Update: 27 November 2023
Roman Jaworski, deputy head of Bolesławiec Municipality:
(...) we inform you that employees of the local authority inspected plot no. 49/1 in Parkoszów in the presence of representatives of the National Agricultural Support Centre in Rakowice Wielkie. During the inspection, KOWR representatives stated that the trees were being cut down by the plot’s lessee, with their consent, in order to restore the plot to agricultural use. They referred to Article 83f(1)(3b) of the Nature Conservation Act of 16 April 2004, which in such a case exempts the property holder from the obligation to apply for a permit to remove trees.
He adds:
During the inspection, it was established that the plot’s lessee would suspend the felling of the trees identified on site until the local authority had collected more extensive evidence, which would make it possible to assess whether the work being carried out complied with the law. At present, the local authority is conducting an explanatory investigation into the matter.
Let us recall. We reported on the matter on 24 November, while the incident itself occurred at the beginning of November this year in Parkoszów. As the FOTA4Climate Foundation announced on its social-media profile:
We were asked to intervene over the felling of old-growth oak trees near the Bóbr River, close to Bolesławiec.
It added:
According to an on-site assessment by arborist Krystian Komarnicki, approximately 20 of more than 60 mature oak trees aged 100–120 years were cut down. The work appears to be typically commercial in nature. The plot’s owner—the National Agricultural Support Centre in Rakowice Wielkie—confirmed that it had granted permission for work supposedly intended to restore unused land to agricultural use. Bolesławiec Municipality found no irregularities in the planned work.
The activists noted: – The work is being carried out under the liberalised LEX Szyszko regulations, which permit trees to be cut down on agricultural land.
They also shared their doubts regarding the felling in question—which in their opinion did not comply with the guidelines of the General Directorate for Environmental Protection—listing, among other things, that:
- the plot is located in the immediate vicinity of the river;
- “the trees being removed constitute a wooded area and probably also meet the definition of a forest”;
- “it is reasonable to assume that the trees being cut down provide habitats for protected lichen species.”
The foundation stated that it had asked the National Agricultural Support Centre and Bolesławiec Municipality to “suspend the felling of the wooded area”, and had also asked the District Prosecutor’s Office in Bolesławiec “to check whether there had been a failure to perform duties when the felling of trees near the Bóbr River was being approved”.
We asked the National Agricultural Support Centre about the matter. We will publish the response as soon as we receive it. The Bolesławiec prosecutor’s office confirms that a report concerning Parkoszów has been submitted to it.
The organisation emphasised: – The felling of several dozen old oak trees represents a significant loss to nature, as well as substantial damage to the landscape.
More about FOTA4Climate.