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The Via Baltica: Head-on collision between transport and nature in Rospuda Valley?

by Helen Byron and Małgorzata Górska

The ‘Via Baltica’ is the name commonly given to the road component of the multi-modal (road and rail-link) pan-European transport corridor that links Helsinki to Warsaw via Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) is the EU’s Transport Infrastructure Framework. This was initially adopted in 1990 and now includes Priority Projects on 30 international axes plus wider transport projects. By 2020 it is envisaged that the TEN-T will include 89, 500km of roads, 94, 000km railways, 11,250km of inland waterways including 210 inland ports, 294 sea ports and 366 airports[1]. The rail component of the Helsinki-Warsaw corridor ‘Rail Baltica’ is one of the TEN-Ts 30 Priority Projects and the Via Baltica is part of the wider TEN-T network ie is of European importance, but not considered a top priority.

When Poland joined the EU in 2004, the Polish TEN-T map included a route for the Via Baltica along existing road number 8 via Bialystok – the regional capital of NE Poland. By this time, it was already apparent to NGOs that there were very sensitive wildlife sites in NE Poland that would require protection under EU nature law[2], but time was short during preparation and there was little, if any, official environmental analysis prior to adoption of the TEN-T maps for Poland and other accession countries. The expectation was that further analysis would be carried out to look at the most appropriate routes, including from a biodiversity perspective, before individual projects were progressed. However, in practice, the Polish authorities, at least those responsible for roads/transport, are reluctant to do this and are strongly of the view that the route via Bialystok in the 2004 map is already fixed.

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About the authors
Dr Helen Byron is the International Site Casework Officer at the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). The RSPB is the UK Partner of BirdLife International, the global partnership of bird conservation organisations. Helen’s role is supporting other BirdLife Partners, particularly in Eastern Europe, in their work to influence major developments to avoid impacts to key biodiversity sites, email helen.byron@rspb.org.uk
Małgorzata Górska is OTOP/BirdLife Poland’s Via Baltica Campaign Coordinator. She is based in Podlasie close to Rospuda Valley, email malgorzata.gorska@otop.org.pl. 

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[1] European Communities (2005) Trans-European Transport Network – TEN-T priority axes and projects 2005. Available from http://ec.europa.eu/ten/transport/priority_projects/index_en.htm

[2]  Fisher, I & Waliczky, Z (2001) An assessment of the potential impact of the TINA network on Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in the accession countries, RSPB, Sandy.