OUR INTERVIEW. Sałek: It just scares me. There are forces in Poland and Europe that want to take over the assets of the State Forests

“I don’t understand how the management of the State Forests can put forward such ideas. Almost all the management consists of foresters,” said PiS MP Paweł Sałek in an interview with wPolityce.pl. The former advisor to the President of the Republic of Poland is shocked by the plans to exclude huge forest areas from forest management, proposed by Director Witold Koss and Minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska. “They want to lead the National Forests to economic collapse. The next step will be a discussion about what should be done with this ‘bankruptcy estate’, the former State Secretary for the Environment warns.

Portal wPolityce.pl: Min. Together with the management of the State Forests, Paulina Hennig-Kloska wants to revolutionize the way Polish forests are managed. This should be done under the slogans of better nature conservation proposed to the government by non-governmental organizations.

Pawel Salek: National Forest Conference in Korzecko, in which, in addition to non-governmental organizations, participated, among others: also Minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska and Director of LP Witold Koss and Head of GDOŚ Piotr Otawski, was one-sided. Not all communities were represented there. Its purpose was actually just to justify what the management of the State Forests was proposing. These ideas from the current LP management are a big surprise to me.

What are these ideas?

The general director of Staatsbosbeheer wants to exclude 17 percent from current forest management. forest area. Another 3 percent is allocated to national parks. There are plans to generally move away from this form of forest management, which we have known for generations and which has worked very well.

And this is the idea of ​​​​the management of the State Forests?

It is surprising that such proposals are submitted by the director of the Forestry Commission, Witold Koss. Maybe he was politically coerced into this case? However, it can be expected that the Ministry of Climate will continue to put pressure on the State Forests to implement its ideas regarding the exclusion of huge forest areas. All this is contrary to logic, common sense, rational economics and biodiversity.

Do Polish foresters support the new State Forestry’s direction of action?

Some foresters unions have set up a crisis team and are announcing a protest in front of the ministry on December 6. In turn, the Association for the Sustainable Development of Poland named after Prof. Jana Szyszko began collecting signatures for a citizens’ motion to hold a referendum on the defense of the State Forests. This association has twice defended Polish forests against attempts to destroy them. This was in 2010 and 2014. Just like then, the campaign to collect signatures has now started, after 10 years. Society must once again defend Poland’s forests and make it clear that it wants them to remain as they are now. This is our national treasure, not only from the point of view of property, but also from the point of view of nature and labor. The new government today claims that everything that has happened so far has been bad, and that the real protection of nature and Poland’s forests is only now beginning. If so, why does Poland have such good natural resources? This is the result of years of well-considered forest use policy. Minister Hennig-Kloska wants to change this and exclude enormous forest areas from this proven sustainable forest management.

What will be the consequences?

From the point of view of environmental impacts, the planned changes will lead to the so-called inactivation of forest resources and their gradual degradation, and ultimately the decomposition of forest resources. Biological diversity will disappear. If we leave habitats to themselves, species associated with, for example, dead wood will invade these areas. This will mean that certain species will disappear from these areas. It will also be a tragedy from an economic and purely human point of view. The Director General of the Forestry Commission has already issued an order regarding the so-called jobization and parameterization of employment. In short, it is about carrying out a wave of layoffs among well-trained personnel. What will it look like? An example is PKP Cargo, where they are already optimizing employment by dismissing pregnant women and people of pre-retirement age. This will ruin the entire structure of Polish forestry, which has been formed for more than 100 years and has worked very well. The state did not contribute any money to the LP. On the contrary, this forestry company paid tribute to the state budget and local government budgets in the form of various compensations.

This means that the budget will lose a new source of income. Is this not a sufficient argument to stop the planned changes?

Staatsbosbeheer is the largest nature and forestry company in the European Union and is doing very well. I believe they want to lead the National Forests into economic collapse. The next step will be a discussion about what should be done with this ‘bankruptcy estate’. Perhaps there will be calls to establish some regional companies. There can be many of these ideas. Some non-governmental organizations demand that national forests be included in the state budget. This is dangerous because there may be nothing left of a perfectly functioning and self-financing company. Just look at the state of this government’s budget.

Is the director of Staatsbosbeheer aware of how much responsibility he is taking on by endorsing the ideas of the Ministry of Climate? After all, we are talking about an attempt to destroy the centuries-old achievements of Polish foresters.

It amazes me that a forest ranger who has worked in the National Forests all his life makes such decisions and comes up with similar proposals. This just scares me. I don’t understand how LP management can propose such ideas. The management consists almost entirely of foresters who have worked in the Forest Service all their professional lives and know what the planned reform entails. They realize that there will be no money to continue the business if such large forest areas are excluded from the economy. If SFs do not obtain timber for the sawmill, timber and furniture industries, they will have no money for their operations. They will not be able to survive on subsidies from the leaking state budget.

Is the Green Deal the only reason for the mine planned by the ministry? The stumps of forest reform?

Of course it is also about the Green Deal, but not only that. However, this is a “cunning” thing that comes up from time to time. Polish forests have always aroused great passion for several reasons. In 2010, then Prof. Jan Szyszko, we fought not to include the State Forests in the budget, because this would lead to their privatization. In 2014, a referendum was held on Polish agricultural and forest land and the preservation of the current forest structure. Then they managed to defend it, but after ten years the issue returned again with the new government. There are certain forces in Poland and Europe that want to take over this ownership. In 2024, loud slogans about nature conservation will be used to lead to a hostile takeover. Non-governmental organizations tell people that forests in Poland are not protected. A section of society is unaware that it is participating in an operation aimed at ruining vast national assets. These activities are carried out much more cunningly today than in previous years. Not to mention the claims made by certain external entities about forest areas, which were widely reported in the press in 2014.

Thanks for the interview.

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