How to stop water in the Białowieża Forest? Weirs are being built

The snow has melted, so the problem of drought is returning, which every year affects Polish forests more and more severely. A large initiative to support natural landscape retention has just begun in the Białowieża Forest. The Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Białystok and soldiers of the 1st Podlaskie Territorial Defence Brigade are jointly building weirs.

Spontaneous cooperation for water

The activities undertaken at the beginning of March aim to slow down the meltwater flowing through drainage ditches and retain it within the area of the Białowieża Forest. As Adam Bohdan, deputy director of the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Białystok, admitted in an interview with TVP3, the inspiration for the weirs comes from beaver dams, which play a key role in protecting wetland ecosystems.

The work is not easy. Representatives of the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection and the 1st Podlaskie Territorial Defence Brigade use dead wood, stones and soil to build retaining structures in the difficult terrain of the primeval forest. All materials used are obtained on site, so human intervention in this case serves as support for natural processes disrupted by climate change and by the drainage ditches that were unwisely dug across the Białowieża Forest years ago, rather than a brutal intervention in the ecosystem.

During the first day of the initiative, soldiers and environmental activists built 30 structures intended to slow the outflow of water. The work will continue in the coming days. Adam Juchnik, director of the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Białystok, explains that enormous financial resources have been reserved for retention measures in the Białowieża Forest, but their use requires time-consuming tender procedures. Water from melting snow will not wait for bureaucracy, hence the idea of a spontaneous initiative and the use of support from soldiers.

Natural retention – for nature and safety

The construction of weirs in the Białowieża Forest primarily serves to rehydrate natural habitats. The accumulated water will support local flora and fauna while at the same time reducing the risk of fires, which already appear in Polish forests in spring.

In this case, natural retention also has an additional meaning. The wetland character of forests near the national border is an important element of the so-called East Shield adopted in 2024 by the Ministry of National Defence. The programme aims to secure the border against potential incursions by foreign troops.

Polish efforts to restore wild nature in the east in order to make potential invasion more difficult were praised this week by Jessika Roswall, the EU Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy. Investing in nature and using it as a natural form of border control is necessary and increases biodiversity, Roswall said.

Too little water in the Białowieża Forest

In recent weeks there has been intense melting of the snow cover and runoff of meltwater. As a result, warning water levels were temporarily exceeded in many Polish rivers. However, the hydrological bulletin of Polish Waters from 10 March indicates that in the area administered by the Regional Water Management Authority in Białystok the first drops have already been recorded at water gauge stations. Meanwhile, long-term forecasts of the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management indicate that there will be no significant precipitation in the east at least until 20 April.

The Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Białystok reports that the decline in groundwater levels and the drying of habitats are the greatest threats identified in the management plan for the UNESCO World Heritage site and in the draft protection plan for the Natura 2000 area Białowieża Forest. The construction of weirs is taking place mainly in the largest reserve, Natural Forests of the Białowieża Forest, where slowing water runoff is a recommended conservation measure.