Forest treasures in
Central and Eastern Europe
under the hammer
How forests which survived
hammer and sickle are under
threat to be sacrificed for profit
22nd of May 2003
In Zentral und Osteuropa
22nd of May 2003
In Zentral und Osteuropa
Forest treasure of CEE
• 300.000ha of natural forests in the Carpathians (nearly
half of it is covered by forests)
• In Slovakia, Bulgaria and Bosnia over 50% of the forests
are in somewhat natural conditions
• In Slovakia, Poland, Macedonia and Bulgaria the share
of pristine forest is about 1%
• Poland: in 1996 there were 1,46 million ha of
environmentally important forests in Poland (IUCN
Poland 1996)
• Romania: in 1985 there was 127 000 ha of forests
without accessibility (> 5km) and 824 000 ha with
relatively bad accessibility (2-5km) from road
22nd of May 2003
In Zentral und Osteuropa
Forests undisturbed
by man in Europe
Forests “undisturbed” by man in Europe [ha]
by FAO/ MCPFE:
•Russia 260.768.700
•Sweden 4.531.300
•Finland
1.202.000
•Georgia
550.000
•Bulgaria
256.000
•
•
•
•
•
Norway
Romania
Turkey
Poland
Albania
22nd of May 2003
In Zentral und Osteuropa
250.000
233.200
188.000
144.000
84.800
Threatened species in CEE
• 481 endemic plant species
• Last region in Europe to support viable
populations of brown bear (8000), wolf (4000,
45% of Europe’s population) and lynx (3000)
More than 300 species of birds:
• 61% of the European populations Black Storks
• 62% the of Lesser-spotted Eagles
• 42% of the Middle-spotted Woodpeckers breed
in the Accession countries
22nd of May 2003
In Zentral und Osteuropa
22nd of May 2003
In Zentral und Osteuropa
22nd of May 2003
In Zentral und Osteuropa
Forest threats in CEE
• Forest privatisation
• Illegal logging
• Not enough strictly protected areas and no
proper enforcement of the existing ones
• Bad forestry – clear cutting, monocultures
• Building of infrastructure
• International consortia entering the market
in order to “turn the forest into value”
22nd of May 2003
In Zentral und Osteuropa
Consortia entering
the CEE market
•
•
•
•
•
•
Foria-ÖBF
ÖBF
Schweighofer sawmill
Kaindl Holzindustrie
Weltbank
Private owners
22nd of May 2003
In Zentral und Osteuropa
Foria-ÖBF
• Founded by Austrian state forestry agency
ÖBF & Finnish Forestry agency
Metsähallitus in summer 2002 .
• Planning to take over leadership in Central
and Eastern European forest-management
& timber marketing until 2007.
• Goal: sales of 45 Mill. Euros and 1 Mill.
solid cubic meter of timber until then.
22nd of May 2003
In Zentral und Osteuropa
ÖBF
• Active in CEE with consulting department.
• Reformation of forestry agencies in
Albania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary (and
PNG)
22nd of May 2003
In Zentral und Osteuropa
Schweighofer
• Opens sawmill in Sebes (Siebenbürgen) in
mid 2003
• Investing 60 Mio Euros
• 300 employees
• 95% of sawn timber exported to US,
Japan, Middle East
• Financed by Austrian Creditanstalt
• Cooperation with Foria-ÖBF planned
22nd of May 2003
In Zentral und Osteuropa
Kaindl
• One of the leading providers of tiber
materials in Europe
• Particle board producer
• 16 enterprises in 9 countries with 8.500
employees
• Subsidiary Kaindl flooring is market leader
in timber floorings, 23% market share
• 750 employees
• 310 Mio. Euros turnover
22nd of May 2003
In Zentral und Osteuropa
Worldbank
Romania – Forest Development Project
• to support increased productivity of forest
industries
• rehabilitating and extending the forest road
network (best practice guideline)
• establish a forest management information &
monitoring system
• to ensure sustainable management of private
forest lands
• economic and environmental goals in one
project
22nd of May 2003
In Zentral und Osteuropa