The National Forestry Guard announced on September 8 that it discovered a case of forest infestation using pheromone baits intended to attract pests into a healthy forest in the commune of Moldovița.
According to information exclusively obtained by saptamana.online, the Suceava Forestry Guard found several pheromone baits in a forest managed by the Bucovina Forest District in Câmpulung Moldovenesc. The pheromone baits were identified in Production Unit XIX, management units 328-329, within this private forest district, forests located in the perimeter of the Moldovița commune.
According to initial data and information, the Suceava Forestry Guard has launched an investigation into intentional forest infestation, after four possible pheromone baits were found on trees in a privately owned forest in the Moldovița commune, the Forestry Guard representatives announced in a press release.
“As part of an action conducted in a private forest within the Moldovița commune, four possible pheromone baits were found placed on trees in a property of approximately 10 hectares,” the National Forestry Guard announced.
Following a request for information, the Forestry Guard confirmed the following:
“The facts referred to in the Suceava Forestry Guard’s press release were observed within the Bucovina Forest District, Production Unit XIX, management units 328-329.”
The Bucovina Forest District is a private entity that manages forests belonging to several forest owners, most of whom are local municipalities. These owners are organized in the Bucovina Forest Owners Association. The Bucovina Forest District manages the forests of the Straja and Horodnic de Sus communes.
How forests are cut down under accidental cases and exceptions from forest management plans
In 2023 alone, the Bucovina Forest District proposed harvesting a volume of over 3,400 cubic meters of wood in the Straja commune, exceeding the values stipulated in the forest management plan, under the pretext of accidental logging.
Accidental logging is excessively used to justify forest cutting, a classic method of extracting wood and exploiting the forest irrationally—beyond what the forest can normally produce—under the pretext of tree disease or windthrows.
In one of the valuation documents mentioned above, reference is made to the protection zone (S.U.P. M), which includes forests subject to a special conservation regime.
The functional zoning of the stands and lands in UP XIX Bucovina 2021 stipulates that 143.21 ha, representing 76% of the total area (187.42 ha — total forests) of UP XIX Bucovina 2021, was classified in functional group I — forests with special protection functions, while 44.21 ha, representing 24%, was classified in functional group II, i.e., forests with production and protection functions.
For the sustainable management of forests, the following production subunits were established:
- S.U.P. A — Regular forest, common assortments = 157.43 ha;
- S.U.P. M — Forests subject to a special conservation regime = 29.99 ha.
Although about 30 ha are forests subject to a special conservation regime, this status does not exclude them from exploitation. Thus, from S.U.P. M — a protected area, the valuation act no. 2300096003060 was issued in 2023, which provides for the exploitation of 272 trees representing 388 cubic meters of wood. The trees proposed for extraction are between 112 and 120 years old and most likely ended up as firewood.
This valuation act (APV) shows us that we are cutting down old-growth forests to use them as firewood.
The Suceava Forestry Guard has approved exceeding the exploitation volumes stipulated in forest management plans
The Bucovina Forest District, recently accused by the Suceava Forestry Guard of attempting to increase its exploitation volumes by infesting healthy forests, has previously benefited from approval, by exception, to exploit wood beyond the volumes stipulated in the forest management plan.
To be more explicit, the forest exploitation law is the forest management plan, but what is initially approved and authorized often differs from what happens on the ground. Forest districts find various reasons to request and obtain exceptions to the rules.
For example, in the case of the public forest property of the Straja Commune, managed by the Bucovina Forest District, an exception was approved to exceed the wood exploitation volume by more than 2,700 cubic meters in 2023, on the grounds that the trees were dry and/or infested with Ipidae (bark beetles).
The Bucovina Forest District, suspected of using baits to infest the forest, manages forests in two Natura 2000 sites
In the forest management plan for the private forest owned by the “BUCOVINA 2021” FOREST OWNERS ASSOCIATION, the forest area included in the protected natural area of community importance ROSC10328 Obcinile Bucovinei, as well as the protected natural area of community importance ROSPA0089 Obcina Feredeului, is mentioned. These areas include forests subject to a special conservation regime.
How does the commune of Moldovița look on Forest Watch?
The commune of Moldovița has lost 3,000 hectares of forest cover over the past 22 years, from 2001 to 2023, as seen in the Global Forest Watch application, which compares satellite images of forest areas around the world. According to the graph, there are a few peaks in logging activity: 2023 – 139 ha, 2021 – 111 ha, 2020 – 130 ha, 2017 – 171 ha, 2016 – 237 ha. For more details, follow the link below.
Global Forest Watch. „Tree cover loss in Romania/Suceava/Moldovița”. Accessed on 10/09/2024 from www.globalforestwatch.org.
