***********************************************
WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Eastern
Europe Forest Report
***********************************************
Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
January
24, 1996
OVERVIEW
& SOURCE
Following
is some very disturbing, yet accurate and recent
information
from Eastern Europe concerning state of forest
management
there. This was posted in econet's <
nfn.tempforest >
conference.
g.b.
*******************************
RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
/**
nfn.tempforest: 430.0 **/
**
Topic: Eastern Europe Forest Report **
**
Written 8:03 PM Dec 17, 1995 by tfullum in
cdp:nfn.tempforest
**
Eastern
Europe Forest Report compiled by Tom Fullum
Slovakia
*******
Following
a five day meeting of forest protection groups in
Slovakia
last September, activists from Poland, Germany, Czech
Republic
and Slovakia were acquainted with problems facing forests
in
northeastern Slovakia. They made the following statement:
*Forests
of north-eastern Slovakia are a treasure among forests of
whole
Europe. They represent a significant native forests base,
which
can be the only chance for a restoration of European
forests.
This fact doesn't correspond with forestry practices in
the
mentioned region. Verbally declared efforts to save and
improve
the condition of the forests has been changed in reality
to
clearcuts, forest roads and planting of non-native species.
Participating
groups propose to change the forest management
according
to the principles known to responsible authorities and
also
from studies granted by WOLF Forest Protection Movement.
Damages
caused by deformation of the hydrological regime in
Runina,
Livov, and Udolie Obrov are further proof that our
warnings
are well-founded. We demand responsible bodies to pass
from
lame excuses and verbal gestures to practical changes in the
forest
management. It is not just the interest of Slovakia but of
whole
of Europe.*
Forests
of special concern in Slovakia include the Cergov
Mountains
located in northeastern Slovakia. A 30 km long main
ridge
reaches altitude of 1000 meters above sea. Except for small
spots,
Cergov is not protected. Native forest stands are beech,
and
mixed beech and fir with some maple. Three wolf packs, lynx,
foxes,
seldom bear, rare eagles and beetles
are endangered by
improper
forestry practices. Four kind of owls are losing nesting
places
in old-growth beech trees. At the present time, the 600 km2
of
Cergov forests represent one of the last comprehensive
reservoirs
of native forest in Slovakia.
The
Vychodne Karpaty Protected Landscape Area is located in
eastern
Slovakia bordering Poland and the Ukraine. The Vychodne
Karpaty
forests cover an area of 668 km2 with a buffer zone of 301
km2.
Approximately 20% are special purpose forests and only part
of them
are completely protected. The area contains significant
endemic
flora, ridge line meadows, significant groups of insects,
and
varied communities of vertebrates and invertebrates. Fauna are
similar
to Cergov species, and include bears, sometimes bison and
often
elk from Poland. Thanks to the remoteness and
inaccessibility
of some parts of the forest, biodiversity of fauna
and
flora was perfectly saved.
WOLF
Forest Protection Movement
Romania
*******
Samling
timber, one of the world's most destructive logging
companies,
is planning to extend its global operations to Romania.
The
Malaysian company made its fortune from the rainforests of
Sarawak,
east Malaysia, the oldest and most diverse tropical
rainforest
on earth. Intensive logging there, 24 hours a day,
seven
days a week, has devastated the forest and the lives of
thousands
of tribal people who depend on it. As timber supplies
become
exhausted in Malaysia, Samling has spread its tentacles to
forests
worldwide and is now looking hungrily at some of the last
forests
in Europe.
In
Cambodia, Samling has been funding the Khymer Rouge through
cross
border logging. Despite recent elections, the Khymer Rouge
still
maintains a large power base in the Cambodian countryside.
Revenue
from logging is their major source of funding for arms.
The
Khymer Rouge is responsible for the genocide of over 1 million
people
during their reign of terror in the seventies. Samling's
support
for such a ruthless organization is typical of their
business
ethos which puts profit before all moral considerations.
Reports
by Marcus Colchester of the World Rainforest Movement
indicate
that similar patterns of disregard for local people and
the
environment are emerging due to the company's logging
practices.
Native people have already been evicted from their
established
homesteads with inadequate compensation. The company
is
notoriously ruthless and corrupt in achieving its aims, leaving
campaigners
worried that proposed logging operations in Romania's
Carpathian
forests will lead to further devastation.
EYFA/ASEED
Forest Campaign
Poland
******
Over
the past year, the Workshop for All Beings, EYFA/ASEED, and
the NFN
have helped to organize letter writing campaigns,
demonstrations,
meetings, and lobbying of the Polish government.
Thousands
of letters, faxes, and petitions bearing more then
200,000
signatures calling for the enlargement of the National
Park
have been received from across the world. International and
domestic
pressure has resulted in the following agreements:
* To
enlarge the existing National Park by 100% in January 1996.
* To
establish a logging moratorium on felling old deciduous
trees.
(see NFNews ????).
* To
immediately halt all logging in forest earmarked for National
Park
status.
* To
establish nine partial reserves in the rest of the Bialowieza
Forest.
* To
designate the remainder of the forest as a Landscape Park
under
management of the Forestry Service.
Despite
these moves, the Workshop for All Beings and NFN hold that
not
enough is being done to protect the Bialowieza Primeval
Forest.
The area covered by the enlargement decree extends over
only
20% of the forest and the area is already being compromised
by
pressure from the Polish Forester to exempt certain areas from
enlargement.
In addition, evidence exists that there is ongoing
felling
in the area to be designated National Park status. The
designated
status of Landscape Park offers low or minimal
protection
and the Forestry Service has commercial interests in
these
forests and may draw up management plans which conflict with
conservation
aims. Lastly, implementation of the agreements is
restricted
by limited budget allocation by the Polish government.
The
current measures can only be considered initial steps toward
conserving
the Bialowieza Primeval Forest. Only National Park
status
for the entire area will insure full protection of this
unique
ecosystem.
Workshop
for All Beings
The
Bialowieza Forest is also endangered by transportation of
extremely
dangerous chemicals and gases. The Bialowieza Forest
Protection
Society is now protesting against transporting from
Belarus
to Poland of 1600 metric tonnes chlorine, 80,000 metric
tonnes
of ammonia and 160,000 metric tonnes of liquid propane a
year.
Chlorine can kill all biological life in a range of 50 km
from a
spill. One such disaster could kill many thousands of
people
and the Bialowieza Primeval Forest.
The
railway line used for transportation of chemicals is not
designed
for this purpose. The railway crossings are not
protected,
the positions of the trains full of deadly liquids is
unknown
to the brigade which is supposed to deal with accidents,
there
is no lighting on the railway line, and most frightening of
all,
the closest chemical rescue unit is 300 km away. Almost all
of the
trains are going through the Bialowieza Forest at night,
perhaps
because the Polish State Railways (PKP) wants to hide the
scale
of danger.
Bialowieza
Forest Protection Society
###RELAYED
TEXT ENDS###
You are
encouraged to utilize this information for personal
campaign
use; including writing letters, organizing campaigns and
forwarding. All efforts are made to provide accurate,
timely
pieces;
though ultimate responsibility for verifying all
information
rests with the reader. Check out our
Gaia Forest
Archives
at URL=
http://gaia1.ies.wisc.edu/research/pngfores/
Networked
by:
Ecological
Enterprises || Phone/Fax->(608) 233-2194
Email->
gbarry@forests.org