The extension of the wooded areas is a big problem for Moldova as the available land is not boundless, national coordinator of the European Neighbourhood Policy Instrument – Forest Law Enforcement and Governance Program (ENPI FLEG) Aurel Lozan said in the public debate “What do several thousand hectares of forests prepared for cutting mean for the deforested Republic of Moldova?”, which was staged by IPN News Agency in partnership with Radio Moldova.

According to him, there is the sustainable forest sector development strategy that provides that the covering of 15% of the country’s territory with trees is optimal for the forests to fulfill their social-economic and ecological functions.

Aurel Lozan said the consumption of wood is another painful problem for Moldova. A study was carried out to estimate the volume of consumed wood. The circulation of wood inside the country should be monitored so as to clearly delimit the domestic wood from wood coming from outside Moldova. “We focused on the assessment of domestic wood. The largest part of our population consumes and prefers domestic wood and the Moldovans consume most of this wood. Assessments showed that the volume of felled trees is twice larger than the authorized one,” he stated.

The ENPI FLEG national coordinator considers the export of wood should not be stopped, except for round raw wood of a high quality, which can be processed in Moldova or sold abroad at more reasonable prices. “If we stop the export now, we will produce an impact on the forests. The economic aspect should not be neglected if we want to achieve the desired ecological and social impact. We cannot stop now the use of natural resources, including of the wood,” he said.

Aurel Lozan also said that the current state of the foods is not due to the poor management in the last 10-15 years. This is a consequence of the actions of the previous generations. “The trees are not corn to be sowed in June and harvested in November. These have a long development cycle. If we blame and accuse each other, there are probably other goals pursued,” he stated.

The March 2 discussions form part of a series of public debates organized by IPN News Agency in co-production with Radio Moldova, with support from the German foundation “Hanns Seidel”.