President Karol Nawrocki, aligned with the right-wing opposition, has vetoed government plans to create Poland’s first national park in 24 years, arguing that it would “block the economic development of the region” and threaten Poland’s security.
According to an article by Notes from Poland, since taking office in early August, Nawrocki has regularly vetoed bills passed by the government’s majority in parliament. On Friday evening, his office announced four further vetoes.
Among them was a bill, approved by parliament in September, to create the Lower Oder Valley National Park, which would have run along the Polish side of part of the Oder River, marking the border with Germany.
A landscape park already exists in the area, but the government had sought to upgrade it to a national park, which offers higher levels of protection for nature. A national park already exists on the German side of the river.
In his justification for the veto, Nawrocki argued that the plans would hinder economic activity, particularly the use of the Oder for transport, and could raise security concerns.
“Environmental protection must go hand in hand with the country’s economic security…[which] cannot be based on an ambiguous provision that may hinder its development,” wrote the president.
He added, “as the supreme commander of the Polish armed forces, I emphasise that decisions regarding investments necessary to ensure and develop the defence potential of Poland cannot be dependent on a decision of the climate and environment minister based on the opinion of the director of a national park.”
Nawrocki also claimed that analyses of the park’s potential impact had not been properly conducted and that local communities had not been fully consulted.
“It is essential that the decision to establish a national park – especially in multifunctional areas – be preceded by thorough analysis of the balance of benefits and constraints, taking into account both nature conservation and the rational management of environmental resources and infrastructure,” he wrote.
The veto was immediately condemned by climate and environment minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska, who said it was “based on lies and political manoeuvring.”
“Instead of standing on the side of the state, natural heritage, and timeless values, the president stood today for partisan interests,” she wrote.
The opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, with which Nawrocki is aligned, has consistently opposed the national park plans.
Olgierd Geblewicz, the government-appointed governor of the province where the park would have been established, also criticized the decision, saying claims that the park would prevent river transport are untrue.
Both he and Hennig-Kloska pledged to seek “an alternative solution” to introduce stronger nature protection in the area.
The proposed Lower Oder Valley National Park would have covered 3,856 hectares around the villages of Kołbaskowo and Widuchowa, as well as the city of Szczecin, and could later have been expanded to a total of 6,051 hectares near the town of Gryfino.
Local activists have been pushing for the park for three decades, with efforts intensifying after a 2022 ecological disaster when pollution in the Oder River caused toxic algal blooms that killed up to half the river’s fish.
Some local residents, including anglers, have opposed the park, and PiS has expressed concerns over its potential impact on shipping, since national park status provides higher protection for waterways.
Local authorities had adjusted the plan to exclude certain areas, including the Klucz-Ustowo and Gartz-Marwice channels, to accommodate inland navigation.
Poland currently has 23 national parks, covering around 1% of the country’s territory. The first, Pieniny National Park, was established in 1932, and the most recent, Warta Mouth National Park, was created in 2001 along the German border.
The veto highlights ongoing tensions between environmental conservation and economic development, a dynamic with implications for the outdoor recreation sector seeking access to natural areas.