THE LAST SIGH OF THE PUSHCHA
The article by Irina Burnosenko,
Published in «Den» (The Day) Newspaper, #98,
December 4, 2001
«People have killed the Belovezhskaya Pushcha»; «they are still killing it»; «Pushcha will prosper soon». Such different opinions concerning the current situation in the famous reserve are the vision of people having a direct relation to the Pushcha.
Belovezhskaya Pushcha went through a lot in its lifetime — imperial hunts, clear cuttings, stupid leaders, and the drainage program from Mr. Masherov's times (the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the BSSR). But whether it can go through the times of the present casual leaders, who fell pine trees hundreds of years old on the pretext of sanitary cuttings, and who turn their head to the warnings of scientists, because they are following the profit. But biologists confirm: we have little time left until the Pushcha will turn into an ordinary forest, incapable to feed such a great number of animals and birds to which it is home today. Belarusian bisons will live only in zoos …
We have got used to being proud of this reserve. It contains a huge number of species of animals and plants of Belarus, of which two hundred are listed in the Red Data Book. The free living bisons — a symbol of the country — are roaming here. Scientists visiting the Pushcha do not cease to be surprised about how such woods were possible to be saved in the centre of Europe. National biologists say that indifference was one of the «authors» of the miracle. Exactly it saved the Pushcha from being cut down, as it happened on the Polish territory. It has allowed the reserve to exist up to the XXIst century. But now interest replaced the indifference. Unfortunately, it is not a scientific type of interest, but an industrial one.
As a Matter of Fact
The situation can be briefly described as the following. Half a year ago, the new chief Nickolai Bambiza appeared in the Pushcha. He headed the Pripyatski Reserve for over ten years and developed a vigorous economic activity in the unique site, in the world natural landscape — the floodplain oak forests. Their wood was used for producing parquet which was sold at reduced prices, but on hard currency.
In January 2000, «The Forest Bulletin» Newspaper published the anonymous article «The western vector of Lukashenko's politics» informing about this problem. «The unique reserves of the country are under the threat of destruction — the barbarians have come to manage here. They consider parks only as means for filling the black bills», this was the characteristic of the «economic activity» of Mr. Bambiza. During his leadership an industrial and agricultural complex was formed on the territory of the reserve and the scientific staff was reduced almost to half. But the Property Management Department of the President, which has under its jurisdiction all the national parks, began to receive a stable profit in the form of currency.
Now the plan went ahead and it started to be introduced in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha too. Who is more suitable than Mr. Bambiza for a job like this? At the meeting of his appointment, the representative of the Property Management Department of the President has said directly that they have chosen a timber-industry specialist. And then Mr. Bambiza tried to justify this «high rank»: the forest cutting has been started in seven quarters of the Pushcha on an area of 50 hectares and more.
The bark beetle epidemic was a pretext. After the locals acted against the cuttings, there were numerous dismissals, and salaries started to be reduced — from 100 thousand rubles in the spring to 40
There is one more reason why the inhabitants of the Kamenyuki village, the administrative centre of the park, do not like the present chief of the park. It is because he employs other workers, woodcutters from the Pripyatski Park and construction workers from Ukraine. At the same time the Ukrainians boast of the big 700 dollars salary which, as the dismissed economists affirm, is actually paid without being registered. People are sure that someone puts a part of this money in the own pocket. The canceling of the bus service, which took the workers to the timber plant, also resulted in dissatisfaction, although the administration explained it as due to the financial deficit. At the same time, the director is using a jeep to go home at a distance of 60 kilometers.
As the employees of reserve think, a cancellation of the European Diploma, granted to the park in 1997, can be a consequence of these «new times». But, it seems that the director is not bothered. He mustered a team from the former companions working with him in Pripyatski Reserve and continues to press the local inhabitants. At least, this is how the locals interpret the current situation.
Parquet Instead of Science
It is impossible to be silent in this situation. One of the most «loudly» indignant people was the former deputy director on science, the Philosophy Doctor of Biology Heorhi Kazulka, which was fired from the park «in connection with the ending of the work contract». At present he is an unemployed expert with excellent knowledge of English language and computers.
«Today in Europe, people want to restore wild nature and they are ready to invest in the Pushcha. In the Polish part of the reserve, for instance, a Danish company implemented a project. We carried out negotiations with its representatives and they were ready to allocate money for tourism development and ecological education, on condition we save the Pushcha. But now there are few chances to reach success» says Heorhi Kazulka. Most likely, the other project on the creation of the Transboundary Biosphere Reserve in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha will also collapse, although the joint work of scientists was included in the framework of this project.
«It is possible to look at the Belovezhskaya Pushcha's future and see parquet or to consider it as the lungs of the Earth. I am not against the timber harvesting, but I am against such methods being applied here. The reaction of the Poles is also extremely negative», Heorhi asserts. Taking into account this aspect, it makes no sense to hope to get the joint projects implemented.
Our neighbours have an absolutely different attitude towards science. Today in the Polish part of the Pushcha there is the largest nature protection centre of Europe: academicians and professors work here, a branch of the Academy of Sciences of Poland is present. When Mr. Bambiza arrived in the Kamenyuki village he was very surprised that the scientific staff numbered 22 employees. And Mr. Bambiza said «what are they so many for?». Now the scientific department is expecting dismissals. Mr. Kazulka also appreciates skeptically the prospects of science: «I think the director does not need real science now. He has enough of the kind of science that serves his economic interests, which contradict ecology».
Today, in the opinion of the scientist, the new director is forming a team which will put his plans in application. And the timber volume, as the approximate estimations indicate, will be sufficient to supply the sawmill for 30 years. Then, here will be only an empty place. Heorhi disagrees with the current politics because the forest began to be considered only as a timber source.
«You see this is part of the ecological system. It is very easy to break this system, but impossible to restore it», Heorhi asserts. «Yes, large areas of the forest have suffered because of the bark beetle, and cutting them is reasonable. The other question is why it happened. You see, this is the consequence of the old practices and primitive approaches to the solving of difficult problems. This practices have been conducted here over the last decades». Now in the Pushcha they were going to cut even the permanent scientific monitoring plots — the standards by which all changes in the forest are evaluated. They were set up half a century ago and today they are the gold reserve of the Pushcha. But tomorrow, they will be timber and boards.
The next cause of the present problems of the reserve is it's closed up regime. In the national parks abroad, matters are solved in open discussions and with public participation. In our park an order is accepted in secrecy and is executed in the same way. As a last example, this summer, when the cutting of the living forest started, there were no discussions with the scientists. And to hide the cuttings, they restricted even the access of tourists.
A serious problem for the park is the absence of future plans and programs of development. «Here everything is done without calculations and substantiations. Then the following turn out: adventurism and lack of culture from the managers, resulting in unwillingness and lack of skill to solve problems. Consequently problems are hidden and an impression of well-being is created», Mr. Kazulka describes the mechanism of the park's administration system.
Recently a wooden fence was constructed along the enclosures with wild animals for the purpose of making an «authorized» passage for tourists. On what did they base their decision when they assumed that such a construction will bring income, it is still unknown, but obviously much money has been spent for this construction. The absence of the business-plans has already caused a decline in profit at the timber processing plant. «When the mass dying of spruce forests occurred in 1996, the managers thought they got a lot of »gold«, because it is was a huge source of raw materials. But by the time the sawmill was fully assembled, the bark beetle infection was over. It is possible to say that Mr. Bambiza got lucky since a new infection occurred. There will be enough timber for one or two years, but what is coming next!»
Today Pushcha is not going through a crisis, but through a collapse. Because of unpaid electricity bills, work at the timber processing plant was stopped. The salary of the locals was reduced to half. At the same time, the visiting woodcutters are paid 4 times as much. Laws are constantly broken. The locals consider new managers as casual and temporary owners, who get themselves stuck into problems and then look for people to blame. As a result, more than a hundred employees are dismissed instead of one.
Alone Against All Others?
After the conversation with Heorhi Kazulka I went to the director of the park Nickolai Bambiza, to ask for his opinion about the present situation in the Pushcha. Despite his position, Mr. Bambiza agreed to answer my questions. With a paper for dismissal of two workers in his hands, he has told me the exact figure of the dismissed staff — 127 people. As he said, 30 of them were found drinking at the workplace. «I forgive all things concerning life and job, but there is no room for drunkenness in industrial production», the director explained. 48 more people left their job at their own will. «It is not pleasant for them to shift boards at a factory. Others left because the term of the work contract ended. I am not a terrorist who fires all workers. I just introduce elementary order. 49 people were actually dismissed before my appointment. So, the fact is, I dismissed 30 people», Mr. Bambiza summarized.
The reduction of the salaries was also explained simply: profits are not enough to make the payments, you see, the factory cannot cover its own expenses. According to the directors, from December 1st, the posts of economist and bookkeeper will merge, according to the rule «heads are their own human resources». It means the economy of the timber factory will be turned to self-financing mode. Mr. Bambiza plans to make the same for tourism and trade.
Questions about the fence surprised the director: «Fences like here are all over the world. They are made for the visitors. A controller will work there to sell tickets. You see, the enclosures cost a lot of money. And a price of 300 rubles per ticket (~0.20 $) is like a donation. So there is no big fear here». What is the relationship between the donation and reception of the profit, Mr. Bambiza has not explained.
Regarding the project on the Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, the head of the park considers it only a source of income. He says he already talked many times with the Poles on this subject, and makes the following comment: «Our protected area is 10 times larger and we disagree with the idea that the tourist from Poland will visit us on a
I asked then a question interesting for all the local inhabitants: why where Ukrainians employed for the construction works, and moreover, why did they get such big payments? I found out that the «reason was very simple»: these people work quickly and both day and night. If we used the local workers, it would have taken too long, and we «have no time». «Ukrainians do in a month what the locals do in a year», that is the statement of a man who did not try to cooperate with «our people» at all. This «Ukrainian» feature explains the big salary as well.
Regarding the functioning the timber plant, «it is a historical fact, the sawmill was placed here long time ago». And «Bambiza is not the architect of this». «We will earn money because today budget allocations are obviously insufficient. They are only sufficient for the forest protection service and the scientific department», but the director refused to give a specific sum.
Mr. Bambiza rejected the forecasts of the locals regarding the putting to a stop of the research programs. He is going to be «friendly» with science: «The investigations will be concrete and will have a specific purpose. It will not be the Pushcha, Pushcha … Hydrologists and biologists will work, as well as everyone who is essential to the Pushcha».
The Pushcha — For the Ownership of Ecologists
Being under the impression of the last words of the director of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha reserve, I was going to meet one of the oldest scientists. As the people from the village told me, he is writing a book about the Pushcha, to the protection of which he devoted 50 years of his life.
Vladimir Dackevich, a scientist and ornithologist, reacted with skepticism. At the beginning, he asked me not to consider the «petty intrigues» regarding the Pushcha as worthy of being noted. The story he told to me for half an hour was so unexpected and even sensational that I really forgot about the «petty intrigues».
As Vladimir Dackevich said, the Pushcha was never a reserve. The official history invented this term, whereas the real history is looking absolutely in another way. In the twenties the Polish scientists won the administration of the local forest enterprise and wanted to make a reserve from part of the territory, but only in the middle of the thirties this status was granted to the area. But the status never corresponded to the real situation. People have always cut the Pushcha, and only Germans during the last war provided it with safety.
Now the Poles took lands from the forest industry. They involved the public and popular actors. They organized demonstrations in front of the Government building and obtained expansions of the park's territory. We are in an opposite situation. The reserved patches of lands are merely the forest sites which are fruitless for industrialists. They are either difficult to reach, or have an inappropriate wood quality.
«Everything was false and wrong both earlier and now. Thousands of people were involved in cutting down the forest. But it is impossible to cut and to save the Pushcha simultaneously», Mr. Dackevich recollects. After the war, famous scientists from Russia visited the Pushcha. Everything was perfect. Monitoring and researches were being carried out, but there were very few publications about the Pushcha. There was no photo or scientific achievement's archive. Then Lysenko's period came and its consequences are visible to this day. The events in our Academy of Sciences are an obvious example of this«.
«Science degraded. As a matter of fact, science is absent from the Pushcha now. At the same time, timber industry was present here in the past and is present now. There is only one difference, namely the ecology». And Vladimir Dackevich takes the drainage of the Belarusian bogs as an example. «This process has had a strong effect on the Pushcha, because you see, half of the territory of Belarus was drained. As a first effect, spruces started to perish, and now the pines and oaks. And finally the sanitary cuttings can be justified by the fact that there is a lot of dead wood».
The only way out of the current situation is, as the scientist sees it, the immediate separation of science from the economic activity. It is necessary to put the Pushcha back into the hands of the ecologists. However, for this purpose the decision of a strong-willed person must be accepted. But who will do this? Mr. Dackevich does not know such people …
As he sincerely believes, the timber industrialists have created the national park. They settled down in our reserves and still even receive the international diplomas. But all this is false because there are no reasons to grant awards. You see, people will never bring back the felled forest. Our scientists helped only the industrialists and allowed the cuttings.
«The statement that the Pushcha is the richest world of animals is also not corresponding to the truth. Local species have disappeared long time ago. And the rest of the species living here are not native. Bisons too come from a zoo, and have a mixed Caucasian blood. They could not even adapt to Pushcha's environment. This is also not clear for the wild boar, which is actually a mongrel because of interbreeding with domestic pigs. If they are not fed artificially, they cannot survive on their own», Mr. Dackevich ascertains.
The most terrible aspect is that the Pushcha is already caught up in an accident, and if nothing will be changed, it will disappear. And as a matter of fact, it is already absent. Vladimir Dackevich is sure that he saw the rests of the charm of Belovezhskaya Pushcha while it was not lost. And it is not occasion to praise the scientists: «I have more hopes from the journalists and the youth which can stir up the society. Their task is to save the rests of the Pushcha and to preserve it. You see each year is important, though no changes are expected soon. And this stripping which takes place at the administration, only promotes disorder in the Pushcha».
Mr. Dackevich tells about the destiny of the Polesye region as a sad example of our managing of the native land. This is a territory which we have not studied because forests were felled, marshes were dried and soil ploughed. And when we thought of it, there were only plots of land as remnants of the former beauty. Recently biologists have found here even the Lady's Slipper and the marsh turtle — exotic species which are almost extinct on the planet. Scientists have developed a project to rescue these species with participation of the Europeans, but … everything was burned in the summer of the last year …
P.S. Today Belovezhskaya Pushcha is perishing because of the human impact, but we still have a chance to rescue it. In the following articles we will write about how the Soviet Union was brought to an end in this reserve, ten years ago.