Campaigners hail major victory as Polish government announces the saving of Rospuda Valley

Today's announcement by the Polish government that the Rospuda Valley, a Natura 2000 protected area, is not to be devastated by a major bypass road has been hailed by campaigners from CEE Bankwatch Network, OTOP - Birdlife Poland, Greenpeace Poland and WWF Poland as a major victory for the environment, for Polish and European law and for the general public interest.

Robert Cyglicki, Polish national coordinator for Bankwatch, said: “We are delighted that the Polish government has finally seen sense and that this case has come to a satisfactory conclusion. All the same, it is deeply regretable that we have lost two years and that people living in the town of Augustow will need to wait for the required bypass a bit longer, all because of the blind obstinacy of the former government and the stance it took on the Rospuda Valley, one of Poland's and Europe's natural treasures.”

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk today announced a new route for the expressway that will relieve the north-east Polish town of Augustow of heavy transit traffic. The bypass, part of the Via Baltica road transport corridor that is due to stretch down the right hand side of Poland, will now be constructed near the nearby village of Raczki.

However, the groups cautioned about alarming construction and planning activities currently ongoing elsewhere along the Via Baltica corridor.

Marta Majka Wiśniewska, of WWF Poland, said: “Today's good news about Rospuda should serve as a wake-up call to governments and road-builders around central and eastern Europe that the region's natural beauty can not be sacrificed to bulldozers. This is not the end of Polish road shenanigans and our government must learn the Rospuda lesson.”

Malgorzata Gorska, Important Bird Area Casework Officer of OTOP, said: “South of Rospuda, there are already advanced plans on building express roads through three more major Natura 2000 sites – the Knyszyn Primeval Forest, the Biebrza Marshes and the Augustow Primeval Forest. More European money will be sought for these projects even though the developers are ignoring strategic assessments which suggest viable, less damaging alternatives for the Via Baltica road corridor. We stand ready to take the Rospuda momentum forward.”

Maciej Muskat, of Greenpeace Poland, said: “We are happy to see that the Polish government is going to win this case for nature and people. At the same time we are deeply concerned about the lack of action regarding the re-routing of the whole Via Baltica expressway, a part of which is the Augustow bypass, in accordance with expert analysis and recommendations.”

For more information

Robert Cyglicki, Polish Green Network/Bankwatch, Szczecin, robertc at bankwatch.org, +48 501101769.

Marta Majka Winiewska, WWF Poland, Warsaw, mwisniewska at wwf.pl, +48 602888143.

Malgorzata Gorska, the Polish Society for the Protection of the Birds (OTOP/BirdLife Poland), Biaystok, malgorzata.gorska at otop.org.pl, +48 605072963.

Maciej Muskat, Greenpeace Poland, maciej.muskat at greenpeace.pl, +48509058651