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In what is fast becoming a Europe-wide battle, the fight to save the Rospuda from the freeway is heating up. For the past 6 months people across Poland have banded together to save this rare landscape.
Act now to save the Rospuda Valley
Despite losing a regional referendum and a court case over the building of the freeway through Rospuda, the Polish government decided to ignore the growing opposition and begin construction anyway.
It was time for action.
Greenpeace set up a camp to defend the forest and the valley in February this year, when the Polish government announced the start of the logging in the valley.
With temperatures below -20°C, our activists in the forest, together with other wildlife defenders stood ready to block bulldozers.
Visits to Greenpeace Poland's website rocketed beyond all previous records as people sought more information about the battle.
"We had journalists calling us asking if they could chain themselves to the trees" said one internal email.
Greenpeace Poland launched a website that encouraged visitors to take out citizenship in the "Republic of Rospuda" complete with passports and a manifesto:
Virtual citizens of the Republic of Rospuda and online visitors to the website set about adopting individually the 20,000 trees that the road project was slated to fell.
200,000 people signed a petition asking the Polish Prime Minister to save the valley.
The issue blossomed into a full-scale populist issue as news reached beyond the borders of Poland, and the European Union started to increase the pressure on the Polish government.
The EU had previously requested Poland halt construction until the European Court of Justice (ECJ) had made a decision on the issue. But when the Polish Prime Minister balked, the EU threatened to withhold funding from Poland for the construction of other sections of the same freeway - the European transport corridor called Via Baltica - outside the valley.
Within the last few days, the Polish Prime Minister has changed his position and halted construction on the freeway until the ECJ decision is announced.
Environmental activists don't want to stop the freeway from being built, they only want the road rerouted to avoid the environmentally significant valley, something the Polish government has rejected in the past.
They say the alternative route would take too long to build.
"Progress in the 21st century should not be measured by the number of trucks passing through the most pristine area in Poland' said Maciej Muskat from Greenpeace Poland.
With work stopped on the controversial road, we can't let the fate of the Rospuda hang on a court decision: now is the time to let the Polish government know you want this fragile wetland protected for good.
Tell the Prime Minister to reroute the freeway away from the Rospuda Valley.
Act now to save the Rospuda Valley
Despite losing a regional referendum and a court case over the building of the freeway through Rospuda, the Polish government decided to ignore the growing opposition and begin construction anyway.
It was time for action.
Greenpeace set up a camp to defend the forest and the valley in February this year, when the Polish government announced the start of the logging in the valley.
With temperatures below -20°C, our activists in the forest, together with other wildlife defenders stood ready to block bulldozers.
Visits to Greenpeace Poland's website rocketed beyond all previous records as people sought more information about the battle.
"We had journalists calling us asking if they could chain themselves to the trees" said one internal email.
Greenpeace Poland launched a website that encouraged visitors to take out citizenship in the "Republic of Rospuda" complete with passports and a manifesto:
If the chainsaws win again, many plant, bird and mammal species will
disappear from the Rospuda Valley. We oppose it because there are no
wetlands like Rospuda Valley anywhere west of the Ural Mountains. For
much too long consecutive governments have been destroying something we
all depend on – the wild nature.
Don't stand by, join us!
Don't stand by, join us!
Virtual citizens of the Republic of Rospuda and online visitors to the website set about adopting individually the 20,000 trees that the road project was slated to fell.
200,000 people signed a petition asking the Polish Prime Minister to save the valley.
The issue blossomed into a full-scale populist issue as news reached beyond the borders of Poland, and the European Union started to increase the pressure on the Polish government.
The EU had previously requested Poland halt construction until the European Court of Justice (ECJ) had made a decision on the issue. But when the Polish Prime Minister balked, the EU threatened to withhold funding from Poland for the construction of other sections of the same freeway - the European transport corridor called Via Baltica - outside the valley.
Within the last few days, the Polish Prime Minister has changed his position and halted construction on the freeway until the ECJ decision is announced.
Environmental activists don't want to stop the freeway from being built, they only want the road rerouted to avoid the environmentally significant valley, something the Polish government has rejected in the past.
They say the alternative route would take too long to build.
"Progress in the 21st century should not be measured by the number of trucks passing through the most pristine area in Poland' said Maciej Muskat from Greenpeace Poland.
With work stopped on the controversial road, we can't let the fate of the Rospuda hang on a court decision: now is the time to let the Polish government know you want this fragile wetland protected for good.
Tell the Prime Minister to reroute the freeway away from the Rospuda Valley.
GREENPEACE EMAIL
