Plea over forests pollution threat

Date: 19/11/1998

By Renée Cordes

ENVIRONMENTAL groups are urging the European Commission to draft fresh proposals for action to protect the forests which cover nearly one third of Europe's land area from pollution and other threats.

In a report published this week, Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler and Environment Commiss-ioner Ritt Bjerregaard insisted that the EU's current policy and the Agenda 2000 reform proposals ensured Europe's woods would be adequately protected and managed.

The report pointed out that about 26,000 farmers had taken advantage of a Commission scheme to improve existing woodlands through new investments. It also underscored a “clear need” to improve the infrastructure and functioning of forests in the applicant countries of central and eastern Europe.

The Commissioners also stressed they would be willing to propose extending or revising legislation if it proved necessary.

But 'green' campaigners attacked the Commission for failing to propose new measures. “They say a lot of nice things, but basically it's a useless paper,” said Stefan Leiner, a forestry expert at the World Wide Fund for Nature in Brussels. “They just say they will go on with Agenda 2000 and other protective measures without investigating what they have done wrong.”

The report comes as Europe's forests become increasingly important to the economy. Following the accession of Austria, Sweden and Finland, the EU has emerged as the world's second largest paper-maker and its third largest exporter of forestry products.

In addition to being threatened by industrial exploitation, Europe's forests face serious threats from pollution, fires, climate change, parasites and diseases.

Between 350,000 and 500,000 hectares of forests are destroyed by fire in the EU every year, and about one-third of Europe's forests are visibly affected by air pollution.

In a draft report due to be adopted next week, EU agriculture ministers will also express concern about distortions of competition in the forestry sector as well as the role of publicly owned forests.