We step off the train, and just beyond the station entrance Europe’s ancient Białowieża forest begins to expand outwards, engulfing the view from the platform. The journey from Warsaw took a few hours, yet we feel reassured with the promise from Polish Railways that trees have been planted to offset the CO2 emitted by their diesel trains [1]. Eager to step out into one of the final untouched wildernesses of Europe, we group around Marek – our friend and leader for the day – who begins to tell us the route we will take into the woods to pick mushrooms.
“My family have followed this path for years now, it has never let us down,” he reassures us, taking an old, worn, yet invaluable notebook out from his coat pocket as he does so. “Look at the drawings here,” he says, gesturing to old sketches of assorted fungi, “all these ones are good, but make sure to only pick every third one you see – so we leave enough spores to regrow. However, no matter how cute this red one is with the white spots, don’t even touch it.” The forest and the lure of fungal fortune calls out to us, but I realise that we have nowhere to hold these mushrooms that Marek has promised to us, no one even has a plastic bag on them, as single-use plastics were banned two years ago [2].
I question Marek where we will store these mushrooms that we’ve travelled all the way from Warsaw to pick. Our exchange city feels like a world apart from this primordial forest, yet I remember that Warsaw is also Europe’s fifth greenest city, and a city making a conscious effort to fulfil the UN’s 11th goal of ‘Sustainable Cities’ [3].
“Don’t worry about that,” Marek reassures us “there’ll be people selling traditional Polish ‘koszyk’ baskets outside the woods. The locals like it when we come mushroom picking here and buy them – it helps develop the village, and making the baskets is a regenerative practice.”
‘Wow, this traditional practice is a great example of sustainable consumption and production, fitting into the 12th UN Sustainable Development Goal,’ I think to myself [4].
Having bought our baskets, we file behind Marek into the enveloping thicket of pine trees. The sublime view of the bright blue-sky refracting among the evergreens instils in us both adoration and a duty of care, not just for this place but for the entire planet. Walking among the trees and scouring the forest floor for any signs of fungi, I wonder how many of the fascinating experiences I’ve had on my time abroad I will remember in the years to come. I then realise that the one unforgettable lesson this experience has taught me, is just how important it is to preserve Earth’s pristine beauty everywhere we can.
“Found one – a ‘prawdziwek’, nice!” proclaims Marek, proudly holding up his first bounty.
References
[1] https://www.railtech.com/all/2025/05/06/passengers-asked-for-it-so-now-polish-railways-plants-trees-to-offset-co2/?gdpr=accept
[2] https://notesfrompoland.com/2023/05/12/law-banning-many-single-use-plastics-and-restricting-others-introduced-in-poland/
[3] https://en.um.warszawa.pl/-/poland-s-capital-at-the-forefront-of-europe-s-green-cities#:~:text=Warsaw%20came%20fifth%20in%20the,city%20by%20protecting%20the%20environment.
[4] https://sdgs.un.org/goals
[5] https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/33/
