Intro
Bialowieza forest  other places
springtime  ecotourism
Green
Lungs
Biebrza
Narew
NEW! Karkonosze
Tatra
Winter in Podlaskie
Beskid Zywiecki
Flora
"Geluid uit
het oerbos"



Bialowieza Forest is called by experts the last primeval forest in the European lowland area - or at least a part of its woods. A place where biologists research every niche of the forest-ecosystem, where eco-tourists meet 400 year old oaks, while local foresters harvest timber in the forest-stretches surrounding the strictly protected reserve. The forest is located on the border with White-Russia. A big fence prevents people to cross this line. But also European bisons, red deer and other animals live in separated families.

Follow me on this old track, more often walked on by elk than by man!

The forest is in danger !
Bialowieza Forest Campain (Poland) -  Belovezhskaya Pushcha 21st C (Belarus)
Sustainable Forest Degeneration (december 2004) - article in English - letter - article in Dutch

Natural beauty of Bialowieza Forest
Forest ground covered by Allium vineale
Mosaic of damp loving ash-alder and dry spruce-pine forest
Older spruces dying naturally

Sun shining from behind a hornbeam
Pines on lowmoor, a rare and vulnerable type of forest
The Spotted flycatcher, one of four flycatchers that live in the forest
The floor on this spot in the forest is frequently trampled by... European bisons

European Bison - Symbol of Bialowieza National Park
Storm and thunder strike!
In the night after July 5th 2002 numerous trees were killed or damaged as a result of a big storm
The storm gives birds and insects new places to live and find their food
Freshly damaged wood that hit a forestry marking (on the left)
Human impact on the Bialowieza forest


Harvesting of the forest (wood-production) is one of the most easily visible human actions in most forests.
Although the forest of Bialowieza is not 'managed' like some woodlands in the tropics it is continuously degrading.
Remnants and characteristics of primeval forest stands gradually disappear because of intense management actions.
Therefore protection of the whole forest is pleaded for by nature conservationists.
People protect a part of the forest, a hunter shot the bison on this sign at the border of the protected area
During World War II Germans used these lorries to take wood from the primeval forest...

This resting place in the forest reminds of the battles fought there during WW II.
Open places have been created mainly for hunting and cattle grazing. Here you can find single and enormous trees, like in city-parks
An apple (Malus sp.) in an open area. The lower part of the tree is not kept in shape by gardening tools, but by wildlife...
Fresh fogs shortly after sundown on the Lutownia stream - during WW II forest beside the stream has been removed
"Exoten in het oerbos" - article in Dutch on Alien trees and shrubs in Bialowieza

(c) Frank Verhart - Last update: 24 March 2007


Intro
Bialowieza forest  other places
springtime  ecotourism
Green
Lungs
Biebrza
Narew
NEW! Karkonosze
Tatra
Winter in Podlaskie
Beskid Zywiecki
Flora
"Geluid uit
het oerbos"