Over 50 Percent of Conifers in Czech Republic Damaged -- EU Report
Copyright 2000 Czech News Agency (CTK)
October 13, 2000
The state of forests in the Czech Republic is bad, with only Ukraine being even worse among European countries, according to a regular report issued jointly by the European Commission and the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe, which was released on Thursday.
The report says that in 1999 a mere 11.7 percent of conifers were sound in the Czech Republic, while the state of 37.9 percent is alarming and a full 50.4 percent of conifers were damaged.
The health of trees is determined according to the state of their crowns.
The EU and the UN have jointly monitored the state of forests for 14 years. The report said that in spite of impressive cuts in the emissions of sulphur, no overall improvement of viability of forests in Europe has been recorded. The state of forests is traditionally good in Scandinavia, as well as in Austria and Yugoslavia.
In reaction to the report the Agriculture Ministry dismissed it. "I resolutely dismiss the claim that the situation in the Czech Republic is disastrous. This is not to mean that there are no problems, but it is necessary to differ between localities," the daily Mlada fronta Dnes quotes Jaromir Vasicek from the ministry as saying.
He says that the Krusne (Ore) Mountains in west Bohemia, which in the past were the worst affected area because of mining and industrial activities on both the Czech and German sides of the border, but started to recover in 1994-95, are again in a serious condition.
The forests have not yet recovered from an ecological catastrophe in late 1995 and early 1996, which was caused by combination of two factors. First it were emissions from coal- burning power plants, chemical and other works, and second pollutants froze right on the needles of spruces in a spell of sharp frosts.
In the following years even birches, which are said to endure everything, started to die and some time later they were followed by alders. Last year they were joined by spruces in the Orlicke Mountains, east Bohemia, the paper writes.
Geochemist Jakub Hruska from the Czech Geological Institute is quoted as saying that though factories do release less pollutants, it is still enough to spoil the soil.
According to Hruska, not even special fertilisers and spraying of forests with powdered limestone will save the forests.
He said that a solution rests in a more massive planting of deciduous forests which are more resistant than coniferous trees.
A similar opinion is contained in last year's report by the Environment Ministry according to which the number of coniferous forests is twice as big as would be natural.
"To redress the situation will take a longer time," the report says according to Mlada fronta Dnes.