Some of the world's top grass cutters swung into action in Poland for the 15th annual scything championships, bringing a competitive edge -- and some sporting fun -- to the traditional rural practice. Farmers, forest rangers and ecologists were among those who gathered in a vast marshland area in the Biebrza national park in northeastern Poland.
Enthusiasts for the age-old practice of cutting grass with a hand-held scythe say it helps protect aquatic birds in the vast wetlands around the river which gives the Polish park its name. One bird on the frontline is the emblematic aquatic warbler: nearly 15 percent of the ultra-rare species' global population of 12-20,000 live in the Biebrza marshes. The 2016 champion is a local farmer, Rafal Brych, who scythed down a 100-metre strip in 3 minutes 7.28 seconds. He was the best out of 46 participants from Poland, but also from Hungary, Belarus and Belgium. In 15 years the championships have become an international event.
For centuries farmers cut grass in the wetlands by hand, but the tradition has almost completely died out, even if it is the best method ecologically. One solution which has been tried is bringing snow-grooming machines from the mountains especially equipped to cut grass. With caterpillar tracks they can drive across marshland without destroying it. So for the last few years around 10 Ratrak machines, tooled up by a local engineeering company, have been deployed from mid-August across swathes of Biebrza marshlands in place of manually-swung scythes.
