Almost four years ago, we were looking for ideas for Christmas gifts for our customers and business partners. We didn't want to contribute to the already enormous Christmas consumption of all kinds of goods. We decided to donate the budget reserved for gifts to the Las Na Zawsze Foundation, whose mission is to plant biodiverse forests that will never be cut down, in the hope that this will be a gift that will benefit us all in the future.
Why is planting biodiverse forests important?
Few people remember that the term „sustainability” was first coined by Hans Carl von Carlowitz in the 17th century in the context of forest management, whose depletion for the needs of the mining industry had become an economic problem in Saxony at the time. Since then, we have viewed forests from the perspective of the need to maintain their economic, social, and natural functions, and the understanding of the term „sustainable development” has expanded, setting the direction for our contemporary thinking about the economy.
The task of forest management is to sustain the three basic functions of the forest. The economic function concerns the possibility of continuous harvesting of resources such as wood, forest undergrowth, herbs, seeds and seedlings, natural chemicals, and forest game. The social function refers to the impact of the forest on human health and well-being, while the environmental function refers to carbon dioxide absorption, air purification, the creation of a local microclimate and impact on the global climate, the prevention of soil erosion and depletion, the maintenance of water circulation in nature, and the creation of conditions for the development of biodiversity and complex ecosystems.
The challenges posed by today's major crises, namely climate change, environmental pollution, and biodiversity loss, contribute to conflict in the way forest resources are managed. Forests, which naturally absorb carbon dioxide, are an important part of decarbonization efforts. Wood, as a natural carbon dioxide store that is both durable and naturally biodegradable, seems to be an excellent „green” choice as a building material, a raw material for the production of furniture, everyday objects, packaging, and other applications. This approach puts increased pressure on timber harvesting from forests [1]. Research conducted in 2020, based on the analysis of satellite images [2], showed that between 2016 and 2018, the area of deforestation in Europe increased by 49%, with a higher percentage in Poland (58%). Forest exploitation on such a scale may therefore hinder the achievement of EU climate change mitigation targets. Intensive forestry management has another negative environmental effect: the replacement of natural forests with monoculture forest plantations, which are effective in timber production but useless in terms of maintaining forest biodiversity and the richness of natural forest ecosystems.
According to data from the Central Statistical Office [3], forests cover 9,265,000 hectares in Poland, or approximately 30% of the country's area, of which 19% is privately owned, 81% is publicly owned (by the State Treasury and municipalities), including 77% managed by the State Forests. Only 21% are protected national parks. In other words: 98% of forests in Poland are forests with economic potential, which, given the high market demand for wood, are rapidly being converted into forest plantations, mainly planted with coniferous species (87%), which are less resistant to global warming and pollution.
The data indicates that the beautiful balance in forest management described by Carlowitz has not been maintained. That is why the call to action by the Las Na Zawsze Foundation is so important: let us create and expand natural forest resources, which, alongside national parks, will have the opportunity to contribute to the maintenance and spread of forest biodiversity. The Foundation cares for natural forests at risk of logging, as well as deforested and degraded areas, in accordance with standards. Assisted Natural Regeneration Alliance. In accordance with the Foundation's statutory objective, „Real estate transferred to the Foundation and purchased by the Foundation shall not be further sold or encumbered, and forested areas shall not be subject to logging or clearing. (...) All of the Foundation's forests shall be made available to the public.”
A day in the forest
Together with the Las Na Zawsze team, we spent a wonderful spring day in the forest. We returned full of energy, with the sun's rays, the freshness of spring greenery, and the charm of the forest carpet of white anemones still in our eyes, intoxicated by the forest air and birdsong. And then we calculated that one preliminarily trained person can plant about 10-12 tree seedlings in an hour. In our case, the result of 5 hours of planting by a team of 13 people was about 600 seedlings covering an area of 7,800 m2. We planted deciduous trees: oaks, lindens, bird cherries, maples, elms, and hornbeams.
Planting a biodiverse forest is more challenging than planting a commercial forest. In a natural forest, trees do not grow at equal intervals, but where they have the best conditions for growth. In our case, we planted an area of natural forest that had been cleared by the previous owner and repurchased by the Foundation with the intention of reforestation. We dug each hole by hand, looking for the best places for our seedlings between the stumps of felled trees. However, 7,800 m² is still not enough to make a difference. After four years of operation, the Foundation has 10.62 hectares of protected mature forests and 89.09 hectares of planted biodiverse forests to its credit. There is still so much to do 🙂 Wouldn't it be wonderful to measure your life's footprint by the number of trees you have planted? We encourage you, dear subscribers, to take up this challenge. You can find the details here. on the Las Na Zawsze foundation website.
Your Christmas gift is already growing 🙂
- Blattert, C., Mönkkönen, M., Burgas, D. et al. Climate targets in
- European timber-producing countries conflict with goals on forest ecosystem services and biodiversity. Commun Earth Environ 4, 119 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00771-z
- Ceccherini, G., Duveiller, G., Grassi, G. et al. Abrupt increase in harvested forest area over Europe after 2015. Nature 583, 72–77 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2438-y
- Statistical Yearbook of Forestry, Central Statistical Office, Statistical Office in Białystok, Warsaw, Białystok @022
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