Lukashenka Says He Saved Belavezhskaya Pushcha From Bark Beetles as a “Green” President

Aliaksandr Lukashenka has claimed another personal achievement — saving Belavezhskaya Pushcha from a bark beetle infestation.

Lukashenka ordered fallen trees to be removed from the forest, despite recommendations from scientists.

“I am dissatisfied with what is happening in Belavezhskaya Pushcha. Order must be restored. All fallen trees should be cut up for firewood, chopped up, and so on,” Lukashenka ordered during a visit to the Brest region on July 30.

“Science prohibits removing fallen trees,” Brest Regional Executive Committee Chairman Piotr Parkhomchyk tried to object.

“I authorize you. ‘Science.’ I remember when I became president, I was still green. That saved Belavezhskaya Pushcha. If I had listened to science back then, I’d still be thinking about it. Bark beetles. ‘Oh, you can’t do that, you can’t do that.’ Trees fall, bark beetles spread, the forest is destroyed. Then the old-timers came and said, ‘Son, you have to cut it down and clear it away, otherwise everything will die.’ Science versus the old-timers. I said, ‘Cut it all down.’ We saved the forest. It would have been finished. That’s your science,” Lukashenka said.

He said scientists could continue conducting observations in the protected reserve, where all human activity is prohibited, but that trees should be removed in the rest of the forest.

“So wherever it is necessary, clear it away. We have a protected area where you cannot cut trees, mow grass or even pick mushrooms. Fine, let those scientists go there and observe. But the forest itself needs to be put in order,” Lukashenka said.