MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Thursday, Polish Environment Minister Jan Szyszko addressed the Prosecutor’s office to remove the Bialowieza Forest from the UNSECO World Natural Heritage list. Poland has also decided to start deforestation of the part of Bialowieza Forest which is not in the heritage list.
"In case Poland will seek the exclusion of Bialowieza Forest from the list of the world heritage sites, this will mean that the country consciously wants to violate international law with regard to the implementation of the convention on heritage," Kreindlin said, recalling that this year Poland is the chair of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
Kreindlin said that Szyszko’s allegation of Bialowieza Forest’s illegal inclusion in the world heritage list did not correspond with reality.
Kreindlin also said that Shishko’s willingness to attribute a mixed status of natural and cultural heritage to the Bialowieza Forest indicate a lack of competence.
The Bialowieza Forest, located on the Belarus-Polish border, is the greatest remainder of Europe’s original primeval forest.
