Sabina Pieruzek-Nowak

Sabina Pieruzek-Nowak has demonstrated that education at the local level can transform attitudes about killing predatory animals such as wolves, and make environmental activists out of local people.

Rather than blindly condemn those who illegally hunt wolves and other predators, Sabina tries to establish common ground for cooperation among farmers, foresters, hunters, householders, government officials, and the community at large. She avoids the sort of accusatory environmental rhetoric that irritates and alienates the very audience it aims to persuade. Sabina makes a dispassionate assessment of why hunters, farmers, and others are killing natural predators, and then finds an alternative that enables human beings and predators to coexist. By its focused effort on Poland's gray wolf population, Sabina's organization, Association for Nature WOLF, has demonstrated how to change fear and anger into solutions and support. It seeks to transform local communities in areas which are most adversely affected by natural predators into committed advocates for wolves as well as for broader environmental aims.

Many animal species in Poland and Central Europe face severe population decline from human-imposed threats such as hunting, poaching, and destruction of habitat. Despite government protection of endangered species, hunters and poachers are tacitly accepted in many parts of the region. Natural predators such as the gray wolf (strictly protected in Poland), which feed mostly on ungulates but sometimes on domesticated animals, are at special risk, as farmers strive to protect their livestock by illegally hunting them, or try to force the return of the wolf on a game list. This calling is strongly supported by hunters, who still recognise the wolf predation on wild ungulates as losses, and present a big force - there are one hundred thousand members of the Polish Hunting Union. Only about five hundred gray wolves inhabit Poland.

The decline of predators is having adverse effects on the environment. Contrary to the common view among Poles that large predators are a threat, especially to domestic animals, they are actually necessary to maintaining balanced ecosystems. As the number of big predators declines, herbivores such as roe and red deer proliferate, seek new sources of food, and feed on forest nurseries and thickets. This threatens the continuance of large forest complexes–vital habitats for dozens of protected species–which cover nearly 30 percent of Poland. The State Forest Service, which is responsible for the management of the majority of Polish forests, has been forced to increase its budget for prevention of damages caused by ungulates every year, to an estimated $17.5 million in 1999.

Compared to the millions spent on forest preservation, the losses by farmers seem small. Reports in 1998 cite two hundred twenty-seven sheep and one hundred seventy-one cattle killed by predators, translating into an economic loss to farmers of an estimated $37,000. In 2000 the losses reached $39,000. This loss is significant to any single farmer, who may believe there is no option but to kill the predator.

Sabina begins by identifying the source of local sentiment against natural predators. She then educates and reshapes opinion to reach a mutually beneficial solution to farmers and predators. One of Sabina's most important educational tools is a manual that she created with input from farmers and with funding from the Polish Foundation Partnership for Environment (linked to the German Marshall Fund), as well as other private sources. It provides comprehensive, readable, and illustrated information about the most efficient prevention methods against predator attacks. Among these methods is the use of the Tatra Mountain Shepherd, a breed of dog that Sabina identified as critical to the protection of farm animals. The manual also offers advice about obtaining legal assistance and compensation for damages caused by predator attacks to farm animals.

After distributing the first version of the manual to farmers, Sabina worked to extend her efforts through an existing network of conservationists. From 1996 to mid-2001, she trained the staff of several landscape parks, Nature Protection Departments, local officials, foresters, and hunters, many of whom had regular contact with the farmers she was trying to reach. Currently she trains shepherds and farmers from the Western Beskidy Mountains and introduces light mobile fences, as a method of livestock protection, to several sheep farms in the region.

The multilevel work needed to protect large predators in the long term led her to launch in 1996 launch the Association for Nature, which aims to increase awareness about the ecological importance of preserving predators. AfN WOLF has grown to include one hundred fifty members, who combat declines in the wolf population and promote environmental conservation. AfN WOLF provides training programs, engages in monitoring and field studies on predators and sources of wolf/human conflicts, distributes educational materials, and provides a platform for lobbying the government and parliament. The main educational project of AfN WOLF, established in 1997, is called WOLFNET. The aim of the project is to put together, support, and coordinate activities of institutions, organizations, and people interested in multilevel work for the long-term protection of wolves in Poland. This approach resulted in a new law in 1998, which protects wolves in throughout the country. By 2005, Sabina plans to reach 80 percent of breeders and farmers, 20 percent of hunters, and most local communities. She expects that during the next five years the number of WOLFNET cooperators will grow to four hundred participants, one hundred fifty volunteer trainers, and make a significant regional impact.

In conjunction with the Mammal Research Institute at the Polish Academy of Science in Bialowieza she developed a large-scale wolf and lynx population density project in Poland. The State Forest Service and thousands of foresters in all the forest divisions are also involved. It has resulted in the current data on wolf and lynx distribution, number, and identification of threats and barriers for spontaneous migration of these predators.

Sabina has made frequent television appearances, including many on the series "Animals," aired from 1996 to 1999 and other current programs on Polish public television. She hopes that increased public awareness about natural predators as critical ecological links rather than savage killers will lead to enlightened government policies. An illustration of her ability to transform attitudes through careful analysis and education involves a farmer in southwestern Poland whose sheep and goats were frequently targeted by wolves. In media interviews he fervently urged for killing the wolves, but after working with Sabina and learning techniques for safely breeding and protecting sheep, he joined WOLFNET's conservation efforts and is working to educate others.

Sabina and WOLFNET members are aware of the need for a regional, trans-border view on the large predators' protection. Sabina organized meetings in the Ukraine in 1998-99, and in 1999 hosted groups of environmental educators from the Ukraine for a training seminar in Poland. She is a co-author of the first monograph of a Wolf in the Ukraine.

She helped draft the policy initiative, National Strategy for Wolf Protection and Management, accepted by the Ministry for Environmental Protection, which will support long-term wolf preservation, habitat protection, and public education, as well as providing clear guidelines to compensate farmers for predator attacks. In October 1999, Sabina met with heads from the nature protection departments of Belarus, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic to begin establishing a regional uniform policy for the protection and management of the wolf population. In October 2000 she discussed the same issues with officials from the Slovak State Forest Service. In summer 2001 she monitored wolf packs in Polish/German trans-border areas with help from scientists and volunteers from Germany.

As a regional economic incentive for wildlife protection, Sabina is promoting ecotourism. She organizes seminars and expeditions to the western Beskidy Mountains for people interested in wolves. The expeditions provide direct income to local people and others, who provide lodging, food, and other related services. Additionally, she and her co-workers have trained about forty people in agrotourism related to wildlife. She wrote a book, On a Wolf Track, to encourage people to spend their free time in close contact with nature and to help them better understand the wolves' habitats.

Since childhood, Sabina has been committed to activities that serve the community. She led Girl Scout groups to assist elderly and disabled persons and to explore folklore and natural history. She also helped a community theater to develop an innovative training program that linked students with more experienced performers.

Trained as biologist, Sabina initially pursued a career as a regional conservationist. In the late 1980s she moved from her government post to the civil sector. In 1996, Sabina focused on working with predators and started Association for Nature WOLF. As a Ph.D. candidate she conducts studies on wolf ecology and conservation problems in the Western Beskidy Mountains, as well as wolf monitoring methods.