Białowieża Forest is a forest complex situated on the both sides of Poland-Belarus border. The eastern part constitutes the Belaveskaya Pushcha National Park. The 16% of Polish part of the Forest is the Białowieża National Park. The fortunate course of history, protection of the Forest as a royal, and in the 19th century, tsarist hunting area, preserved the Forest from the colonization, that is, grubbing out and creating there settlement and agricultural areas.
Białowieża Forest is the last, on Europe’s depression, natural forest of a primeval character, like the one stretched out in the area of deciduous and mixed forest ages ago. It is characterized with high biological diversity. Old, primeval forest stands of the Białowieża National Park and Białowieża Forest are distinguished by abundance of lifeless wood in different stadiums of decay and by the presence of species characteristic for natural forests.
Białowieża National Park is the only one Polish natural object which is listed by UNESCO as a part of World Heritage. What is more, it is the most important, central zone of Białowieża Biosphere Reserve.
Białowieża Forest, as the object situated at the point of contact of many cultures; among others, Lithuanian, Byelorussian, Ukrainian and Polish one, has become a specific melting pot thanks to which one can admire harmonious coexistence of many religions’ believers with a penetration of material culture.
European bison:
The symbol of the National Parks (Polish and Byelorussian ones) is European bison. It is the biggest land mammal of Europe. Białowieża Forest has turned out to be the last mainstay for lowland bison. At the beginning of our millennium, lowland bison were found commonly in the extended forests covered then Europe and they were valued hunting loots. In the middle ages in some European countries; among others, in Poland and Germany, bison hunting was a royal privilege. In Poland, bison protection was first mentioned in the Statutes of Lithuania (the 16th century), and Sigismund II Augustus issued a decree that allowed for death penalty for anyone who would dare to kill bison without the royal permission.
In spring 1919 the last bison in Białowieża Forest was gone. Only bison in close breeding survived – the ones in zoo and parks. The first step to bison restitution in Białowieża Park in natural conditions was the establishment of zoo for these animals in 1929. The successful development of the restitution breeding for bison in Białowieża after the Second World War allowed establishing free breeding. In the Polish part of Białowieża Forest bison were set free in 1952. Currently, in Białowieża Forest there is the most numerous free population of bison in the world. In the Polish part it is about 450, in the whole Forest there are about 800 specimens.