State of Emergency Due to Bark Beetles Extended to Revuca and Detva Districts

Banska Bystrica, April 23 (TASR) - A state of emergency in response to infestations of bark beetles was extended to include the districts of Revuca and Detva (both Banska Bystrica region) as of Monday (April 22), according to a decision issued by the Banska Bystrica district office that was published by several municipalities. The reason is that the natural disaster has expanded from the district of Brezno to the districts of Revuca and Detva. An extraordinary situation due to a natural disaster caused by a bark beetle infestation and damage to spruce forests in the Upper Hron area was declared in the district of Brezno in mid-March. Foresters drew attention to a bark beetle infestation in the vicinity of the village of Cierny Balog (district of Brezno) in early March. According to original estimates, an area of some 15,000 hectares faced a natural disaster. The problem should be processed intensively, more personnel and machinery are set to be deployed and up to one million cubic metres of wood should be extracted. ko/df