Bear dens and ancient trees face onslaught

The future of wildlife in the eastern Carpathians is under threat from the destruction of habitat by rampant logging

- Phoebe Weston

We're on the hunt for brown bear dens in Poland's Carpathian mountains, on the border with Ukraine. The lairs lie within the gnarled caverns that form naturally at the base of decaying fir trees when they get to about 130 years old. Each den is slightly different - some have rocky bottoms, and others have been lined with beech leaves. Looking inside gives an insight into the character of each bear, just like visiting a friend's house.

We pass half a dozen caverns in a 15-hectare area on the steep, rocky slope of the Lutowiska forest district, just outside Bieszczady national park. There are an estimated 110 brown bears left in Poland and this slope is dense with dens and likely to be home to one mother and one or two cubs, with many others passing through.

The dens aren't the only thing to note in this section of forest, which is named Lot 73. There are trees with fluorescent orange dots on them, meaning they have been marked for logging by the government's foresters. A court decision is temporarily protecting these trees on the grounds that the forest is home to bears, an EU-protected species - but their future lies in the balance. The 10-year forest management plan for this district (which ends in 2024) is authorising eight times more wood to be removed than in the previous decade. It is a story that is being repeated elsewhere in the last remaining parts of Poland's primeval mountain forests, only 2% to 4% of which are strictly protected.