Greenpeace, Poland agree on Europe's last primeval forest

(WARSAW) - After three days of protests, environmental group Greenpeace said Friday it had agreed with Poland on ways to protect the country's Bialowieza forest, Europe's last first-growth woodland.

"Thanks to today's agreement, logging will take place outside zones that are naturally precious. It's a great step forward in protecting this unique forest," Robert Cyglicki, head of Greenpeace Poland, told reporters about the accord with the environment ministry.

On Wednesday, six Greenpeace activists from Poland, Austria, Finland and Hungary scaled the environment ministry building in Warsaw and strung a huge banner featuring an enormous heart saying "I love puszcza" (I love the forest), which was meant as a warning against logging Bialowieza.

Fearing the issue will come up again next year, Greenpeace also wants the expansion of the Polish national park which currently covers some 17 percent of the Bialowieza forest.

Last week Polish environmentalists warned deforestation was threatening Bialowieza's flora and fauna and said they had complained to the European Union over logging practices.

But Polish forestry officials deny there is any logging for commercial purposes in Bialowieza, saying only diseased or infested trees are being felled.

The vast Bialowieza forest, which covers some 140,000 hectares (345,000 acres) and spans the Polish-Belarussian border, is the final remnant of a massive woodland that spread across Europe after the last Ice Age, which ended about 10,000 years ago.

About 800 European bison live there freely, half of them on the Polish side. It is also home to rare bird species and lynx.