Bialowieza Primeval Forest: Nature and Culture in the Nineteenth Century

the recognition of the forest (BPF in the works of naturalists, artists, travellers until 1831).- Boxes: 1. Biographical box: Julius Brincken's visits to BPF.- 2. Art/literature box: Jakub Sokolowski's depictions of the forest and its dwellers.- 3. Species/processes/types of forest box: European bison -primeval beast unintentionally supported by traditional use.- 5. Mixed management goals (1832-1863).- 5.1. The historical background: continuous attempts of the Russian administration at forest taxation, failed commercial timber production attempts, the first tsar's hunt in BPF.- 5.2. Material imprints - wasted timber or remnants of past traditional forest use - culturally modified trees in BPF.- 5.3. Cultural heritage - the first Russian taxation of BPF, the first known management plan; world's first successful experiments with creating bison-cattle hybrids conducted by Leopold Walicki; official and unofficial views on the first tsar's hunt.- 5.4. View from outside: the recognitionof the forest (BPF in the works of naturalists, artists, travellers until 1863).- Boxes: 1. Biographical box: Dmitrii Dolmatov's futuristic plans of BPF's management.- 2. Art/literature box: Michaly Zichy in the imperial forest.- 3. Species/processes/types of forest box: Bison-cattle hybrids.- 6: The restoration period (1864-1888).- 6.1. The historical background: shift in the management towards creation of a large game reserve connected with prohibition of several traditional ways of forest use.- 6.2. Material imprints - European bison from BPF in the collections of museums, universities and curiosity chambers around the world.- 6.3. Cultural heritage - beekeepers of BPF.- 6.4. View from outside: the recognition of the forest (BPF in the works of naturalists, artists, travellers until 1888).- Boxes: 1. Biographical box: Nobel prize winner Henryk Sienkiewicz in BPF.- 2. Art/literature box: Excursions to BPF in the literature of the second half of the 19th century.- 3. Species/processes/types of forest box: Pine tree as a living archive of historical events.- 7: Tsars' private hunting ground (1888-1915).- 7.1. The historical background: BPF as tsars' private property.- 7.2. Material imprints - promoting ungulates and exterminating carnivores - unnatural selection; imperial palace in Bialowieza.- 7.3. Cultural heritage - local peasants' legal fight with the administration of the forest.- 7.4. View from outside: the recognition of the forest (BPF in the works of naturalists, artists, travellers until 1915).- Boxes: 1. Biographical box: Józef Neverly - the last great game manager of the imperial forest.- 2. Art/literature box: E. P. Wishniakov's photographical journey through BPF.- 3. Species/processes/types of forest box: impact of cattle pasturing inside BPF.- 8. The end of the long 19th century.- 8.1. State of the forest on the brink of WWI.- 8.2. Long-lasting impact of BPF management, protection and exploitation in the long 19th century.- 8.3. Cultural heritage of the Russian Imperial Forest.- 8.4. BPF in the international perspective - already established as a pristine forest (efforts to preserve the central part of the forest during massive German exploitation of WWI).- 9. Conclusions - learning the past to understand the future of BPF.- 9.1. Primeval, natural, ancient - what does it mean in the context of BPF's history.- 9.2. Research needs and conservation goals.- 9.3. Lessons from Europe's best preserved lowland forest.

Along with his core ecological research, his pioneering work on the perceptions and history of alien and exotic species has been widely acclaimed. His research on landscape history has led to a ground breaking handbook on ancient woodland heritage, and a series of books on wetland loss and the history of peat and peat cutting.



Prof. Piotr Daszkiewicz, dr habil. in biology and professor in humanities at the Institute for the History of Science, Polish Academy of Sciences, for many years connected with the Natural History Museum in Paris, currently working at Agence Française pour la Biodiversité combines his biological and historical background in his research. His studies embrace a wide variety of topics, from the history of natural sciences, through history of research in Bialowieza Primeval Forest and studies on European bison, history of natural collections and museums all around the world, to topics focusing on current and past Polish-French scientific collaboration. For many years, he published articles in "Kultura", the most important Polish emigration journal edited by Jerzy Giedroyc.