The Restoration Period (1861–1888)

Abstract

The history of Białowieża Primeval Forest (BPF) experienced a pivotal moment with the royal hunt by Alexander II in 1860. The impact of the hunt was to trigger a gradual change in BPF management (creating a game reserve, purchasing deer, exterminating predators, restricting logging) that ultimately transformed it into the private hunting ground of the Russian Tsars; a process completed in 1888. There was a major shift from the incremental moves towards commercial forestry driven by nineteenth-century scientific forestry towards being a hunting ground based on principals of German “rational” game management. The changes that the era of Great Reforms brought in the 1860s, sparked conflicts between former state peasants and BPF administration over traditional forest use.At the same time, as this change was sweeping through the forest interest in the natural world and in new ideas such as evolution and natural selection were emerging throughout Europe and North America. With this new enlightenment, the forest became subject to increasing interest and scrutiny from a more educated society. A consequence of this change was that the forest appeared regularly as a topic in publications devoted to nature and forestry. Furthermore, the region was visited by prominent artists and writers and perceptions and ideas relating to the forest and its European bison emerged from that time and some remain with us today.