The Ministry of Climate and Environment has restricted timber harvesting across 13,000 hectares of forest surrounding Wrocław, creating the first of 11 promised community forests planned for Poland’s biggest cities. That is according to Paulina Hennig-Kloska, the minister who signed the designation into force on 17 July before unveiling it in the Mokrzański Forest three days later.
Covering four forest districts (Oborniki Śląskie, Miękinia, Oleśnica Śląska, and Oława) and land across nine municipalities, the belt caps six years of talks between the ministry, State Forests, and residents’ groups. Final fellings are now excluded across 11,600 hectares, with 1,600 hectares of that area moving into full protection.
“This is a historic moment and the beginning of a new approach,” Hennig-Kloska said at Monday’s unveiling, describing forests run for residents first and harvest second.
Under the new management rules, the belt is split into three tiers: natural forests left to their own course, near-natural stands with minimal intervention, and more than 8,000 hectares run primarily for recreation, wellbeing, and exercise.
The Institute of Environmental Protection is leading stage two across ten more urban belts, taking in Warsaw, Kraków, Poznań, Łódź, Katowice, Szczecin, the Tricity, Toruń-Bydgoszcz, Kielce, and Bielsko-Biała, with proposals drawn up alongside foresters, scientists, and community groups.
With the Wrocław belt, the Tusk government delivers the pledge it made within weeks of taking office to halt harvesting in the country’s most valuable forests, eight months after President Karol Nawrocki vetoed plans for Poland’s first new national park in 24 years. Nawrocki argued at the time that the park would “block the economic development of the region,” and, unlike the park, the designation was subject to ministerial regulation rather than an act of parliament.
Pushback came within hours of the ceremony, with Zbigniew Kuszlewicz, chair of the Solidarity trade union’s national secretariat for natural resources, environment, and forestry, telling TV Trwam News that state forests have never been closed to walkers, sportspeople, or mushroom pickers. Kuszlewicz warned that the status change signals the ministry’s intentions for the rest of the estate.
“There are already noticeable financial problems in State Forests,” Kuszlewicz said, putting exclusions to date at 10 per cent of the estate.
Ministers have committed to pulling 20 per cent of forests from commercial management, a level the forestry, furniture, and paper sectors estimate would erase 70,000 jobs and billions of złoty in state revenue. It comes as the Coalition for Polish Wood, whose members buy 12 million cubic metres of timber a year, petitioned President Nawrocki and Prime Minister Donald Tusk in June over a plan that would exclude 787,000 hectares from harvest.
Poland ranks among the European Union’s biggest producers of furniture, flooring, and wood-based panels, and its forests grew 26.3 million cubic metres more than they were harvested in 2023. Wood Central understands that Kielce and Bielsko-Biała are next in line, with Hennig-Kloska telling the Polish Press Agency that the ministry is aiming to have all 11 community forests in force before the end of the year.
