Timeless Tune … of the Bark Beetle

The article by Maya Shendrik,
Published in «Respublika» (The Republic) Newspaper, #28–29,
February 7, 2003

Last year an awful hurricane swept over the Belovezhskaya Pushcha and it was followed by a plague of the bark beetle pest, to make things worse.

It goes without saying, the Belovezhskaya Pushcha is the most outstanding nature site, being protected not only in Belarus, but also in Europe. Like Baikal Lake, Amazonian rainforests, Geyser Valley in the Russian Far East and some others, the Belovezhskaya Pushcha was designated as a World Heritage Site by a decision of UNESCO. In 1997 it was awarded the Diploma for Protected Areas by the European Council. Very likely, this European distinction has brought into existence a long confrontation between the Pushcha forest and its administration on one side, and «independent» ecologists, some politicians, and journalists, on the other. The opposition press was persisting in bringing Europe to good reason, i.e.  was persuading it into recalling the cherished Diploma, because the fact of its possession by the reserve would be a proof of not only the value of its landscape and biodiversity, but also a recognition of the management efficiency of this site. It turns out, that this gem of world's rank is under reliable state protection, and all this in Belarus?

While speaking about the problems of the reserve, it is often claimed, «The Belovezhskaya Pushcha is perishing» by those, who are sure beforehand, that the Pushcha is destined to perish soon. These people least of all care about the real problems of the Pushcha forest and how the reserve's managers are trying to solve them. What matters for them is, how to focus public attention towards timber harvesting, all the rest will be done by public opinion. «Behold, a saw-mill has been put up in the protected area, the Pushcha is being ravaged!»

As a matter of fact, if there is someone, that is ravaging the unique reserve, it is spruce bark beetle (typografus). As early as June of 2001 an uncontrolled multiplication of this insect pest in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha caused considerable damage to century-old spruces. This tree makes up 14 per cent of the total area, mainly, in the restricted land use zone. Researchers and experts were urgently commissioned to study peculiarities of the pest's reproduction. They have revealed the causes of the uncontrolled multiplication of this pest and have given recommendations for its eradication. However, the extraordinarily hot summer months of the past two years have taken a terrible toll and allowed the advance of the infestation. Three consecutive commissions, set up by the administrative department of the President and the Ministry for Natural Resources and Environment Protection, had undertaken extra examinations of the Reserve and described the basic causes of the natural disaster, as follows: in addition to the extreme weather conditions, the average age of the spruce trees exceeded 140 years, mould was affecting the spruce roots, trunks and the biological resistance of the trees was dramatically decreasing. To put it in other words, the immunity in the spruce is so weak that it is no longer strong enough to cope with the bark beetle.

… Grigory Kravchuk, a forest pathologist, is a genuine veteran of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha, as he has been working in the reserve for over 40 years! His observations confirm, that the Reserve is facing the worst times at present. Grigory says, «The bark beetle has always been and always will be present in the Reserve, but earlier the spruce was able to endure it.»

«What has caused the present problem?»

«We are reaping fruits of the pseudo-amelioration in the 1960s.» Grigory explains, «The spruce has a shallow root system. Earlier it could reach down to the underground water level, now, however, the spruce endures water shortage, exclusively thanks to rain water, hence in dry summer it will certainly perish.»

The bark beetle in natural conditions is no doubt the forest doctor. From this point of view biologists are right and some «defenders» of the Pushcha would resort to this concept, suggesting that the pest beetle should not be blamed alone. «The saw-mill in the Pushcha is the pest». The beetle, however, serves the function of the forest doctor, if it colonizes trees, which are weak due to old age and changed hydrological regime, and speeds up their death. A healthy spruce will overflow bark beetles with tar, sealing them up in holes, made by the beetles themselves. Alas, a sick spruce is not able to accomplish this action. It will stand on for many years, being a pest-breeder. The only solution in this case is cutting. This is the opinion of Anna Dengubenko, deputy director for research of Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park, Philosophy Doctor of biology. By the way, that is, how the pest beetle is being eliminated in the Polish part of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha. «The main objective, while doing this», the former director of Bialowieza National Park (Poland) Czeslaw Okolow says, «is not to waste time! The Belarusians have missed their opportunity, for sure"…

Experts has been disputing for over six years, whether it is appropriate to cut the trees, affected by the bark beetle. It is common knowledge, lost time is never found again. The present drastic situation in the Pushcha has been mostly caused by the protracted disputes. This is the opinion of Galina Volchuga, the deputy manager of the Property Management Department of the President of Belarus. While the sanitary condition of the spruce is aggravating each day, infestation conditions still remain, and the spruce is getting dry. Radical measures must be undertaken quickly, says the biologist Anna Dengubenko. According to the survey in the autumn of 2001 the pest rate varied from 70 thousand to 4.5 million bark beetles per hector before the wintering. The spring report in 2002 confirmed the forecast that the spruce would be badly damaged. In the first half of the last year there were revealed 728 pestholes of the bark beetle infestation in an area of about 1880 hectares, while by autumn it was recorded at 200 thousand cubic meters of the affected spruce stand.

To make things worse, in February and later in July 2002 two hurricanes passed through the territory of the Reserve. It is difficult to visualize the extensive damage, which they had left behind, as the destruction was terrible to behold… The logs, that were tumbled about by natural elements, including the century-old trees, more than 60 thousand cubic meters of timber, certainly became dangerous. Wind-fallen and dry standing trees created all conditions for a possible forest fire. Certainly, the legitimate question was raised about sanitary clear cuttings on affected sites, totaling 167 hectares. The Committee for the Forestry by the Council of Ministers and the Ministry for Natural Resources and Environment Protection sanctioned the cropping. Immediately after this, again a hue and cry was raised regarding the forest cutting in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Moreover, some persons called this an illegal action. Accusations started to fly at the general director of the National Park, Nickolai Bambiza, suggesting, that he was thinking how to «provide» timber to the saw-mill instead of protecting the Reserve. And nobody among the writing fraternity, who was «attacking» the managers of the Pushcha, would recall, that as a result of the dramatic drop of the biological resistance of the forest against pests, the natural tree incidence rate reached an unprecedented figure in recent years. — up to 250 thousand cubic meters per year, while sanitary clear cutting yields only about 60 thousand cubic meters of timber. That is the usual volume of timber, being harvested annually and that is the answer to the accusation of «industrial harvesting the wood crop».

«Productive timber harvesting of any type is out of question», says Nickolai Bambiza. «The healthy forest is being harvested only in area of the Shereshevskoye timber enterprise, and this territory is not within the protected zones. Sanitary cutting and removal of the dead logs are not more than nature protection measures. They are envisaged by legislation, to keep up the necessary sanitary conditions. They are carried out only in the Regulated Nature zone, that is 68 per cent of the Pushcha's territory, and in the Recreational Use zone, 11 per cent of the total area. Nearly 16 per cent of the Pushcha's area is a Strictly Protected zone. Only forest protection and research is being conducted there. Therefore the bark beetle makes itself at home there. I say quite honestly, it's terrifying to be in that portion of the forest…»

For running the National Park the state annually allocates more than one million US dollars from the budget. But this amount is not sufficient. The National Park like any other economic structure has the right to make money for itself. Tourism and hunting, for example, brought in 500 thousand Euros last year. That's why Nickolai Bambiza plans to count on tourists and hunters in the coming future, so that to double their number. The appropriate facilities are required for this, not only the presence of wild boars and elk for shooting, but also a comfortable hotel, restaurant and amenities. All this is in the immediate plans of the Pushcha's staff, and the continued struggle with the bark beetle as well…