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An alder swamp in the Bialowieza National Park in April © Jan Walencik 2009

Jan Walencik Photography

ARBORES VITAE

The last European primeval forest

an exhibition of large format photographs by Jan Walencik organized by the European Earth Center Foundation

Warsaw, the National Stadium

During the Climate Summit COP19/CMP9

November 11th-22nd 2013 open all day in the corridors

leading to the plenary session

ADMISSION FREE

Under the auspices of the Polish Committee for UNESCO

Marcin Korolec, Minister for the Environment

www.arboresvitae.eu www.centrumziemi.eu

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CONTENTS: Introduction to the exhibition……….........................................................3 Honorory patronage and exhibition curators..........................................5 Authors of the pictures and texts………… ………………................................7 The organizer......………………………………………………....................................8 History of the Primeval Forest’s protection.............................................9 Captions to the photographs for publication and copyright..................11 Contact………………………………………………………..........................................13

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Introduction

ARBORES VITAE – The last European primeval forest

An exhibition held under the auspices of the Polish National Commission of UNESCO

and Poland’s Minister of the Environment Photography: Jan Walencik Texts accompanying photographs: Mariusz Glubowski

Remaining texts: Janusz Korbel, Marta Maziarz, Andrzej Strumiłło, Jan Walencik, Tomasz Wesołowski Curators and exhibition organizers: Sylvie Derdacki, Krzysztof Derdacki

Straddling the Polish and Belarusian border and covering an area of fifteen hundred square kilometres, extends an extraordinary territory – the Bialowieza Primeval Forest, the last temperate zone lowland primeval forest in the world. It is here among the venerable oaks and towering, fifty-metre high spruces that for millennia nature has patiently developed a sanctuary, a wealth of knowledge about ages past. The Bialowieza Primeval Forest is a unique place not only in Europe but the whole world. It constitutes an extremely valuable point on the new map of the European Union, one worth special protection. In 1979, the forest was the third Polish feature to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site; in 1992 the Belarusian section of the Primeval Forest was likewise listed. Protected by the Polish king Wladyslaw Jagiello, it has survived at least partially intact, providing shelter to an unprecedented number of animal and plant species (more than 14 thousand), many of which no longer exist anywhere else in the world, making this one of our planet’s most exceptional wildlife sites. The Primeval Forest is rightly associated with the European bison, the largest land animal of the Old Continent. This king of the Primeval Forest shares his ancient home with some magnificent predators: wolves, pine martens and lynx, but also with an amazing number of other species - insects, birds and small mammals, as well as vascular plants, mosses, lichens and fungi. Today, as a result of irresponsible human activity, the forest faces a serious threat. To draw attention to this problem, the acclaimed photographer and documentary filmmaker Jan Walencik and his wife Bożena have immortalized Bialowieza’s natural wonders in amazing photographs and films, using which the organizers of the present exhibition have composed a story in words and images of a fairytale land not to be found anywhere else in the world. The exhibition "ARBORES VITAE - the last primeval forest" has been seen by more than 200 thousand visitors in various Polish cities - Lodz, Bialystok and Krakow - and more than seven thousand secondary school pupils and students have taken part in the accompanying educational program. Disseminating knowledge about biodiversity, promoting the idea of sustainable development and encouraging environmentally friendly attitudes, the whole ARBORES VITAE event may be regarded as an exciting adventure, but at the same time an attractive teaching tool and source of reliable knowledge, allowing the public to feel and understand the Primeval Forest and learn about its inhabitants. Today, the exhibition takes place at a particularly important time for the Bialowieza Primeval Forest, because after years of effort by scientists and NGOs, Poland’s Minister for the Environment has taken important legislative steps that give hope for better protection of the forest and a chance for its survival

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for future generations. According to the forest management plan (FMP) newly adopted by the Minister for the Bialowieza Primeval Forest, the amount of timber that may be harvested is to be maintained at the level of 48.5 thousand cubic metres per year, which fully meets the needs of the local community. Furthermore, no commercial logging or clearing work will be permitted in any of the forest’s stands over a hundred years in age located outside the Bialowieza National Park. The interdisciplinary event "ARBORES VITAE - The last primeval forest" consists of the following elements available to all free of charge:

100 large-format photographs (180x120 cm) with scientific descriptions prepared by the leading Bialowieza Primeval Forest experts and researchers – in Polish and English,

25 information boards about Bialowieza and other primeval forests and the importance of trees for man and the environment - in Polish and English. While admiring these beautiful photographs of the Primeval Forest, it is worth remembering the words of that great nature lover Pope John Paul II, who ten years ago sent the exhibition’s organizers the following message, so meaningful today: “The beauty of this land urges me to appeal for its preservation for future generations. If you love your native land, don’t let this cry go unheeded.”

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Honorory patronage and exhibition curators Białowieża Primeval Forest is a unique natural system. It is the only part of that original primeval forest that once covered Europe to have remained in such good condition, and therefore is one of the most valuable natural sites in the world. Life in this forest follows an unchanged rhythm all its own. Thanks to its nature reserve we see wilderness as it was hundreds and even thousands of years ago. It's amazing that the site has remained in such a form to this day. With good reason UNESCO awarded the Białowieża National Park World Biosphere Reserve status in 1977, and two years later the Białowieża Primeval Forest was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The primeval forest tracts are a complex, rich ecosystem and a valuable source of biodiversity. They provide a refuge for many species of plants and animals, such as the rare European bison – Europe’s largest land animal. The several hundred years over which the forest has enjoyed protection have ensured the survival of many organisms that have become extinct elsewhere. This forest is 25,000 acres of untarnished wilderness. This year the UN Climate Change Conference COP19 is being held in Warsaw. Ministers, environmentalists and delegates will shape an agreement to combat climate change. In this context, it is worth remembering the very important function of primeval forest. Forests are a natural and safe mechanism for capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; they are the green lungs of the world. Protection of the Białowieża Primeval Forest has long been a subject of special interest for natural history circles. Recently, we initiated a project entitled „Save the wilderness”, which included the establishment of a modern centre for initiating, obtaining financing for, and implementing long-term programs for the development of the forest and its inhabitants. It's a way of combining social development with the preservation of this unique tract of primeval forest. Protection of this area is a priority for every Minister of the Environment. The spell cast by the Białowieża Primeval Forest must remain strong forever.

Marcin Korolec – Poland’s Minister of the Environment

Białowieża Primeval Forest is unique not only in terms of nature, but also in what it symbolises. It occupies a special place in Polish culture. The extraordinary beauty of this place has meant that as yet the Primeval Forest is the only Polish wildlife feature to have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In addition, UNESCO has bestowed on Białowieża the status of a World Biosphere Reserve under the UNESCO program "Man and Biosphere" (MaB). This imposes on us an obligation to protect the forest in accordance with all the international standards adopted by the UNESCO forum, and also prompts us to inform the public about the importance and rich diversity of the flora and fauna occurring here, where so many species are unique on a world scale.

Sławomir Ratajski - Secretary General of the Polish National Commission for UNESCO

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Tree of Life – is a photograph from the exhibition EARTH FROM ABOVE, depicting a lone acacia growing on the savannah in Kenya’s Tsavo National Park. Around the tree can be seen a whole network of tracks trodden by animals coming here from all around. Because this tree gives life. The Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai also comes from Kenya. Observing a tree in her home village, she saw how much we depend on trees. She has said that when the trees disappear, we too will vanish. Thanks to this conviction, before she passed away she helped plant over 50 million trees! Not only in drought ridden Africa but all over the world, the existence of living beings depends on the presence of trees, especially those of any great age. It is precisely the oldest trees that are the most important in nature. A single hundred-year-old beech tree absorbs a similar amount of carbon dioxide and produces as much oxygen as approximately 1700 ten-year-old trees! Each individual tree creates around itself a small world full of life and in turn, these small worlds join to create entire ecosystems. Trees create life; they are life – trees of life. This fact became the obvious choice for the title of the ARBORES VITAE project. The European Earth Centre Foundation has for many years been organizing interdisciplinary events, whose aim is to promote knowledge about the current state of our planet, promote sustainable development and cultural openness, thereby raising the public’s environmental and civic awareness. Following on from its projects EARTH FROM ABOVE and PLANET OCEAN (viewed in Poland by over 2.5 million visitors), the Foundation is proposing a new artistic and educational event entitled "ARBORES VITAE - The last European primeval forest", to promote a holistic vision of ecology through art and education. This is an incredible journey through time and space to the jewel of Europe's biodiversity - the Białowieża Primeval Forest, the last temperate zone lowland primeval forest in the world. The ARBORES VITAE (TREES OF LIFE) exhibition prompts broader reflection not only on the subject of the Białowieża Primeval Forest, but also other endangered primeval forests in the world and their protection for future generations. Since trees give us life, let us ensure them the same. By our daily attitudes, let’s take care to ensure that life goes on. In this we are inspired by the photographs of Jan Walencik, one of the most acclaimed Polish wildlife photographers and filmmakers. Together with his wife Bożena, for over 25 years he has been passionately documenting the now endangered, but still little-known world of forest wildlife. Through their testimony, and the texts of other distinguished experts on the Primeval Forest, we have a chance to learn the secrets of this sanctuary and consider the roots of our civilization.

Sylvie and Krzysztof Derdacki – exhibition curators and organizers

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

THE AUTHOR OF THE EXHIBITION’S PHOTOGRAPHS

The primeval forest has always been for us a symbol of wild, untainted nature, a place where you can talk with the Supreme Being, a special kind of temple, and it would never do to destroy what is holy. How often we fail to understand and appreciate what we have. I fear that when many people’s eyes are finally opened - it will already be too late. Jan Walencik

Jan Walencik (born 1955) is one of the most celebrated Polish documentary filmmakers and nature photographers. Since the eighties connected with the National TV channel Telewizja Polska, where he gained recognition as co-author of the cult programme Zwierzyniec (Zoological Garden). Assisted by his wife Bożena (born 1956) he has made about 50 natural history films, among others the 5-part serial Pulse of the primeval forest, awarded the MFFT Grand Prix in Milan and recognized as a true breakthrough in Polish natural history filming. His most recent super production - Saga of the primeval forest has been equally successful.

Jan Walencik is also a celebrated photographer and the author of albums that with their extraordinary style of narration and composition have gone a step further than the existing books about Polish nature. Inspired in his youth by the accomplishments of the famous wildlife photographer Włodzimierz Puchalski, he has chosen wildlife as the main subject of his works, above all his beloved Bialowieza Primeval Forest, in which he has lived together with his wife for the last 20 years.

THE AUTHORS OF THE EXHIBITION’S SCIENTIFIC TEXTS

Prof. Andrzej Strumiłło - renowned painter, graphic artist, photographer and writer. It is said he is an artist of the borderlands between the elements, those hidden in nature and those dormant in man, the builder of civilizations. One of his great inspirations is wildlife; he is closely connected with the Bialowieza Primeval Forest.

Prof. Tomasz Wesołowski PHD, D.Sc. – Head of Wrocław University’s Bird Ecology Faculty, president of the European Ornithologists’ Union. Along with his team, he has been conducting uninterrupted research for over 30 years in the Bialowieza Primeval Forest and more precisely, in the last fragment of temperate zone primeval forest to be preserved in the Bialowieza National Park.

Dr. Mariusz Glubowski - Doctor of biology, who for several years has worked as Assistant Professor in Lodz University’s Biology Teaching and Biodiversity Research Department. A lover of photography and Polish wilderness. He currently works as an independent zoology expert.

Dr. Janusz Korbel - Doctor of architecture, activist for wildlife protection, photographer, journalist and member of Bialowieza National Park’s scientific council.

Marta Maziarz PhD – ornithologist and postgraduate of Wrocław University’s Biology Faculty, collaborating closely with Prof. Tomasz Wesołowski.

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THE ORGANIZER

The European Earth Center Foundation, with its offices in Krakow (earlier in Lodz), is one of the leaders in the organization of large-scale pro-ecological events in Poland. The Foundation’s mission is to disseminate knowledge about the current state of our planet, promote sustainable development and cultural tolerance, and thus increase ecological and civic awareness in Poland and other European countries. The outdoor events organized by the Foundation include: "EARTH FROM ABOVE - A portrait of the planet at the beginning of the twenty-first century” by the french photograph and ecologist Yann Arthus-Bertrand, under the auspices of UNESCO and the Polish Minister for the Environment; "PLANET OCEAN – In the heart of marine biodiversity” by the french biologists Laurent Ballesta & Pierre Descamp, under the auspices of IUCN and the Polish Minister for the Environment; and "ARBORES VITAE - the last European primeval forest" about the Bialowieza Primeval Forest, under the auspices of the Polish National Commission of UNESCO and the Polish Minister for the Environment. These exhibitions were seen by almost 3 million visitors across the country, and the accompanying educational workshops were attended by more than 30 thousand high school pupils and students from various regions of Poland. These were multi-media and interdisciplinary projects combining large-format photographs, cinema screenings, internet, concerts, conferences and education, revolving around three main themes: art, ecology and spirituality. Typically, they have been integrated in the urban landscape, where for the purpose of cultural promotion, they open up new exhibition venues – the Łazienki Park in Warsaw, Krakow’s Planty Park, the old tram terminus and municipal park in Lodz, a former foundry in Zabrze, and the fishing port in Hel. The Foundation was established in 2008 by filmmakers Sylvie and Krzysztof Derdacki, specializing in cultural marketing and social communication. The European Earth Center’s mission includes building a cultural bridge between Eastern and Western Europe. In addition to "importing" events to Poland, it aims to promote abroad the artistic and intellectual achievements of acclaimed Central and Eastern European artists and scientists.

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Białowieża - paradise lost?

Białowieża Primeval Forest is the last tract of the real forest that ages ago covered the whole of Europe. Today, it has an area of 1,520 square kilometres and is located on the border of Poland and Belarus. The Primeval Forest was fortunate in that it was inaccessible, being located far from the sea, navigable rivers or large towns. In the Middle Ages and the subsequent centuries, when Europe's forests were largely cut down, the trees in this forest were able to continue quietly growing, because there were no rivers available for logging purposes. As a refuge of wild animals – with the bison at the forefront – Białowieża Primeval Forest became a private hunting ground protected by the country’s rulers, thanks to which, the natural processes were never compromised here. It has only been recent history that has taken a destructive toll. Firstly, in the nineteenth century, Russia’s tsars cut the Forest up with corridors serving to beat game during the hunting season and then, at the beginning of the twentieth century they brought to the very heart of Białowieża a railroad, so that together with their guests they could make hunting trips by train. During the First World War, this railroad was used to export millions of cubic meters of timber from the Forest. At the edge of the Forest, in Hajnówka, then a small village populated by forest guards and made accessible thanks to the railway line, the Germans built the largest wood processing plant in Europe. Along with worldwide developments in technology and the increase in production, there awoke environmental awareness, especially among philosophers and men of culture, but also naturalists. For example, at the beginning of the First World War, in 1915, the German naturalist Hugo Conwentz of Danzig, despite the turmoil of war, managed to arrange for the Forest’s first, tiny nature reserve to be established, which he called the Nature Park. After the war, trees continued to be cut down, but thanks to the efforts of Polish naturalists, with Władysław Szafer at the forefront, this nature park was renamed a reserve in 1921, and soon after a national park. Even back then a heated dispute raged between the foresters, who wanted to keep the Forest as an economic entity and the naturalists, whose aim was to protect the natural processes and natural – indeed primeval – character of the Forest’s many different parts. Huge losses were sustained by the Forest as a result of several years (1924-1929) of exploitation by the English company The Century European Timber Corporation, which continued the cutting of the forest begun by the Germans. Unfortunately the felling of trees did not stop with the termination of the contract with that corporation. The Second World War fortunately spared the Forest, because it was intended to again make the area an extensive hunting ground, this time for the leaders of the Third Reich. After the Second World War, Stalin split the Białowieża Primeval Forest in two with a border, its smaller section falling to Poland, but this included the historic national park, which then comprised 7% of the Polish section (about 46 square kilometres). On its side of the border, the Soviet Union established a forest hunting facility and collective farms, but in 1991 a national park was established, covering the entire area (it was there, at the Wiskule residence, that the

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Białowieża Agreement was signed in 1991, ending the existence of the Soviet Union). Meanwhile, on the Polish side disputes continued on what was more important – the timber industry, economic requirements or whether priority should be given to protecting and enlarging the tiny park. Even when in 1979 it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, normal economic operations were still being conducted on more than 90% of the forest area. Oak trees hundreds of years old were being cut and the Forest was churned up by heavy equipment. To avoid the loss of its original features, inevitable in such a situation, NGOs and scientists began a campaign to enlarge the national park and prohibit the cutting of older trees. In 1994, they presented to the Polish Parliament the trunk of a centuries-old oak that had been felled. Its photographs were seen all over the world. As a result of international pressure in 1996, the Polish government enlarged the Białowieża National Park to cover over 16% of the Polish section of the Forest (105 square kilometres). Two years later, a ban was also introduced prohibiting the cutting of any trees aged a hundred years or older outside the national park. Thanks to those steps and the establishment of a network of new nature reserves, and above all thanks to the enormous power of its natural processes, Białowieża Primeval Forest is regaining its unique and primeval character. In 2007, the entire Polish section of the Białowieża Primeval Forest (about 620 square kilometres) was included in the EU's Natura 2000 program as an area for the special protection of birds and habitats. However, the dispute over its use continues unabated. Despite the attempts by the Polish government over many years to establish a national park embracing the entire area of the forest (which Belarus has carried out in its section), owing to opposition from local governments, on the Polish side the national park still covers only 16% of the forest’s surface. In this situation, in 2012 the Minister for the Environment decided to significantly reduce the amount of timber harvested. Enforcing this decision has meant that the Białowieża Primeval Forest now enjoys the best protection since the period before the First World War. However, the Minister’s decision only covers a period of ten years, because a management plan has been developed concerning just that period for the forest, which mostly remains a forest under economic management. Białowieża Primeval Forest - the last system of mixed lowland forest to have survived in Europe, while maintaining the characteristics of a primeval forest - is still not safe for future generations and is only temporarily properly protected. All of us - citizens of Poland, Europe and the world – bear responsibility for its conservation. The few percent of the Forest recognized as a World Natural Heritage Site will not retain the features of the last primeval forest, if all around this protected area forestry operations are allowed to return. In the ongoing cultural, political, philosophical and sometimes religious dispute over this last true European wilderness, responsibility for its fate lies with us all.

Janusz Korbel – Polish ecologist

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Description of photos for press publication and copyright purposes

An alder swamp in the Bialowieza National Park in April An alder swamp in the Bialowieza National Park in early April The moss covered trunk of a fallen oak with epiphytes A bison bull running full tilt A howling she-wolf in February A mycorrhizal fungus on a rotting aspen log A stand of hornbeam in the Primeval Forest in October The bark of a sessile oak with traces of the work of a Great Spotted Woodpecker A young lynx in a stand of Primeval Forest hornbeam A longhorn beetle - Monochamus urussovi on a moss covered fallen spruce Jan Walencik © Bożena Walencik 2009 Bożena Walencik © Krzysztof Komar 2009

Copyright to the photographs: Free of charge in every publication concerning the exhibition “ARBORES VITAE - The Last Primeval Forest” (Warsaw, National Stadium, Climate Summit November 11th-22nd 2013), as well as cooperation with the European Earth Center Foundation, use may be made of Jan Walencik’s portrait and up to four photographs by Jan Walencik with a maximum ¼ page format, included in the photography folder.

Copyright must always be posted: © Jan Walencik 2009

For the authors' portraits: © Bożena Walencik 2009 or © Krzysztof Komar 2009

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A bison bull running full tilt © Jan Walencik 2009

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A young lynx in a stand of Primeval Forest hornbeam © Jan Walencik 2009

CONTACT

Fundacja Europejskie Centrum Ziemi European Earth Center Foundation

ul. Senacka 3, 31-002 Kraków - Poland e-mail: biuro@centrumziemi.eu

Sylvie Derdacki – President e-mail: s.derdacki@centrumziemi.eu

tel. + 48 507 40 43 92 Krzysztof Derdacki – Artistic Director

More information about the exhibition and its authors on: www.arboresvitae.eu

www.centrumziemi.eu