Europe's oldest forest is about to be cut in half by an enormous, razor-tipped wall along Poland's border with Belarus. It'll be a disaster for wildlife like brown bears and bison, and a symbol of a fearful, fortress Europe.

Construction has just begun, but the company building the wall relies on international investors -- who if they'd pull their support, could help us stop that shameful wall. Nationale Nederlanden is one of those giant investors, and they've been moved before by public pressure, so we know that this can work.

Will you tell Nationale Nederlanden to stop investing in destruction and division?

Studies show that walls do nothing to stop migration – they just make it more dangerous and inhumane for people on the move. We don’t need more walls; we need decent migration policies that respect and protect all human lives.

The European Charter of Fundamental Rights and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantee all people the right to seek asylum, but many states do everything in their power to deny this. The Polish government is even willing to sacrifice its most ancient and protected Białowieża Forest in an attempt to curb migration.

Scientists around Europe submitted an open letter to the European Commission, warning that the barrier will have devastating consequences for the area. Once completed, the wall will block important migration routes for animal species like wolves, lynx, red deer, brown bear and the bison.

Nationale Nederlanden prides itself on being a socially responsible company that invests in a sustainable future. Then why invest in a future full of walls, barriers and concrete, instead of protecting human rights and Europe’s oldest forest?

Supporters of the enormous wall argue that on the Belarusian side, a fence was installed long ago, and the construction of another barrier shouldn’t impact the ecosystem much. However, conservationists point out that the existing fence is much shorter and lower than the planned Polish wall – and although bad, it’s much less destructive for the environment.

We know that we can get Nationale Nederlanden to listen. In 2018, they decided to pull out of tar sands oil, after pressure from people like you. And not much later they almost entirely stopped investing in coal mining thanks to an amazing campaign by environmentalist groups. Now let’s do it again, let’s get them to pull the plug on this destructive and divisive wall!

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