Polish officials promote firewood gathering

Poland has faced problems with home heating amid an energy crisis caused by soaring gas and coal prices. To ease pressure from the crisis, the Polish government and state forestry agency have taken steps to make it easier for people to collect firewood. According to State Forests spokesman Michal Gzowski, now people can use branches and logs for fuel. Deputy climate and energy minister Edward Siarka said that such a measure was adopted due to increased requests from the public. After energy imports from Russia completely stopped, local forestry units started to receive a lot of requests about obtaining permission to collect firewood. Poland is trying to become independent from Russian gas and coal. The country will use liquified natural gas supplied through the Baltic Pipe pipeline. Under the new rules, individuals should first obtain permission from the local forestry unit allowing people to take wood that is already lying on the ground. At the same time, cutting down trees and branches remains prohibited.