Between biodiversity conservation and sustainable forest management – A multidisciplinary assessment of the emblematic Białowieża Forest case

Blicharska, Małgorzata; Angelstam, Per; Gießen, Lukas; Hilszczański, Jacek; Hermanowicz, E.; Holeksa, Jan; Jacobsen, Jette Bredahl; Jaroszewicz, Bogdan; Konczal, Agata; Konieczny, A.; Mikusiński, Grzegorz; Mirek, Z.; Mohren, Frits; Muys, Bart; Niedziałkowski, Krzysztof; Sotirov, Metodi; Stereńczak, Krzysztof; Szwagrzyk, Jerzy; Winder, Gordon M.; Witkowski, Zbigniew; Zapłata, Rafał; Winkel, Georg

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108614

Cited by 40 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 100 publications

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“…It seems that there is a large gap in our knowledge of the history of many parts of the world that remain under forest cover. The evidence provided in our study contributes to a new understanding of human activity in Białowieża [96] and provides the basis for more detailed analysis in the future.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

ALS-Based Detection of Past Human Activities in the Białowieża Forest—New Evidence of Unknown Remains of Past Agricultural Systems

et al. 2020

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The Białowieża Forest (BF), a unique ecosystem of historical significance in central Europe, has a long history of assumed human settlement, with at least 200 known archaeological sites (until 2016). This study uncovers new evidence of the cultural heritage of this unique forest area using Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) technology combined with traditional archaeological field assessment methods to verify the ALS data interpretations and to provide additional evidence about the function and origin of the newly detected archaeological sites. The results of this study include (1) a scientific approach for an improved identification of archaeological resources in forest areas; (2) new evidence about the history of the human use of the BF based on ALS data, covering the entire Polish part of the BF; and (3) an improved remote sensing infrastructure, supporting existing GIS (Geographic Information System) systems for the BF, a famous UNESCO Heritage site. Our study identified numerous locations with evidence of past human agricultural activities known in the literature as “field systems”, “lynchets” and “Celtic fields”. The initial identification included more than 300 km of possible field boundaries and plough headlands, many of which we have verified on the ground. Various past human activities creating those boundaries have existed since the (pre-) Roman Period up to the 13th century AD. The results of this study demonstrate that past human activities in the Polish part of the Białowieża Forest had been more prevalent than previously believed. As a practical result of the described activities, a geodatabase was created; this has practical applications for the system of monument protection in Poland, as well as for local communities and the BF’s management and conservation. The more widely achieved results are in line with the implementation of the concept of a cultural heritage inventory in forested and protected areas—the actions taken specify (built globally) the forms of protection and management of cultural and environmental goods.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

ALS-Based Detection of Past Human Activities in the Białowieża Forest—New Evidence of Unknown Remains of Past Agricultural Systems

et al. 2020

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“…Moreover, the rapid construction of new roads and new harvesting technologies have contributed to increased logging activity in primary forests (Mikoláš et al, 2017). Salvage logging of windthrow and bark-beetle outbreaks contributed strongly to primary forest loss in the Western Carpathians (Mikoláš et al, 2019) and in the Bialowieza forest in Poland, where it caused an intervention of the European Union to stop logging of Natura 2000 forests surrounding the Bialowieza National Park (Court of Justice of the European Union, 2018; Mikusiński et al, 2018;Blicharska et al, 2020).…”

Section: Primary Forest Loss In Europementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, lessons from the Natura 2000 implementation process show that trade-offs between conservation and forest use objectives, but also a lack of communication between land owners/forest managers and conservation departments as well as a lack of financial support mechanisms can prevent effective implementation (Winkel et al, 2015;Sotirov, 2017). This stresses the importance of open transparent communication about the policy objectives and benefits combined with multi-stakeholder engagement to identify realistic implementation pathways for Natura 2000, but also for other conservation policy instruments (Blicharska et al, 2020).…”

Section: Protecting the Remaining Old-growth And Primary Forestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Protecting old-growth forests in Europe - a review of scientific evidence to inform policy implementation

O’Brien¹,

Schuck²,

Fraccaroli³

et al. 2021

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CH 1 | Objectives and methodological approach 13 CH 5 | Associated benefits, consequences, and potential trade-offs of old-growth forest protection and development of old-growth forest attributes 71Key Messages:• Biodiversity conservation in integrative forest management systems can bring multiple ecological benefits, as well as benefits to the forest manager/owner and society, but can also carry opportunity costs for the landowner.

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“…By working iteratively on the manuscript, collaborative critical reflection was encouraged, e.g., [59]. When reflecting on the results, the analysis of the INCLUDE research project emphasized the qualitative approach based on comparison with the normative benchmark model, which might be described as auditing, e.g., [40,60].…”

Section: Overview Of Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Challenge of Transdisciplinary Research: A Case Study of Learning by Evaluation for Sustainable Transport Infrastructures

Axelsson¹,

Ljung

Blicharska

et al. 2020

Sustainability

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While transdisciplinary (TD) research is desired in order to solve real world sustainability issues, this may be challenging for both academic and non-academic participants. Supporting learning through evaluation, we analyzed a project aiming at sustainable transport infrastructures. After developing a TD research framework as a benchmark, two external independent evaluators interviewed all project researchers, representatives for end-users, and donors. The evaluators compared results with the framework, and evaluators and participants critically reflected on the results together. There were three inconsistencies relative to the framework: (1) limited understanding of TD research among project management, end-users, and most of the researchers; (2) no structured learning process among end-users; instead, they expressed very diverse opinions about what they expected from the project; (3) project leaders had limited understanding of the special challenges of TD research, did not fully understand the status of the project’s social system, and thus did not act as facilitators of the required collaborative learning process. Non-academic participants saw themselves as customers and not as partners in the knowledge production process. We conclude that TD problem-solving research requires much time and needs facilitation and training. A preparatory phase with a lower level of funding would be helpful in preparing for TD processes.

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Between biodiversity conservation and sustainable forest management – A multidisciplinary assessment of the emblematic Białowieża Forest case

Cited by 40 publications

References 100 publications

ALS-Based Detection of Past Human Activities in the Białowieża Forest—New Evidence of Unknown Remains of Past Agricultural Systems

ALS-Based Detection of Past Human Activities in the Białowieża Forest—New Evidence of Unknown Remains of Past Agricultural Systems

Protecting old-growth forests in Europe - a review of scientific evidence to inform policy implementation

The Challenge of Transdisciplinary Research: A Case Study of Learning by Evaluation for Sustainable Transport Infrastructures

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