Białowieza Primaeval Forest, is located in Poland straddking the border between Belarus and Poland. It is the only remaining part of the immense forest which once spread across the Europoean Plain. On the Polish side it is partly protected as a National Park, and occupies over 100 km². On the Belarusian side the Biosphere Reserve occupies 1,771 km The border between the two countries runs through the forest and is closed for large animals and tourists for the time being. Białowieża Primaeval Forest, known as Belaveskaya Pushcha (Белавеская пушча) or Belovezhskaya Pushcha in Belarus and Puszcza Białowieska in Poland, is an ancient woodland straddling the border between Belarus and Poland, located 70 km (43 mi) north of Brest. It is one of the last and largest remaining parts of the immense primeval forest which once spread across the European Plain. This UNESCO World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve lies in south-western Belarus, in parts of the Brest Voblast (Kamianiec and Pruzhany districts) and Hrodna Voblast (Svislach district), and near the town of Białowieża in the Podlaskie Voivodeship (62 km (39 mi) south-east of Białystok and 190 km (120 mi) north-east of Warsaw) in Poland. On the Polish side it is partly protected as Białowieski Park Narodowy (Białowieża National Park), and occupies over 100 km2 (39 sq mi). On the Belarusian side the Biosphere Reserve occupies 1,771 km2 (684 sq mi); the core area covers 157 km2 (61 sq mi); the buffer zone 714 km2 (276 sq mi); and the transition zone 900 km2 (350 sq mi); the National Park and World Heritage Site comprises 876 km2 (338 sq mi). The border between the two countries runs through the forest and is closed for large animals and tourists for the time being. The security fence keeps the wisent on either side of it genetically isolated from each other.
The entire area of eastern Europe was originally covered by virgin forests similar to the Białowieża Forest. Travel by people was limited to river routes until about the 14th century; roads and bridges appeared much later. Limited hunting rights were granted throughout the forest in the 14th century. In the 15th century the forest became a property of King Władysław II Jagiełło who used the forest as a food reserve for his army marching towards the Battle of Grunwald. A wooden manor in Białowieża became his refuge during a plague pandemic in 1426. The first recorded piece of legislation on the protection of the forest dates to 1538, when a document issued by King Sigismund the Old instituted the death penalty for poaching a wisent (European bison). King Sigismund also built a new wooden hunting manor in Białowieża, which became the namesake for the whole forest. The forest was declared a hunting reserve in 1541 for the protection of wisent. In 1557, the forest charter was issued, under which a special board was established which examined forest usage. In 1639 King Władysław IV Waza issued the "Białowieża royal forest decree" (Ordynacja Puszczy J.K. Mości leśnictwa Białowieskiego). The document freed all peasants living in the forest in exchange for their service as osocznicy, or royal foresters. They were also freed of taxes in exchange for taking care of the forest. The forest was divided onto 12 triangular areas (straże) with a centre in Białowieża. Oaks in Białowieża National Park Until the reign of Jan Kazimierz the forest was mostly unpopulated. However, in the late 17th century several small villages were established for development of local iron ore deposits and tar production. The villages were populated with settlers from Masovia and Podlachia and many of them still exist. After the Partitions of Poland, the tsar Paul I turned all the foresters into serfs and handed them over to various Russian aristocrats and generals along with the parts of forest where they lived. Also, a large number of hunters were able to enter the forest, as all protection was abolished. Following this, the number of wisent fell from more than 500 to less than 200 in 15 years. However, in 1801 tsar Alexander I reintroduced the reserve and hired a small number of peasants for protection of the animals, and by the 1830s there were 700 wisent. However, most of the foresters (500 out of 502) took part in the November Uprising of 1830-1831, and their posts were abolished, leading to a breakdown of protection.
Situated on the watershed of the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, this immense forest range, consisting of evergreens and broad-leaved trees, is home to some remarkable animal life, including rare mammals such as the wolf, the lynx and the otter, as well as some 300 European Bison, a species which has been reintroduced into the park. Bialowieza Forest (52° 41' 55" - 52° 59' 15" N, 23° 43' 10" - 23° 56' 30" E) is a World Heritage Site located in north east-central Poland on the border with Belarus in Bialostockie administrative region, 62 kilometers (km) south-east of Bialystok and 190 km north-east of Warsaw. The park is bounded by the Hwozna and Narewka Rivers to the north and west , respectively, Belovezhkaja Puscha National Park, Belarus to the east, and national forests to the south. The park belongs to Boreonemoral biogeographical province. The major part of the forest is occupied by the Bialowieza National Park, a strict nature reserve which was entered on UNESCO’s list of World Biosphere Reserves and that of World Cultural Heritage as well. It is oldest primeval forest in Europe. The park’s strict nature reserve can only be entered with a guide. Bialowieza is famous for its bison reserve, where the animals are bred in their natural habitat. In the demonstration section you can also see the Zubron, a cross between a bison and a cow, and the tarpan, a Polish cousin of the extinct wild Ukrainian steppe horses. A ride on a narrow-gauge train is a popular tourist attraction.
