The starosta of Sokółka wants mass cutting down of trees along the roads. He claims that they are dangerous, their branches can break, and they spread. He believes that if the trees die, people will not die – those who fall into trees while driving too fast and often while drunk. The tree-lined avenues are beautiful. It is the region's showcase. The mayor argues that the place of trees is in the forest.
Nature, including roadside tree alleys – is the hallmark of the Podlasie region. Unless you are Piotr Rećko, the staroste of Sokółka. It's a threat to him.
– They destroy the road structure through their root system. They cause a person riding a bicycle during a storm to be exposed to falling branches from these trees – points out Piotr Rećko, staroste of Sokółka.
They need to be cut down, says the mayor, citing road safety regulations, and marks which trees. – The entire Sokółka district is marked with these stamps. There is basically no selection of the trees that are to be cut down. Neither the species, nor the age of these trees, nor their condition. Terrible – sums up Beata Wilczyńska, photographer.
– He was nicknamed the tree butcher. Cutting down nearly three thousand trees along the road, saying that trees are weeds and that their place is in the forest, is not something we want to hear – comments Mikołaj Dorożała, Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment.
– This is not logging, but practically a massacre – says Michał Matyskiel, mayor of Suchowola. The starosta, the road manager, would carry it out through the hands of commune heads and mayors who decide on it.
– People died on municipal or district roads because there are trees there – says Piotr Rećko. – All this under the pseudo-pretense of security. And if you don't know what it's about, it's about something completely different – says Michał Matyskiel.
The Ministry announces changes to the law
– We may have suspicions, I don't know if it's true, that the mayor may want to make money by selling these trees for burning in the energy industry – comments Mikołaj Dorożała.
The Ministry of Climate and Environment announces changes in the law – for example, a ban on burning high-quality wood in mass energy production, or – following the Scandinavian model – releasing forest managers from liability when someone enters the forest during a storm and a branch falls on them.
– We can't prevent everything – says Aleksandra Piotrowska from “Rescue Action for Krakow”. Decisions about logging, also in city centers, dictated by excessive fear or the desire for quick profit for the commune, come too easily, without calculation of real losses. Today's planting of a “forest for Krakow's inhabitants”, if it will be sustainable, will take many years.
Polish farmers are struggling with the effects of this year's drought. “Growing food is harder”Magda Łucyan/Fakty TVN
– Trees produce oxygen for us, retain moisture in the soil, but also provide services such as shade, lowering temperatures, and a place to relax – says Aleksandra Piotrowska.
Also in Podlasie. The Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Białystok announces that each tree designated for cutting will be examined by the starosta.
– We do not know on what basis these trees were assessed as posing a threat to road traffic safety. These are poorly traveled roads, says Adam Juchnik from the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Białystok.
Not all trees are lost.
Main photo source: TVN24