How a Forest Returns
On the outskirts of Warsaw, Poland, lies the Kampinos Forest. Pressed by centuries of agricultural expansion and battered by two world wars, little of this forest survived. In 1959, it was declared a National Park to turn the tide, and it is now a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Sayam Ghosh, working alongside scientists, explores the forest’s extraordinary restoration.
Once the forest became a reserve, the people inhabiting it could leave voluntarily, encouraged by financial compensation from the government – the population dropped from 16,000 to 2,000. Empty villages and agricultural lands were left to their fate, allowing them to rewild. The natural forest returned. The moose, beavers and wolves that hadn’t lived there for a century were reintroduced and now roam free in healthy populations. Rivers once more follow their natural course.
It is a European utopian experiment on an unprecedented scale, conducted over a period of decades. Ghosh tells this extraordinary story of a regenerated forest and looks at its prospects in an age of ecological crisis. His photographs slide through traces of time and were inspired by cultural myths. He shows us the various ecosystems existent there, highlighting the agency of the forest itself – that of non-human nature.
Sayam Ghosh (India, 1984) uses photography to explore the history of the landscape and the life within it, often in connection with academic ecological themes. He has lived and worked in Poland since 2012.
Thanks to the managers of the park and the scientists working there. The photographs in the collage were mostly made by Roman Kobendza in the 1920s. Roman and Jadwiga Kobendza were key figures in the early history of scientific research and conservation at Kampinos Forest. They prepared the plan for what would eventually become the Kampinos National Park while working underground in Warsaw under German occupation. All images by Roman Kobendza: courtesy Kampinos National Park Archive.
