BRATISLAVA, December 29, (WEBNOVINY) — Slovakia is becoming an increasingly more forested country. While in 1950, forests covered an of 1.8 million hectares, thirty years later it was in 1.95 million hectares and as of December 31, 2010 the area of forest land reached 2,010,817 hectares. Despite unplanned calamity logging, the overall wood reserves in Slovak forests are increasing in the long-term. Logging has gone up, for example, in the period of the past five years by four percent to 461.95 million cubic meters, says 2010 Green Report released by the Agriculture Ministry.
“We record these positive trends in the forestry sector despite increased logging caused by wind and bark-beetle calamities in the last few years,” stated Igor Viszlai, Director General of the state-run forestry company LESY SR, which takes care of nearly a half of all forests in Slovakia. Fears of some non-governmental organizations about sustainability of forestry in Slovakia are therefore unsubstantiated. Apart from other things, this is confirmed by certification of sustainable forestry granted by independent organizations. One hundred percent of forests of LESY SR are certified while 1.226 million hectares of forests, which is less than two-thirds of the overall area, have gained this certificate in the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC – world’s largest forest certification organization).
The increased number of logged trees related to the removal of calamities will be balanced in the upcoming years by a significant decrease in logging in individual affected forests. LESY SR has lowered logging this year by one-sixth to 4.2 million cubic meters while they plan another significant decline next year to 3.8 million cubic meters.
The problem with a growing shortage of wood on the market could be partially overcome if it was possible to use about 600,000 cubic meters of calamity wood in forests that are in national parks in areas with the 3rd degree of protection. This is, however, impeded by the attitude of bodies of the State Nature Protection Agency, which refuses to permit construction of forest roads necessary for transportation of wood. Contrary to allegations of protectionists, this is not „an incomprehensible effort to log wood in strictly preserved territories occupying only one percent of the Slovakia’s territory“. The company’s effort is to halt further spreading of the bark beetle calamity from the protected areas to healthy productive forests.
SITA