Poland is beginning to harvest some 400,000 trees in the ancient Bialowieza Forest, over the objections of the country's own scientists, Greenpeace, and the European Union.  The logging plan effectively will clear-cut two-thirds of the UNESCO-listed woodland which represents one of the last remaining examples of the forest that once covered the continent.

Officially, Environment Minister Jan Szyszko of the ultra-conservative ruling Law and Justice Party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc, or PiS) claims the clear-cutting plan is necessary to "inhibit the degradation of the forest's key natural habitats" by a bark beetle outbreak.  But PiS' logging quota is three-times higher than the state foresters' initial management plan.  Five years into a scheme set out by the previous government for the period between 2012 to 2021, woodcutters cleared 90 percent of the earmarked 57,000 cubic meters of wood - so PiS raised the bar on clear-cutting.  The European Commission, which oversees the Natura 2000 programme, is now looking into that decision to increase timber harvesting and has not ruled out taking legal steps against Poland.

Environmentalists in Poland and around the world are against destroying the forest.  Pointing out the obvious, the say the logging would damage the ecosystem of the forest.  They also argue that the bark beetle's presence is a natural occurrence in the ancient woodland's life cycle.

"We're calling on the European Commission to intervene before the Polish government allows for the irreversible destruction of the Bialowieza forest," said Greenpeace Poland's Katarzyna Jagiello.  She insists the PiS government "does not understand that this insect is a frequent and natural visitor, that it has always existed and the forest has managed to survive."

Bialowieza Forest is by any account, one of the most amazing places on earth.  Unspoiled for 10,000 years, it straddles the border of Poland and Belarus and is the home to thousands of animal species, including the European Bison, as well as fir, ash, and oak trees 40 to 50 meters tall.  But while the Belarus side of border is protected as a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Polish side is only partially protected from idiotic exploitation for short-term gain.