The Białowieża Forest is divided into two, but actually three parts today: Belarusian, Polish, and one more — between them. And although political reasons hinder cooperation between specialists from Belarus and Poland, the problems of the relic forest remain common. The director of the Mammal Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Michał Żmihorski, and a researcher of the primeval forest from the Belarusian side, who decided to remain anonymous for security reasons, spoke about what is happening with the animals and the ecosystem on different sides of the fence.
How fences affect the environment
In response to the migration crisis provoked by the Lukashenko regime, the Polish side erected a metal fence on the border in 2022. The 5.5-meter-high and 186-kilometer-long fence, equipped with barbed wire, divided the Białowieża Forest into two parts — Belarusian and Polish. During 2024−2025, the fence was modernized with motion sensors and about 1300 cameras.
Even during construction, environmentalists from different sides of the border warned that the fence would disrupt the ecosystem. But in fact, the forest was divided much earlier, experts say.
— It is important to remember that there has been a fence on the Belarusian side of the border since about the 50s, — says a Belarusian researcher (the website of the Belarusian national park «Białowieża Forest» claims that the fence was built in 1981. — Ed.). — Therefore, the migration of large animals, such as bison, between Poland and Belarus did not exist before. Belarusian bison have always lived in isolation from Polish ones.
The Polish fence is much more massive — and it has made the situation worse. If wolves and lynxes could previously pass through the Belarusian fence, now they stop at the Polish one. But small animals, such as foxes or martens, are able to climb over the grate.
How the «third Białowieża Forest» appeared
— Now there is a zone between the Polish and Belarusian fences — and some animals are trapped in this space. In some places it is wide — about two kilometers, — in some narrow — several hundred meters. So the animals walk in this strip, including bison and deer, — says an expert from the Belarusian side of the primeval forest.
The total area of the «third» Białowieża Forest is about 35 square kilometers.
The director of the Mammal Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Michał Żmihorski, agrees that the fence has not become a problem for all animals. For example, birds can easily fly over the fence. But the scientist adds that migration between the sides of the forest has become more difficult for medium and large animals.
— On the Belarusian side, the fence was made of barbed wire. This is also dangerous for animals — there have even been cases when they tried to pass or jump over it and received serious injuries or even died. The new barrier has sealed the border even more tightly and made it impossible to cross.
Żmihorski mentions that there were lynxes tagged with GPS transmitters on the Polish side. Thanks to telemetry data, scientists found out that one individual could cross the border up to 50 times a year. Thus, the connection between populations was maintained.
— Now we are worried that because of the density of the Polish fence, lynxes will no longer be able to pass through it. This is bad, because the Białowieża Forest has become smaller for them, — says Michał.
What will happen if the fence is demolished tomorrow
Poland does not plan to stop at just one fence, but wants to further strengthen the border within the framework of the «Eastern Shield» program. So far, additional fortification elements have been installed on a small section a little over two kilometers long. But preparations are already underway for the installation of a new batch. Fortifications may also appear on the territory of the Białowieża Forest, which is very worrying for environmentalists.
— Now the Poles are discussing strengthening — anti-tank fortifications will be built along the entire border. Then the fence will seem like a trifle compared to the transformations that may occur, — the Belarusian expert believes.
— Now the Poles are discussing strengthening — anti-tank fortifications will be built along the entire border. Then the fence will seem like a trifle compared to the transformations that may occur, — the Belarusian expert believes.
In his opinion, even if relations between Belarus and Poland change, it will not be possible to quickly dismantle the fence. They say that it was difficult and expensive to build the fence, but it will take no less work to remove it.
— This means not only physically removing it. It is also necessary to remove the pipes built on the rivers. It will be necessary to take measures to restore the landscape and vegetation cover. Hypothetically, it’s easy, but physically it will be a complex process, — the expert notes.
Dismantling the fence would help lynxes
Michał says that one of the main issues that worries the Polish side is lynxes. This species is considered rare in Poland. The fence exacerbates the problem, because lynxes only reached the Polish part of the primeval forest from Belarus. Belarus, on the other hand, is located in the main lynx range, where the population is being strengthened from Russia and the Baltic countries.
— Because of the fence, individuals are isolated and cannot mix with a large population. In this case, they will begin to breed with related individuals. This can lead to genetic diseases or demographic problems. There is hope that the situation with Belarus will somehow stabilize and we will be able to talk about restoring this ecological connection. At least experimentally. Maybe it would be possible to do it on some small fragment. It would be very useful, — explains Michał.
In turn, an expert from the Belarusian side of the border notes that there have already been attempts to create a migration corridor. The idea was to create crossings for animals in the Belarusian fence.
— There have been many efforts both from Belarus and from UNESCO to make the Białowieża Forest a truly single object, so that a single management plan would appear between Poland and Belarus, and the negative impact of the border would be reduced, — says a Belarusian expert about the situation before 2021, that is, before the start of the migration crisis.
The parties made efforts to have common approaches to the management of the Białowieża Forest. There was a Belarusian-Polish working group, which included representatives of academia, national parks, and ministries.
— In principle, the Belarusian side has always been more active in these meetings. It has long been said that it is necessary to make a migration corridor in the Belarusian fence. In 2020, they were approaching this, but after that the work stopped, — says a Belarusian expert.
And what about the bison?
Periodically, the Belarusian side sells bison from the Białowieża Forest to other countries. In January 2024, three animals were sent to Tatarstan, and in February 2025 it became known that another batch would be transferred to Russia. Sometimes bison are allowed to be hunted — but only individuals from the reserve gene pool, that is, old or sick ones.
According to a Belarusian expert, there is no need to be indignant about this news — the bison population on the Belarusian side already exceeds the norm.
— The bison has disappeared from the wild. Therefore, in any part, wherever they want to restore it, it will be connected with the fact that it will be bought in one place. Therefore, of course, this process of bison resettlement is a logical approach to restoring species in the wild.
In the Belarusian Belovezhskaya Pushcha, there are indeed too many bison — 690, with the optimal number being 400. They have recovered well, they are fed, there are no natural predators anymore, as wolves cannot cope with them, and winters have become milder. Therefore, bison live half like on a farm.
A Belarusian researcher believes that the situation with bison is even more acute on the Polish side. The fact is that the area of the Belarusian national park is twice the size of the park in Poland.
Żmigorski confirms this assumption: the bison population on the Polish side is growing quite rapidly. According to the latest estimates of the Regional Directorate of State Forests of Poland, the number of animals has reached 870 individuals. In general, the number of bison in the entire Podlasie region exceeds 1600 individuals and has grown by 15% in the last two years alone.
— I know there have been attempts to move some individuals somewhere else where they would like to restore the population. But, as far as I know, not to Russia.
Now bison are beginning to disperse beyond the forest, sometimes going out into farmers' fields. Sometimes car accidents happen.
— But we believe that we must protect bison. For example, to give certain compensations to farmers or to monitor the roads to avoid accidents. But we do not see the need to shoot bison, — notes Michał.
How did the migration crisis affect the Pushcha?
An expert from the Belarusian side notes that during the migration crisis, the Pushcha was used very heavily, which affected the ecosystem.
— If you look at the statistics of border crossings, it was the Pushcha that was the main direction of illegal migration attempts. This affects the state of the ecosystem: a huge amount of garbage, the harm that is being done. This is what causes the reaction from the Polish side, — the Belarusian researcher is sure.
Since the beginning of the migration crisis, not only refugees, but also border guards, police, and military personnel have begun to appear in the forests.
— There are their cars in the forest — this is unfavorable for the ecosystem. On the other hand, the forest has a great capacity for regeneration. So even if refugees light a fire for two days and then move to another place, after a few weeks or months there is no trace of human presence. The forest recovers very quickly and overcomes such local disturbances.
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee already considered the issue of preserving Belovezhskaya Pushcha in 2024 after the construction of a fence on the Polish-Belarusian border. Among the negative consequences at that time were the fragmentation of forest tracts, disruption of the natural development of forest ecosystems, and the separation of lynx and wolf populations.
Belarus regularly tries to draw the attention of the international community to the problem of the fence on the border. In 2025, representatives of the UN and UNDP, as well as the World Health Organization, were taken to the Belarusian part of the Pushcha for this purpose. However, during such events, Belarusian officials try to hush up the reason for the appearance of the fence on the border — the migration crisis provoked by Belarus. They focus on other reasons for the suspension of cross-border relations, such as the COVID pandemic.