Head-on collision in the Rospuda Valley
Poland: transport versus nature
The dispute over construction of a four-lane bypass through the Rospuda Valley, a pristine wetland valley in north eastern Poland subject to the highest protection under European nature law, has gained a high profile at European level. With the intervention of the European Commission and European Court of Justice, the case is breaking new ground and should serve as a precedent for other countries in applying EU nature conservation law. The proposed bypass is just one – albeit the most high-profile – of a number of major road projects on the likely route of the Trans-European “Via Baltica” road corridor that will damage valuable wildlife sites in north eastern Poland, and is therefore a symptom of a much wider problem.
