by Lesław Wołejko
The Biebrza Mire, situated in North-eastern Poland is one of the most valuable fen and marsh areas in central Europe. It is protected within the borders of the National Park and proposed as a future Natura 2000/Emerald Network-Site. According to WWF-Poland and local NGO's the area is endangered by a motorway, called the Via Baltica that will connect Warsaw with the Baltic States, eventually reaching to Helsinki. This expressway is a part of the pan-European infrastructure and will be financed by the EU Pre-Accession Funds (PHARE, ISPA).
Primarily two variants for the construction of Via Baltica in North-eastern Poland were taken into consideration. A few years ago, the motorway was set to pass to the west of the Biebrza National Park via the town of Lomza. This concept is supported by nature protection organisations as the variant of minimal negative impact. However, following powerful lobbying from local political interest groups (at stake are 600 million Euro), the government agreed that the road should go via Bialystok, the main town in the region. This proposition is strongly supported by the Ministry for Infrastructure and, with certain amendements, has been accepted by the Ministry of Environment. According to the oponents, the Bialystok variant would cause dramatic long-term negative impacts on the wildlife in the entire bio-geographical region. Four Important Bird Areas (IBAs) will be threatened: the current plans foresee the Via Baltica to be routed through the Biebrza Mire and the Augustowska and Knyszynska primeval forests, also passing by the Narew river valley. Moreover, this variant is almost 30 km longer then the route via Lomza. The issue was addressed at the 23rd meeting of the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention in Strasbourg (1-5 December 2003), as reported by Dessi Krueger, (Euronature). It was brought forward, that the main effect and the risks of construction of the heavy traffic expressway would be:
- creation of major barriers to the dispersal of large mammals and other animals
- increasing fragmentation of populations and thus lowering their numbers and viability
- cutting migration corridors and riverine corridors
- increase in noise of passing vehicles and secondary developments (shops, petrol stations, land-use changes)
- environmental pollution (air, soil and groundwater)
- human interference leading to fauna mortality and transformation of plant communities
The main counter-arguments of the supporters of the Bialystok variant concentrate on the objective needs of a technical upgrade of the already existing road passage through Biebrza, which is in a bad technical condition and thus creates a real danger to human lives and environmental quality (e.g. possible accidents with hazardous substances).
After the discussion in Strasbourg no long-term solution was found so far. It was, however, stated that “it is very important to stress on the role of the European Union, where no EU funding should be given for the motorway construction, if it is not compatible with the EC environmental legislation. That’s why EU funds must be used in a way that is compatible with the EC environmental acquis.”
Following several months of campaigning from environmental groups and the recommmendations from the Bern Convention Standing Committee in Strasbourg, Polish authorities will be expected to complete a Strategic Environmental Assesment before deciding on the route for the controversial expressway.
For more information, take a look at:
- Krueger, D., Report from the session “Specific sites and populations” 23rd meeting of the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention, 1-5 December 2003, Strasbourg, Euronature.
- Ministry Of The Environment, The course-route of the Via Baltica Express Road, Press Release Warsaw, 21 May 2003.
- http://www.wwf.pl/0312041454_newsen.php