The History of a Fire

The article by Heorhi Kazulka, Philosophy Doctor of Biology The Belovezhskaya Pushcha
Published in «Brestski kur'er» (Brest Courier) Newspaper,
October 01, 2002

On May 5th 2002, a fire broke out in Belovezhskaya Pushcha at the place where forest falls created by a hurricane in February were exploited. Because of the draught the fire was extinguished only on May 9th. Approximately 15 hectares of forest area were burnt, including about 5 hectares of the best and oldest coniferous trees. Many fire-wood and timber stocks were lost. The fire was so strong that there was a danger of turning into a top-crone fire. Fortunately, it was successfully put out. Old people from the Belovezhskaya Pushcha do not remember a similar fire created by human fault. Facts and evidences show that the cause of the fire was the burning in the open of remains from timber cutting, in conditions of dry and hot weather which are very favourable to bush-fire. This means there was a rough infringement of the technological discipline.

Some cultivated readers would wonder: is this fire a sensation? There are fires destroying hundreds of hectares of forest, and sometimes people cannot extinguish the peat lands not even in months. But, first, we have to remember that this is a world famous reserve. Secondly, only thanks to God there was no wind to help the fire grow into a top-crone forest fire and spread to a significant area, resulting in hundreds of hectares of woodland burned down. Third of all, I want to emphasize that a series of events were forerunners of this fire. These events show what has been going on in the National Park and evidently demonstrate tragic consequences of the nomination of new administration in 2001.

The Belovezhskaya Pushcha Forest is of great value to Europe. It is a standard of wild primary nature and is home for communities of relic plants and animals. Ancient forests similar to the Belovezhskaya Pushcha fully covered the European continent in pre-historical times. However, along with progress of civilization, they were gradually cut. Only separate small fragments remained and were saved to the present time. The Belovezhskaya Pushcha is the largest and best preserved remnant of these forests. This is why it is included in the World Natural Heritage of Mankind.

The country's difficult economic situation requires us to conduct economic activity within the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Primeval Forest. But in doing so the main rule must be — DO NOT HARM MUCH! Among all available ways and methods of managing nature, only those which cause minimal violations to the Primeval Forest must be applied. It is the alphabet of wildlife science. Experimental researches were carried out in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha, which created the opportunity to renew such apparently stable tradition along hundreds of years of forestry, as the burning of timber remains. It was proved that this «tradition» does not follow the patterns of nature, but contradicts them!

Actually the heaps of wood-remains, left in the forest for further natural decomposition are the environment for multiplication and refuge of invertebrates -predators, parasites and soil-formers. Rare invertebrates — inhabitants of the dead and decomposed wood — are often observed. Bumblebees, wasps and birds build hives and nests for own living purposes there. Frogs and lizards find refuge in the afternoon. Mice also find a home here.

On the contrary, forest pests including bark beetles do not use these heaps as a place for breeding and development. Firstly, they do not find their fodder base there. Secondly, they are victims of predators which abound there. It was also revealed that such heaps become centers of intensive humus forming because they are gradually decomposed. Owing to the process of slow rotting the forest soil is enriched with humus.

The burning of wood remains annihilates the useful animals. Burning sites become areas unfavourable to life for many years. Recommendations were made on saving the wood remains for the purpose of preserving useful animals in protected forests. These recommendations were authorized for putting into practice by the Scientific Council of the National Park. Results of researches were published in scientific issues and were repeatedly reported at scientific conferences.

By the way, similar results were obtained in other countries too. This is why in Scandinavia according to legislation it is forbidden to burn the wood-remains from selective sanitary cuttings within the forest. In Poland also, in the managed part of Belovezhskaya Pushcha (outside the national park), exploitation is conducted by methods which are standard for timber enterprises, but the wood-remains are left unburned within the forest. On protected territories of reserves and national parks in these and other European countries it is already an immutable rule for a long time.

Nevertheless, in the National Park «Belovezhskaya Pushcha» the situation is opposite. Here not only the results of scientific researches and practical recommendations authorized by Scientific Council are ignored, but here officials that follow these recommendations and apply advanced methods of nature protection and of nature use on the protected territory, are even punished!!!

Since last year the new management of the National Park headed by director Nickolai Bambiza actively introduced practices, characteristic to timber enterprises, into the protected forest. Simultaneously, eradication of the long-term local forms and traditions of careful use and protection of wild nature has been started. At the beginning, the press was misinformed and told that the wood remains become excellent food source for bark beetles if they are not removed and burnt in due time. And bark beetles, they said, doubled their populations and further destroyed spruce forests on large areas. It is interesting that experts of the forestry department of the park which are misinforming the public, are very familiar with the true situation. Moreover, some of them even voted for recommendations on saving the wood remains at previous meetings of the Scientific Council!

And this year the most competent and diligent foresters, which followed the nature protection legislation and scientific recommendations, were expelled from the park. On February 13th 2002 the general director of the national park, Nickolai Bambiza has issued the Order #64 «On disciplinary penalties». According to it the general forest warden and 5 foresters have got reprimands for «… inadequately carrying out duties regarding duly burning of wood-remains». Reprimands were prepared on the basis of check-ups made by the director on February 1st 2002. Results of these check-ups have revealed that on the territory of 5 forestry administrations " … the wood-remains are not completely burnt so they form piles of rubbish within the forest promoting the multiplication of bark beetle«. The above mentioned Order #64 also treats the infringement of the Inspection Certificate's requirements issued on August 30th 2001. This certificate contains conclusions of inspections on forest's sanitary condition and on conducting of forestry exploitations in the National Park »Belovezhskaya Pushcha«. These conclusions were reached by experts of the Property Management Department of the Presidential of the Republic of Belarus. On the basis of these results Order #1676 from October 2nd 2001 was also issued. In particular, in section 1.7 of this Inspection Certificate it is indicated » … if duly removal of the cut timber is impossible, it is necessary to proceed with debarking or to conduct chemical processing, while the wood-remains must be burnt«.

Nickolai Marchuk of the Belyanskoe forestry, an expert with 30 years of experience on the job, a decent and cultivated man was soon dismissed for refusing to comply. Before this, at the beginning of May, Evgeny Smoktunovich, the general forest warde, a forester in the third generation, which before the nomination of Nickolai Bambiza was the director of the national park and actively supported the preservation policy for Belovezhskaya Pushcha's wild nature, was also dismissed.

These examples clearly show that today, an extremely abnormal situation has been created in the world-famous reserve. Here the decisions that are taken, not only ignore scientific achievements and recommendations, but they are often purely absurd as a matter of fact. In particular, referring to orders prepared by the park's administration and to information certificates, I want to say directly:

Firstly, on the 1st of February bark beetles are not breeding in the wood-remains (they are never multiplying there) and nor elsewhere. You see, winter is still on this time of year.

Secondly, the legislation forbids any chemical processing on the territory of Belovezhskaya Pushcha.

And last, I want to say that ignorance showed to ecological discipline, to rules of nature use, and to scientific recommendations, as well as the violation of the existing technological discipline have all been causes of the above described fire.

Strong secrecy regime, which has been created in the National Park, can only be a cause of further occurrence for events like this. A change of the situation in Belovezhskaya Pushcha is possible only if normal methods of management will be applied in the famious reserve, as it is normal for the whole civilized world.