Taraba: Slovakia Logs Only 63 Percent of Its Annual Wood Growth

Bratislava, 4 August (TASR) - Slovakia harvests only 63 percent of its annual timber growth, which is less than in Scandinavia or the Czech Republic, stated Slovak Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) on Monday, arguing that this shouldn't be considered deforestation but rather a neglect of basic forest maintenance. „The forests are getting older and becoming sick since old trees are being left there while young ones aren't given space. What used to be active maintenance of Slovak forests for hundreds of years (is not being done now) simply because politicians have been afraid for years of a few progressive media and journalists,“ Taraba responded in connection to Dennik N daily's articles that allege wood from the Tatra National Park (TANAP) ended up at a sawmill in Romania. After criticism that within Europe the Environment Ministry would sell the timber at a higher price, the minister said he opened the competition to the whole of Europe. „Yes, in this case, the wood can end up anywhere from France to Romania, or who knows where,“ he added. „I'm glad that even district authorities are urging national parks to carry out logging of wood. The national parks have to harvest timber because they have been fined by the district authorities. This reflects the poor health condition of the forests,“ the minister noted. lin/mcs