Poland to 'survive EU farm regime'

By Alex Kirby
BBC News Online environment correspondent in Kurpie, north-east Poland

Walk on to Roman and Barbara Brzeziak's farm in the lush green fields here, and the first sound you hear is the singing of the skylarks.

Moscow failed to tame the Polish farmer, and I hope Brussels will fail too Pawel Sidlo

Storks are nesting behind the farmhouse. In the river lives a family of beavers.

The couple farm organically, selling milk, grain, potatoes and chickens.

But they wonder what will happen to the wildlife after Poland joins the European Union.

Ten new members are due to join in May 2004, and anxiety is growing in Poland and beyond about the possible impact of the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP).

Roman Brzeziak says: "We're a bit afraid about what May will bring, especially as our neighbours farm very intensively.

Poor returns

"If they don't convert to some sort of organic farming like us, it'll be very dangerous for the storks, the beavers and the hares."

A few kilometres away, Adam Krzyzewski also earns a living as an organic farmer, with eco-tourism thrown in for good measure.

He has a string of visitors willing to pay to stay in the traditional wooden house he transported from a neighbouring village, and to admire the rare breeds of farmyard birds and animals he collects.

Even so, he has to eke out his income by working as a teacher, leaving his wife Ewa to run the farm.

Adam Krzyzewski's traditional poultry breeds

But he is confident about the future. "I think Poland and other new EU members will try to preserve nature, because they see that it's valuable," he told BBC News Online.

"Organic production is the best solution for small farms. But we need subsidies, markets, and awareness-raising, to show people organic food is much healthier for them.

"What I fear is foreigners buying up Polish land - they're doing so already, and often we see them buy smaller enterprises then close them down to prevent competition."

On the way to Warsaw lies the small town of Goworowo, whose mayor, Dr Janusz Gajewski, is a veterinary surgeon.

"Country people are very conservative", he says. "I don't think there'll be many changes in farming round here over the next few years.

"But people in the towns are increasingly rich. They're more health-conscious, they want better-quality food.

Cantankerous characters

"We won't go down the EU route of over-production, but we'll produce good quality food we can sell."

Pawel Sidlo of Otop, the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds, takes comfort from the stubborn nature of Polish farmers.

The Brzeziaks worry for their hares

"They're uniquely independent and bloody-minded among eastern Europe's farmers", he told BBC News Online.

"Most of our farms are small, averaging eight hectares. The only way the CAP could work here would be if the farmers agreed to form big co-operatives - and they almost certainly won't.

"Under communism collective farms were less successful in Poland than anywhere else the Soviet Union tried to enforce them.

"Moscow failed to tame the Polish farmer, and I hope Brussels will fail too."

Temptation ahead

Dr Catherine Larman, agriculture policy officer of the UK's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, is less hopeful.

She said: "Landscapes which sustain some of the greatest diversity of birds and other wildlife in Europe face the threat of rapid change from the CAP.

"I'm confident the new EU members can avoid the damage the CAP has caused in western Europe, but I'm not so confident they actually will.

"I think there's an understandable urge in countries like Poland to enjoy all the Western trappings they've gone without for so long."