Nature advocates insist for urgent forests reforms

The revealed disgraceful abuses in the forests of Sevlievo and Gabrovo by the TV reportage “TEMATA NA NOVA” of 17th July 2016 showed once again that the most precious Bulgarian forests are cut down more intensively and unscrupulously for the obtain of quick profits. These profits are “drained” via public tenders for cars, uniforms, fuels and forest roads. Century-old forests in protected areas and water shreds are destroyed. Forest roads and touristic routes are swept away; flood risk is greatly increased, whereas the landscape is ruined. All that deprives the locals not only of clean potable water, but of the impossibility to develop alternative tourism.

This is possible, as the whole power and financial flows of the logging within the public forests are concentrated in six governmental forests enterprises, whose directors are obviously more powerful, than their Minister of the agriculture and foods, considering that the Prime-minister is directly responsible for them. The vicious circle is closed by legislative norms, according to which the salaries of the governmental forest employees are directly linked with the incomes of logging. This is one of the reasons for the increased pressure with almost 10% over the century-old forests within the last five years. In the meantime, according to a study of Alfa Research from 2016, 76% of the Bulgarians consider the logging and forest destruction as one of the most serious issues facing the Bulgarian nature.

Therefore, in order to defend the societal interest, the nature advocates consider that fundamental reforms in the forest management are needed. They should guarantee that this public resource is used by a more transparent and publicly useful way, whereas the social and ecological functions of the forests are considered equally as the logging ones. If the forests management is not going to be reformed now, soon it will be too late, since in parallel with the more intensive logging, quick processes for the distribution of forests to private timber companies are in progress. This happens by long-term contracts for over 5 years, representing hidden concessions.

According to the Forests Law, the main responsibility for their management in Bulgaria is given to the Ministry of agriculture and foods. This is a governmental institution, which is expected to take not only the responsibility for the defined systematic problems, but also to propose solutions for their elimination, in order to terminate their repetition.
It should be clear that the systematic problems cannot be solved solely with personnel replacements and new legislative restrictions, since even the best legislative measures would not be implemented effectively, as long as there is no independent governmental control of the forests in place, and the nomination of employees in the forests system are done solely based on political arguments.

While expecting the reaction of the government, Coalition “Let Nature Remain in Bulgaria” and “Green Laws” Initiative are ready to support the restoration of the forest systems with specific principle proposals:
1. To create a separate Ministry of forests, which to be responsible for the public forests policy and management of public forests.

2. To close down the six governmental forests enterprises and to restore the independency of the public forest- and hunting farms, which to report directly to the Minister, in order to increase the personal responsibility within the system.

3. To create an independent Governmental agency of forests under the Council of ministers for independent control over all activities related to forests.

4. To develop an independent forests police.

5. To create supervision councils under the Ministry of forests and the Governmental agency of forests with the aim for the direct participation of the society and all stakeholders and businesses in the management of forests that are publicly owned.

Links to journalists’ investigations related to forests misuses:

Outrageous public tenders related to forests
http://play.novatv.bg/programi/razsledvane/752709

Illegal logging in Vitosha damaged century-old forests
http://news.bnt.bg/bg/a/nezakonna-sech-na-vitosha-zasegna-vekovni-gori

Again illegal logging in Vitosha
http://btvnovinite.bg/gallery/bulgaria/regionalni-novini/otnovo-nezakonna-sech-na-vitosha-otryazani-sa-stotitsi-darveta-v-prirodniya-park.html

Do the forest enterprises cover illegal logging by close firms?
http://play.novatv.bg/programi/razsledvane/685717?autostart=true