Warsaw April 18 (IANS) The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that increased logging in Poland s ancient Bialowieza forest has violated EU environmental laws and the country was facing massive fines.
At least 10 000 trees have been felled in the ancient forest which is a Unesco World Heritage Site nourishing plenty of animals and plants including Europe s largest herd of bison Xinhua news agency reported.
A minimum fine of 4.3 million euros (about $5.3 million) could be levied against Poland unless the tree felling is stopped the court ruled on Tuesday.
"If they comply with the judgment no problem. If they don t we have a possibility to go to a second infringement procedure that may end up in fines " a European Union official said on Tuesday.
Unesco has classified the forest nestled across Poland and Belarus on the watershed of the Baltic and Black Seas as a site of "outstanding universal value".
Poland argued that its decision to increase logging was necessary to combat a beetle infestation.
But the ECJ found that Poland s own documents showed logging posed a greater threat to Bialowieza s integrity.
The ECJ ruling was hailed by environmental activists.
--IANS
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