Losses from illegal cutting of forests at 10m lei

The wooded areas cut illegally are much larger than the new areas planted with trees. The illegal cutting affects not only the woods, but also the communities dependent on woods. Related statements were made during the presentation of the study “Moldova's woods: realities, problems and solutions”, Info-Prim Neo reports. Aurel Lozan, consultant with the European Neighborhood Policy Initiative Forest Law Enforcement and Governance ( ENPI FLEG) Program, said that over 142,000 cubic meters of wood had been cut illegally in Moldova in 1997 – 2004. The damage caused exceeds 10 million lei. Dumitru Galupa, the head of the Institute of Research and Forest Planting, said that one of the drawbacks of the Forest Code is the absence of provisions concerning communal forest management. The study “Moldova's woods: realities, problems and solutions” shows that among the factors that directly or indirectly affect the national forest stock are the fires, hoar frost and illegal grazing. The study was launched within the ENPI FLEG Program that is financed by the European Union and implemented as part of the European Neighborhood Policy Initiative in Moldova and another six states. It was rolled out in 2009 and will be completed in 2011.