Trouble in Paradise Valley

A On one side of the argument there are eagles, wolves and orchids; on the other side there are endless heavy lorries and burgeoning economic growth. Welcome to Europe's new environmental battleground The conflict is coming to a head for the first time in a pristine valley in north-east Poland, crammed with spectacular wildlife, which has been earmarked as the route for a badly-needed motorway to the Baltic states. The clash of priorities has bitterly divided public opinion in Poland itself and has now set the country on collision course with the European Union. Yet the struggle to save the Rospuda valley is only the first of many conflicts likely to arise between economic development in the new EU member nations of central and eastern Europe, and their wildlife heritage.

B Species which have long been rare or extinct in western European countries, such as lynx, elk, wolf and beaver, along with scores of uncommon bird species, from eagles to corncrakes, still have substantial populations in the ten central and eastern European nations which have recently joined the EU. In Poland and the other member states which joined in 2004 (the Creek Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), as well as in Bulgaria and Romania, which joined this year, two remarkable habitats in particular act as giant wildlife reservoirs for Europe as a whole. One is the vast extent of ancient forests, some of which are still primeval—meaning they have never been cut down and replanted—and the other is the great range of wetlands in river valleys, flood plains and deltas.

C The Rospuda valley combines both. The Rospuda river flows through the ancient Augastow Forest near Poland's border with Lithuania, one of the mast pristine forest regions in all of Europe; and the river's course is bracketed by a peat bog wkieh is astonishingly rich in mammals, rare birds, plants and insects. In environmental terms, the valley is a jewel Yet it sits squarely astride the route for one of Europe's most ambitious road schemes, the so-called Vm Baltica expressway from Warsaw to Heisinki, which will pass through the Baltic states. The section of the new road which is intended to be the bypass for the small town of Augustow, where two routes from Warsaw join, is planned to go right through the valley's heart.

D Environmentalists contend that the road will irreparably damage the valley, and insist an alternative route, further to the west, must be used; the Polish government, riding a wave of new prosperity with annual economic growth running at six per cent, and desperate to upgrade its transport links with its neighbours as quickly as possible, insists that the Rospuda route is the right one, wildlife or no wildlife. The people of Augustow, who are sick of the unending procession of heavy lorries through their town, heartily agree.

E A survey carried out by the Polish Bird Protection Society, Otop, has found that within 750 metres each side of the centreline of the proposed expressway as it passes through the valley, no fewer than 20 species of birds are breeding which are specifically protected, as rare or threatened, under European law. They represent a British birdwatcher's dream, ranging from the white-tailed, short-toed and lesser-spotted eagles, through the black grouse and the capercaillie, to the corncrake, the crane and the great snipe. There is much more. Among a profusion of rare wildflowers, there are 20 orchid species in the valley, including the last colony in Poland of the musk orchid Herminium monorchls, and mammals which are resident or pass through the forest and the marsh include lynx, wolf, elk, wild boar, otter and beaver.

F The Polish centre-left national daily newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza, has taken up the cause of saving Rospuda, and has given away green lapel ribbons for supporters to wear. An electronic peti