Press-Release
on the organization of the debate “What does it mean when several thousand hectares of forestland are set to be cut down in already deforested Moldova?”. Public debates series held by the news agency IPN in its conference room with the support of the German Foundation “Hanns Seidel”

The debate brought together Valeriu Munteanu, Minister of Environment; Alecu Reniţă, president of the Green Movement; and Aurel Lozan, national coordinator of the European Neighborhood Policy Instrument – Forest Law Enforcement and Governance Program (ENPI FLEG).

This time, the debate wasn't included in the “Political Culture” Series as it would rather fall into an “Environmental Culture” category. However, we still have doubts about whether we should make this distinction at all, because, as the debate confirmed, political culture and environmental culture interconnect in many ways: because both form part of general culture and because often the key actors are the same.

The debate was occasioned by recent media reports that the forestry authorities were auctioning several thousand hectares of forestland. Many reacted negatively based on an enduring perception that the situation with the forestry resources in our country has been extremely alarming ever since independence. During the debate, the speakers confirmed the concerns and spoke about the need to take urgent steps that require political will, among other.

In particular, it was communicated that 3,000-4,000 hectares of forests are annually cut down in Moldova each year, partially illegally. The motive is economic because a part of the money obtained from illegal logging is not duly accounted for. According to the speakers, the national forest sector is the richest part of Moldova’s property and any ecological balance derives from this sector. The forests represent the backbone of the environmental policies and of the ecological balance in Moldova. That’s why the wooded areas in Moldova must be increased, not reduced.

Minister of Environment Valeriu Munteanu said that the forest sector in Moldova values about €10 million according to the accounting documents, but another €10 million earned from stealing wood is not indicated in the financial records. “I convinced myself of this. This thing was done by schemes and very different methods, but evidently a part of the very wood used to make furniture was exported from Moldova. Nobody tried to oppose this process,” he stated. According to him, the scheme to steal wood is based on incorrect records as about half of the trees are not indicated in the records and are then cut and sold illegally. Therefore, the Ministry of the Environment stopped the tender contest to deforest over 500 hectares.

The minister noted that a draft Government decision was signed at the start of this year by which the export and re-export of unprocessed wood is banned until the end of 2020.

Aurel Lozan, national coordinator of the European Neighbourhood Policy Instrument – Forest Law Enforcement and Governance Program (ENPI FLEG), said in the EU they consider that the cutting of trees is not always harmful. According to him, the use of wood is a painful problem that needs to be addressed. “There are political arrangements in the forest sector, at all the levels of management. When these are used, the frosts suffer a lot. Furthermore, the Agency “Moldsilva”, which is responsible for the forest sector, receives practically no financing from the state budget. The Agency’s budget is €10 million a year, but it can use only 2% of this sum. Is something like this normal?” asked Aurel Lozan.

The head of the Ecologist Movement of Moldova Alecu Renita said the enormous deformation in the forest sector started during the rule of Vladimir Voronin, when corrupt schemes were used and the forests were transformed into private property. “The then rulers, being unable to privatize the forests, as this was banned by the Constitution, worked out regulations concerning the leasing out of forests by which they actually legalized the sale of areas from the national forest sector for selfish purposes,” he stated. According to him, this model that started to be applied in 2001 and the other schemes should be removed so as to avoid an ecological catastrophe in Moldova.

The Agency published 5 news stories on the debate (see the English version of www.ipn.md): on 02.03.16, “Motive of illegal logging in Moldova is economic, IPN debate” - http://www.ipn.md/en/special/75126; “General tree felling to be banned from this autumn” - http://www.ipn.md/en/societate/75133; on 24.02.16, “Banning of wood export and of general tree felling will reduce élan of illegal cutting” - http://www.ipn.md/en/societate/75135; “Environmental issues form part of general and political culture, IPN debate” - http://www.ipn.md/en/special/75136; “Aurel Lozan: Amounts of felled trees is twice larger than the authorized one, IPN debate” - http://www.ipn.md/en/societate/75142.

Valeriu Vasilica, director of IPN