Ecoterrorists have set a deadly trap for foresters from the Lutowiska Forestry District. They hammered nails into trees planned for harvesting. When a saw comes upon such a nail, it can kill. Death also threatens the employees of the sawmill where the wood with the hammered metal will be delivered. The case has been reported to the police. The State Forests appeals to all activists and ‘pro-environmental’ groups across Poland: Stop before tragedy strikes!
On July 11, 2022, the Lutowiska Forest District received a request from the ‘Inicjatywa Dzikie Karpaty’ (English: Wild Carpathians Initiative) to refrain from logging two trees. A supervision engineer and a forester went to the place indicated by the activists to do a vetting. Near the two trees described in the application, they discovered a tree spiked with nails.
The method, called tree spiking, is being spread by extreme activists – they describe tree spiking techniques, recommend equipment and specific types of nails, and even advise on how to cover their tracks and not get caught. Metal rods or nails that were driven into a tree aim to damage the chain or motor of a chainsaw. Nails hammered into the higher parts of the trunk are intended to damage the sawmill machines used in subsequent woodworking. In addition to the obvious material damage, such activity poses a serious threat to the health and even the lives of loggers and carpenters.
This type of practice is so dangerous that the U.S. government introduced a law to combat it as early as 1988 and considered the form of such ‘protests’ outright eco-terrorism.
“I appeal to all activists and pro-environmental groups across the country: stop those who risk other people’s lives. Hammering nails into trees is not a protest action, it is outright terrorism. Stop it before tragedy strikes,” State Forest spokesman Michal Gzowski appeals.
Two activist groups are active in the Lutowiska Forest District. The Natural Heritage Foundation has a formal structure and the informal group Wild Carpathians Initiative. Both groups gather their members through social networks. On the territory of the neighbouring Stuposiany Forest District, the informal organization ‘Kolektyw Wilczyce’ (English: Wilczyce Collective) operates.
The case of hammered nails in the Gutowski Forest District has been reported to the police. For the sake of the investigation, the State Forests is reporting it now.
