Residents drop food in the forests. The State Forests warn
In recent days, you can find more and more old pumpkins among the trees after Halloween. As it turns out, we absolutely shouldn’t leave them there.
When we have food leftovers at home, the question arises what to do with them. Because we don’t want to waste food, we like to leave waste in the forest. This practice can be very dangerous to the forest ecosystem. Pumpkins, garden leaves and banana peels are not wanted there. State forests warn against leaving bio-waste in natural environments and advise what is best to do with it.
Pumpkins are not a delicacy for animals
Pumpkins do not naturally occur in Polish forests. This vegetable was brought to Poland from North America and is grown in fields designated for this purpose. In the period after Halloween, you can find a lot of duplicate fake news on the Internet, according to which hollowed out pumpkins will be a tasty delicacy for forest animals. Especially with Christmas approaching, we should remember that throwing food into the forest is never a good idea. The State Forests addressed this problem and prepared a special infographic on their official Facebook profile.
“Pumpkin is not a natural species for the forest environment. Just like leaves from our garden, mowed grass, or a home composter. Even a banana peel that we eat during a forest trip should be thrown away at home, not in the forest. This is how alien species, sometimes invasive ones, spread,” we read.
Feeding animals may be dangerous to humans
Feeding animals in forests can make animals, attracted by easy food, come closer to the human world more often. This is especially dangerous in the case of dangerous species, such as bears, which can sometimes be found outside the mountain areas in the Tatra Mountains. However, residents seem to forget that the same rule applies to forest animals such as roe deer, deer and foxes.
So what to do with leftovers? The State Forests appeal to us to also use them in our kitchen, if possible. “Pumpkin can be used to make soup, tart and cookies. (…) From such a pumpkin we can make baked mousse, which can be preserved in a jar or frozen and used in winter,” advises the organization.
