Understanding the current state and dynamics of any forest is extremely
difficult - if not impossible - without recognizing its history.
Bialowieża Primeval Forest (BPF), located on the border between Poland
and Belarus, is one of the best preserved European lowland forests and a
subject of myriads of works focusing on countless aspects of its
biology, ecology, management. BPF was protected for centuries (15th-18th
century) as a game reserve of Polish kings and Lithuanian grand dukes.
Being, at that time, a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, BPF was
subject to long-lasting traditional, multi-functional utilisation
characteristic for this part of Europe, including haymaking on forest
meadows, traditional bee-keeping and fishing in rivers flowing through
forest. This traditional model of management came to an abrupt end due
to political change in 1795, when Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania
ceased to exist in effect of partitioning by neighbouring countries, and
the territory of BPF was taken over by the Russian Empire. The new
Russian administration, influenced by the German trends in forestry,
attempted at introducing the new, science-based forestry model in the
BPF throughout the 19th century. The entire 19th century in the history
of BPF is a story of struggle between new trends and concepts brought
and implemented by new rulers of the land, and the traditional
perception of the forest and forest uses, culturally rooted in this area
and originating from mediaeval (or older) practices.
The book will show the historical background and the outcome of this
struggle: the forest's history in the long 19th century focusing on
tracking all cultural imprints, both material (artificial landscapes,
introduced alien species, human-induced processes) and immaterial
(traditional knowledge of forest and use of forest resources, the
political and cultural significance of the forest) that shaped the
forest's current state and picture. Our book will deliver a picture of a
crucial moment in forest history, relevant not only to the Central
Europe, but to the continent in general. Moment of transition between a
royal hunting ground, traditional type of use widespread throughout
Europe, to a modern, managed forest. Looking at main obstacles in the
management shift, the essential difference in perceptions of the forest
and goods it provides in both modes of management, and the implications
of the management change for the state of BPF in the long 19th century
could help in better understanding the changes that European forests
underwent in general.
