WHERE IS STRANDZHA'S FOREST?

It has been for centuries and for the last decades of the communist regime, and for the recent years of pseudodemocracy that Bulgarian forest – that priceless treasure given by God – fills the bank accounts of faceless thieves under the protection of the institutions. In my mountain except for few marked century-old gigantic oak colossus here and there nowhere you could see now the old Strandzha's oak and beech woods. In our memories the lonely poet's verses echo: Strandzha's forest...with no protection, with cut throat locals get away from their mountain. As if from plague. NO school opens its doors to the children any more. Lonely are the schools, the community centres, the churches – once built with love and hope. However, the hissing of the hungry cutters deep into the forest body and the whirring of newly-born majesties' powerful jeep engines going after the unprotected game – never end.

Finally – could one believe?! - the deforestation is stopped. The doors of the numerous forestries are closed at last, as well as their mouths. But until when?

Till next day when the government announced that the information about the closed forestries and stopped deforestation is untrue. And everything should continue be as it was. The suggestion about control authorities which should give real valuation of woods status and the damages done under the protection of the government now and in the past. It is necessary, however, in that authorities no people from the net of unchangeable governors but only experts and environmentalists who are used to scare the government pretending to be completely deaf. When that happens, maybe then the special pier in Bourgas port would be shut down, where trunks of the cut trees are loaded to ships for transportation to the neighboring countries whose woodworking factories work full time unlike ours – sleeping or in liquidation. And all people guilty for that – ex- and today's bosses of the gangster net – mayors, governors, region rulers, heads of forestries and their helpers – will be judged by law, although the people of Strandzha do not believe in the laws, they will see all those in the dock.

Victor Hugo: Those who open schools, closes prisons!
 and the opposite – the way it is here – we close schools and open new prisons for the already filled ones.
 And asylums as well – says a common philospher.

Lyuben Petkov
journalist and writer
10.02.2015