CE FACEM CÂND PĂDUREA ESTE DISTRUSĂ?

 

Name of author: TRIFAN-STOICA VANESA-ELENA

Age: 16 years old

Name of school: COLEGIUL NAȚIONAL „MIHAI EMINESCU” SUCEAVA

Country, county, city: ROMĂNIA, SUCEAVA, SUCEAVA           

Coordinating teacher: IUREA CĂTĂLINA

 

 

WHAT DO WE DO WHEN THE FOREST IS DESTROYED?

 

           The existence of forests is threatened by a large-scale problem: illegal logging. Trees, the essence of life, have been transformed into a business - a business that generates greed. At the same time, the measures adopted towards this problem are either insufficient or non-existent.         

           Human resources are low in this regard, and unfortunately many people are not worried and do not act against illegal logging.

VIRGIN FORESTS ARE BEING TORN DOWN BY BIG COMPANIES

            The presence of Holzindustrie Schweighofer (as known as Egger), part of the Schweighofer Group brought many changes in the forest landscape in Suceava county. “While the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest has been horrifying people for years, hardly anyone realises that Europe contains remnants of virgin forests that are just as important. The fact that the majority of these are on our doorstep, in the Carpathians, and are under threat remains an untold story,” says David Gehl from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), a US NGO investigating the predatory exploitation of nature throughout the world. 

     Illegal deforestation in Bucovina is a big problem, which will not be combated until large companies completely detach themselves from suppliers who deliver wood to them without proper documents. The factory from Rădăuți cannot be given as an example in this matter. 

          At the beginning of December 2019 an illegal transport of wood was detected. 

          The transport was delivered by a company from Pojorâta. 

A few days later, the representatives of Egger Rădăuți announced that they interrupted the collaboration with the company whose truck full of illegally cut wood was found in the yard of the company from Rădăuți, stating that "it shows zero tolerance for wood from illegal sources" . The truck used for the illegal transport from December was caught in March 2020  at Egger, loaded with wood. The EIA reports accuse Schweighofer of being  the “biggest receiver of illegal timber” and lying“ about the source of its products for more than ten years”. No history of the depletion of the Romanian forests would be complete without the role of Austrian businesses. The names of these companies are not well known to the general public, even though they are world market leaders in their respective branches of the global timber exploitation chain. 

         Slowly but surely, the timber industry kills the wooded paradise, home to wolves, bears and lynxes. Thus, large companies contribute to the destruction of forests in Suceava County, constantly threatening them. In addition, these companies are polluting air and water, as well. Unfortunately, there is another aspect that causes forests to perish: the authorities' refusal to listen. 

Holzindustrie Schweighofer, Rădăuți  - the yard

source: https://wtp.hoechsmann.com/en/lexikon/41082/wood_yard 

PANDEMIC AND INDIFFERENCE: A FATAL COMBINATION    

             Now that the factor that causes the problem has been analyzed and addressed, we can see that timber companies represent the base of the issue. Now the attention and concern is directed towards the individuals. For example, there are people who are willing to risk their life for the  good of the environment, to protect and sustain forests. These people decided to dedicate themselves entirely to pursuing the people who were destroying the forests of his homeland. Unfortunately, the local authorities do not support these people with noble goals, and this is an aspect which contributes to the gravity of the situation. 

            In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic has caused deforestation to occur more often. In the midst of the pandemic, the wood industry continues to decimate forests and pollute the air, as the authorities' attention is turned to other topics of public interest such as the coronavirus. This encouraged the wood thieves to act, regardless of the circumstances.

THE SAVIOURS OF FORESTS

            Usually, forests are called the lungs of the planet providing oxygen to all life. But apart from this, they are the regulator of the average temperature on the planet and the concentration of carbon dioxide. Unfortunately, this important resource is at risk because of ignorance and greed, things that lead to violence and threats. A single 150-year-old beech tree absorbs nine tons of CO2 - enough to offset a journey of 56,000 kilometers by car..

             With the aid of satellite images, Global Forest Watch has calculated that 317,000 hectares of Romanian forest were lost to logging between 2001 and 2017. That’s the equivalent of 444,000 football pitches. Half of these trees were in national parks or conservation areas and were hundreds of years old. Can we find solutions for this heartbreaking issue?

            This question needs to be answered through actions, not words. By creating a team, our endangered forests can be saved. For example, the first step can be the afforestation. By doing this, trees that provide wildlife habitats will grow, and the forest landscape of Bucovina will be brought back to life

             Secondly, by keeping an eye on the forest (making sure the trees remain untouched by those with bad intentions) we will make sure that everything is under control. The people who hurt our dear forest must be punished, by establishing harsh laws and by speaking up about their wrong behaviors. Addressing the problem leads to solving it. 

logged wood from Falcău, Bucovina

             "The fight against illegal logging cannot happen on a single front. This must be approached from several directions and with different tactics. That's the only way we can stop them! Our first tactic was to regain control and to monitor the forest in real time: we promoted a computer system through GD control to keep an eye on the forest 24 hours a day. The second strategy is to support and promote harsh legislation against those who will be caught cutting illegally!, says Costel Alexe, Environment minister. 

Sources of information:  https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Romania/Timber-mafia-and-deforestation-in-Romania-200194 

http://www.mmediu.ro/app/webroot/uploads/files/CP%20declaratii%20Costel%20Alexe%20Cod%20Silvic.pdf 

The outcome of this project is going to be disseminated by means of local media: