A Polish conservationist won the world’s largest prize for grassroots environmental activism last week (19 April) for leading a legal fight to protect one of Europe’s last true wildernesses.

Malgorzata Górska, a conservationist with the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds, shares the Goldman Environmental Prize – worth $900,000 (€675,000) – with five other activists from across the world.

Her successful campaign, drawing on EU legislation, has created a significant legal precedent for the protection of wilderness habitats across Europe.

The Rospuda Valley in north-eastern Poland is one of Europe’s last remaining great wildernesses. Its pristine primeval forest and its ancient peat bogs and wetlands serve as flora and fauna reservoirs for the rest of Europe. It is home to lynx, wolves, otters, elk, eagles and 20 other endangered bird species, as well as many rare plants, such as the fen orchid.

“The place is so beautiful and special, yet so vulnerable,” said Górsk during a recent interview in London, on her way to receive the award in San Francisco. “The valley constitutes a pristine ecosystem. It has been left undisturbed for centuries. It has never been touched by development, so it is unique in terms of its natural value.”

Yet in 1996, as Poland began to grow economically, developers drew up plans to route one of Europe’s most ambitious highway projects, the Via Baltica Expressway, directly through the Rospuda Valley, linking Warsaw to Helsinki. The road was needed to divert heavy traffic from local towns and increase the flow of traffic between Poland and the Baltic states, the government said.

Scientists and conservationists didn’t deny the need for the road, but urged the government to explore alternative routes. They said the planned route would cause irreparable damage to the Rospuda Valley, and pointed out that the area was protected as a national park under Polish law.

In 2002, Górska, who was born in the area and still lives there, launched a campaign with a coalition of activists, scientists and non-governmental organisations to develop a legal case against the Polish government and raise public awareness. They co-ordinated research into the environmental impacts of the road construction, proposed alternative routes, alerted the media and organised protests.

When their efforts to persuade the government failed, Górska and her coalition took advantage of Poland’s membership of the EU. They argued that the Via Baltica violated the EU’s Natura 2000 regulations, and submitted a complaint to the European Commission. The Natura 2000 programme seeks to protect the most important natural areas in the member states, and the Rospuda Valley was included in the network.

The commission investigated and in December 2006 started legal proceedings against Poland. When, despite the Commission’s warnings, construction work continued, the Commission referred the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which ordered the Polish government to suspend work until the court could examine the case. “It was the first time such an order was made to protect a Natura 2000 site from imminent damage caused by development. We set a new precedent,” Górska said.

In March 2009, while the ECJ considered the case, Polish courts found that the project violated national laws and thus should not be built through the Rospuda Valley. And in October 2009, the Polish government agreed to re-route the entire Polish section of the expressway, saving other Natura 2000 sites from destruction.

“It took eight years to achieve results – most of my professional life – but it was worth it,” Górska said. “The campaign changed the way we think about development. Yes, we urgently need good transport infrastructure, but it doesn’t have to be to the detriment of the environment. We showed that it is possible to combine the protection of nature with development.”

The impact of the court ruling extends far beyond Poland, as it now has the potential to strengthen the legal framework for EU environmental regulations across Europe, specifically the protection of Natura 2000 sites.

“In some way, we provided a test case for the Natura 2000 regulations, showing what happens when you ignore them,” Górska said.

Veronique Mistiaen is a freelance journalist.