the bialowieza region uses the bison in its marketing. llage of bialowieza lies on edge of the forest. its 2,500 residents live almost exclusively from tourism. olimpia pabian runs a guest house in the center of town and plans to expand it. a trained chemist, pabian has created an academy for biodiversity which offers workshops and educational trips about the forest and its natural processes. >> i want to enable people to share their experiences, to see how environmental protection and the needs of the local people can be brought together. there are conflicts here -- not everyone is respecting the environmental protection regulations. >> farmers are particularly unhappy. aleksy bojko wanted to build a barn on his land, but was denied a permit. the authorities claimed it would be too close to the forest. often bojko can't work his fields because birds are brooding in them. european bison and deer also invade his wheat fields. >> they inflict great damage. animals destroy up to 90% of the crops not protected by an electric fence, by eating t