Białowieża Forest

• Forestry/wood production (logging in the partially protected zones and removal of deadwood)
• Alterations of the hydrological regime
• Border fence impeding mammal movements
• Ambiguity regarding the boundaries of the property (issue resolved)
• Management systems/management plan (Need for a new Management Plan for Białowieża National Park (Poland) (issue resolved); Lack of an integrated planning and management of the property and of a Transboundary Steering Committee with adequate human and financial resources)

N/A

The States Parties of Belarus and Poland submitted separate reports on the state of conservation of the property on 10 February and 22 February 2022 respectively, available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/33/documents/. On 7 March 2023, Poland submitted additional information on its report. The States Parties report the following:

Belarus:

• The draft Management Plan (MP) 2022-2031 for the Belarusian area of the property is currently undergoing public consultation and will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre;
• The new MP includes actions to strengthen the protection status of wolves inside the property and a proposal to extend the legal ban on wolf hunting to more areas of the property is being considered;
• Tree felling remains restricted to limited sanitary and fire safety cuttings or conservation measures. Dead wood has only been removed in the active forest management zone;
• Plans have been developed for the restoration of the natural flow of the Narewka river and the rehabilitation of several wetlands;
• An inventory of invasive species was carried out. Eradication works are underway in 260 ha to remove Canadian goldenrod (Solidago canadensis).

Poland:

• An agreement was signed with several research institutes to develop the MP for the Polish area of the property in accordance with UNESCO requirements. Although work on the preparation of the MP intensified in 2022, some delays have occurred and it is now expected to be completed and made available for public consultation in 2023;
• Following the expiry of the 2016 Forest Management Plans (FMPs), updated annexes were approved in 2021 for two forest districts and implemented to a small extent, with limited timber harvesting, only in the Active Forest Management zone. No logging has occurred since November 2021. As the FMPs have expired, certain forest areas have to be closed periodically for safety reasons, causing tensions with local residents. New FMPs have been prepared for the forest districts that overlap with the property to allow for protection measures in line with Natura 2000 guidelines and safety cuttings. The proposed FMPs are currently under evaluation by competent nature conservation authorities;
• Proposals are being developed to amend the zoning plan for the forest areas within the property and managed by the State Forest Service and have been discussed with key stakeholders as part of the ongoing consultations for the MP;
• A plan for Fire Protection and Forest Fire Suppression has been updated based on public consultations held in 2022. The plan will be integrated into the MP and submitted to UNESCO once translated;
• While the 2022 report noted no significant increase in traffic on the Narewkowska road, the update provided in 2023 reports that tourist use of the road is increasing and that a 30km/h speed limit is maintained;
• A border barrier in the form of a fence along the Belarus-Poland border and an adjacent technical road were completed by February 2022. An electronic barrier is also being erected. No impact on bird mortality has been observed. From 2023, it is planned to monitor and eradicate invasive alien plants along the border barrier.

On 16 November 2021, the World Heritage Centre sent a letter to the States Parties of Belarus and Poland, requesting information on third party reports concerning the planned building of a border barrier, which could negatively impact the movement of animals across the transboundary property. On 30 November 2021, the State Party of Belarus responded expressing concern over this project and its impacts on the movement of animals across the property.

On 10 January 2022, the World Heritage Centre received a letter from the State Party of Poland, confirming plans to construct a barrier along its border with Belarus to prevent illegal immigration into Poland. On 14 February 2022, the World Heritage Centre sent a follow-up letter, recalling the need to carry out an impact assessment as foreseen in the Operational Guidelines and requesting Poland to provide more detailed information on the planned border barrier. Noting third party reports that indicate that works within the property had already started, Poland was also requested to suspend construction works within the property until an impact assessment was submitted and reviewed. Further reminders from the World Heritage Centre requesting Poland for a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the border barrier and its location in relation to the property, as well as any other relevant technical and visual details, were sent on 20 May, 29 July and 15 November 2022.

On 18 March 2022, and then on 8 June 2022, the World Heritage Centre received letters from the State Party of Belarus expressing further concerns about the legislation adopted by Poland exempting the construction of the border barrier from an EIA, the lack of transboundary consultations on the project and its potential impact on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property.

On 22 April 2022, the World Heritage Centre sent a letter to the State Party of Poland transmitting information received from third party sources on changes in vehicle traffic and wildlife mortality resulting from the upgrade of the Narewkowska road.

On 7 June 2022, the World Heritage Centre received a letter from the State Party of Poland, reiterating its position that the border barrier was required to address the crisis generated by the passage of illegal migrants. It further noted that the General Director for Environment Protection was part of the team established for the preparation and construction of the border barrier to ensure environmental supervision and protection. To reduce the impact of the border barrier, 20 passages for large animals and 70,000 passages for small mammals, amphibians and reptiles were foreseen. No physical barriers had been constructed along the watercourses. The letter concludes that the border barrier will not have a significant negative impact on protected habitats and species in the Białowieża Forest area.

The World Heritage Centre also received a request from the State Party of Belarus to organise a joint UNESCO/IUCN Advisory mission to the property to provide advice on how to address the impacts of the border barrier. The State Party of Belarus was informed by the World Heritage Centre that the transboundary nature of this World Heritage property and the specific issue of the border barrier on which Belarus wished the mission to focus, meant that an Advisory mission only to the Belarusian part of the property would not be able, on its own, to fully and effectively assess the state of conservation of the property nor the impact of this development on its OUV.

On 20 October 2022, the State Party of Belarus submitted a detailed analytical note prepared by the Belarus Academy of Sciences with an assessment and forecast of the impact of the border barrier on the biodiversity and natural ecosystems of the property. In addition, the World Heritage Centre received on 26 October 2022, a report prepared by a coalition of international and Polish NGOs, detailing the impacts of the erected border barrier. The World Heritage Centre transmitted both documents to the Polish authorities. A response to these letters was received from Poland on 2 May 2023.

On 2 November 2022, the State Party of Poland transmitted the outline of the MP to the World Heritage Centre, which was transmitted to IUCN for review.

On 31 March 2023, information was received from the State Party of Poland on the technical specifications of the border barrier, composed of 5 m steel poles with a 0.5 m foundation, topped with a 0.5 m wire coil and including 24 passages measuring 5 m wide and 4.5 m high for wildlife access. The width of the infrastructure, including the border barrier and service road is 8 m wide. The letter also refers to research showing that the existing barrier on the Belarus side, the so-called ‘sistema’, was already hampering connectivity in the property.

On 10 May 2023, the State Party of Poland submitted a document entitled ‘Analysis of the impact of the construction of the barrier on the subjects of protection of the Natura 2000 site Bialowieza Forest together with the Bialowieza National Park Area’. It states that border rivers, canals and lakes were excluded from fencing, and that a number of safeguards and devices allowing free flow of water were installed in areas dependent on groundwater. An Environmental Protection Programme (EPP) for the construction phase of the border barrier was also drawn up by an independent external company. It contains basic procedures, rules and courses of action for complying with environmental protection requirements.

On 22 June 2023, the State Party of Poland submitted the Forest Fire Prevention and Suppression Plan for the Polish part of the property, including an extract from the full EIA of the Plan on the OUV of the property.

The construction of a border barrier is of serious concern due to its potential impact on the OUV of the property. The border barrier extends the entire 55.9 km length of the Belarusian-Polish border through the property, effectively dividing it into two parts. It is of utmost concern that no EIA has been provided to the World Heritage Centre by Poland, in spite of requests and as required by the Operational Guidelines. Furthermore, it is of concern that the reported legislative changes would have excluded this project from existing environmental regulations. The analysis of impact provided on 10 May 2023 fails to consider the property as a whole, including important attributes of its OUV and integrity, such as connectivity and habitat fragmentation, and only considers direct impacts on the Natura 2000 sites included in the Polish part of the property. It cannot therefore be considered as an EIA in line with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context.

According to the specifications provided by the Polish State Party, most of the border barrier consists of 5 m steel posts with a 0.5 m foundation, topped with a 0.5 m wire coil and therefore, would be impenetrable for any large terrestrial animals, including those which represent important attributes of OUV. In addition, while the information provided by Poland stated that rivers would not be fenced, the main Narewka River is reportedly covered by the border barrier and other water courses seem to have a concertina wire border barrier installed. Concerns have been expressed that wildlife passages were not installed on the main animal routes and that the technical specifications do not meet the functional connectivity requirements for the effective conservation of the property’s OUV. It is also unclear whether, at what frequency and for how long these passages will be opened to allow animals to pass, noting that in the information submitted by Poland on 2 May 2023, it is mentioned that the biology of species concerned, including their mating season, would be considered, without however providing any clear commitments. It remains unclear to what extent the border barrier construction works have already had an impact on the OUV of the property, including in some of the best preserved and most sensitive areas located in the Białowieża National Park and across the property as a whole. Third parties have also reported tree logging and degradation due to the use of heavy equipment and pollution, although the State Party of Poland maintains the impacts have been minimal.

It is therefore recommended that the States Parties of Belarus and Poland be requested to urgently invite a Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to examine the potential threat of the border barriers to the OUV. The mission should assess the impact of the border barriers on the integrity and ecological function of the property, which contains extensive undisturbed areas, and in particular determine whether adequate mitigation measures have been put in place to ensure connectivity and maintain the OUV of the property, in particular with regards to wildlife movement and population viability. The mission should also examine the impacts of the border barriers on forest fragmentation, changes in the hydrological regime, increased spread of invasive species and degradation of important habitats. The mission should furthermore assess progress in the implementation of the recommendations of the 2018 Reactive Monitoring mission and previous Committee Decisions.

Progress in updating the MP of the Belarusian area is welcome, especially to strengthen the protection status of its wolf population. It is recommended that the State Party of Belarus be requested to submit a draft MP to the World Heritage Centre prior to its final approval. The State Party of Belarus is also encouraged to adopt a legal ban on wolf hunting throughout the property and to ensure that the relevant wildlife and FMPs are updated, based on the updated MP.

The ongoing efforts to develop the overall MP for the Polish area are also welcome, and its finalisation should be expedited while ensuring the full participation of all stakeholders and rightsholders, drawing on international expertise, as needed. The timely finalisation of the MP for the Polish area is crucial, as it will form the basis for new FMPs, and the State Party of Poland should take into account the findings of IUCN’s technical review of the outline of the MP and submit a draft of the MP to the World Heritage Centre, for review by IUCN, prior to its final approval. It is recommended that the Committee reiterate the importance for the new FMPs to comply with the management prescriptions included in Decision 43 COM 7B.14, in line with the forestry management regime foreseen at the time of the property’s extension in 2014 and subsequent recommendations of the 2018 Reactive Monitoring mission, and that it also encourage the State Party of Poland to seek further advice from IUCN on the development of the new FMPs to ensure that these requirements are met, prior to their approval.

Concerns remain about the increase in traffic on the Narewkowska road and the reported widespread non-observance of the speed limit, resulting in an increase in the number of wildlife road kills. It is recommended that the State Party of Poland on current traffic conditions and road kills, as well as on measures taken to minimise and manage impacts.

Efforts to restore the hydrological regime of the Narewka River are welcome and plans for a restoration of the natural flow of the river and the rehabilitation of wetlands are strongly encouraged, including in light of the potential impacts of climate change on the property.