What protection do trees in Poland need?

Wiktor Bochenek

13 of May '24

What protection do trees in Poland need?

...

Recent years have not been the best time for Polish trees. Lex Szyszko, a series of realizations that led to the discourse on concretosis or the progressive issues of adaptation to climate change, which we have not seen on the event horizon for a long time. In the direction of change, the Foundation for Sustainable Development wants to come out.

Do trees have adequate protection in Poland?

The value of trees in our immediate environment, whether urban or rural, has long been discussed(you can read about the value of trees in the April issue of A&B - Green City). However, the issue of their protection has been the subject of many discussions and questions. How should we protect trees? What should be changed in legislation to improve these processes?

This topic was taken up by the Foundation for Sustainable Development, which proposed a "five for trees" - a set of solutions that are most relevant from the perspective of improving the status of trees and their protection. What was included in this inventory?

As part of the popularization of the project, activists began with an information campaign to parliamentarians

five for trees - what is it?

The inclusion of protection against devastation of tree crowns and roots was considered most urgent by activists and specialists, as these elements are not adequately protected from a legal perspective. Consideration of tightening the issuance of logging permits, only in cases where the need to cut is justified. One of the demands is also to make the fees and fines realistic, which activists and specialists say are too low. An important element is the creation of a new compensation system, which is inefficient with current climate needs. The last demand is to increase public participation in deciding about trees.

first postulate

What activists see as the opportunity to make these changes? What is most important and what should change? This is what we discuss with Sabina Lubaczewska(Foundation for Sustainable Development)

Wiktor Bochenek: You are after more meetings with parliamentarians. Can you see the first swallows of change on the horizon?

Sabina Lubaczewska: It seems that the problem is beginning to penetrate the broader consciousness of parliamentarians and government representatives. A Parliamentary Team of Friends of Trees has been established, but in parallel, a Team for the Protection of Trees and Shrubs is being formed at the Ministry of Climate and Environment, and meetings are underway of the Climate Change Adaptation Group, which has also addressed the issue of trees. One of the goals of the group's first meeting was to develop recommendations for amending the Law on Nature Protection regarding nature compensation.

second postulate

Wiktor: What is the basic problem with unnecessary tree cutting in Poland?

Sabina: The basic problem of tree protection is treating green infrastructure as an easily renewable good, because we will cut down a tree and plant a new one. In doing so, we forget that in order to restore a tree that is a hundred years old, we need just that kind of time. We are not able to compensate for the lost benefits.

By planting trees, we can take care of future generations, but for ours, every cut is an irreversible loss. In some places in Europe, such as the Netherlands, we are already moving away from thinking in terms of the monetary value of trees. What is important is the preservation of ecosystem services.

third postulate

The investor must ensure that the carbon sequestration capacity, for example, will be preserved after the investment in a given location. This is because it turned out that many investors could afford to destroy trees and could even pay large amounts of money for logging. In such a situation, the matter looks much more serious. Because many times it is impossible to replace growing trees. So they can't just be removed.

Victor: What are the problems with penalty systems for illegal logging?

Sabina: The penalties for illegal tree cutting are multiples of the fees, and the latter have been drastically reduced. The penalty for acts other than damaging a tree is double the fee for removing the tree in question, and in cases where the removal of a tree or shrub is exempt from the fee, the penalty is in the amount of such fee.

Activists called for a change in fees in 2018

As a result, they are low enough that it may simply be profitable for some, to cut down a tree illegally. While the changes and lowering of tree fees were taking place, we made a poster like this, which shows how much the "value" of trees has changed in an instant, although, after all, the ecosystem services that trees provide have not changed.

Legislative changes are also necessary to ensure the safety of people around trees. Trees that are damaged, destroyed, with their roots undercut or stripped completely pose a real threat to us. As residents, we cannot accept that trees are nonchalantly destroyed in the investment process, and then slowly die over the years until they are finally removed.

fourth postulate

Trees have the evolutionary ability to accumulate considerable reserves for times of crisis, and this is also their great bad luck, because in a situation where a human destroys a tree, for example, cutting off the roots or sharply reducing the crown, such a tree will struggle to survive for the next few years. Only that this process can take much more than five years. And that's how long executions of fines for destruction and damage to trees are deferred.

So it would be better for everyone if these trees died right away. Then the authority investigating the destruction or damage would see the cause and effect right away.

Victor: How do you see the future in terms of legislative changes?

Sabina: The proposals for change that we have been working on for the past few years are really well thought out and consulted by a wide range of community members, specialists, officials. It's a good resource to fix regulations that don't quite protect trees, but also don't ensure our safety around them.

Victor: Thank you for the interview.