NOV20

Classroom lesson · Belavezhskaya Pushcha · 🇧🇾 Belarus

Belavezhskaya Pushcha

Europe's oldest and largest ancient forest — a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Tall oak trees rising through morning mist in Belavezhskaya Pushcha ancient forest

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Belavezhskaya Pushcha is one of the oldest forests on Earth, stretching across Belarus and into Poland. It has never been cut down or cleared — its trees, some over 600 years old, have been growing since before any European country we know today existed. The forest is so special that it has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tell me more

The name 'Pushcha' is an old Slavic word meaning a thick, dense forest where you cannot push through easily. That tells you a lot! This forest is so dense and full of life that you can find over 900 types of plants, hundreds of bird species, and mammals that have disappeared from nearly everywhere else in Europe.

Walking through Belavezhskaya Pushcha feels like travelling back in time thousands of years, to when forests covered the whole continent. Giant oak and ash trees tower above you. The floor is soft with moss and fallen leaves that have been building up for centuries. Woodpeckers drum in the branches and lynx pad quietly through the undergrowth.

The forest is home to the European bison — the heaviest land animal in Europe — which was saved from extinction here. Scientists and rangers work hard to protect the bison and many other creatures. Visitors can walk on marked paths and, with luck, spot a bison grazing quietly among the trees.

Part of the forest is in Belarus and part is in Poland, but the trees and animals do not know about borders. The whole forest is protected on both sides so that wildlife can roam freely, just as they did long ago.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Why do you think it matters to protect ancient forests that have never been cut down?
  2. 02If you could visit Belavezhskaya Pushcha, what animal would you most hope to see, and why?
  3. 03The forest is shared between two countries. How do you think the two countries work together to look after it?
  4. 04Some trees in the forest are 600 years old. What was happening in your country 600 years ago?
Try this

Classroom activity

Draw a large cross-section picture of the forest floor, going from the sky down to the roots underground. Label the different layers: sky (birds), canopy (tall trees), middle (smaller trees and bushes), floor (moss, mushrooms, fallen leaves), and underground (roots and burrowing animals). Add at least one Belarusian animal to each layer.

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