowieza forest were illegal. Soon after the harvesters left the forest and the Minister of Environment was fired.