Minister Vlčan: Slovakia is the seventh in Europe in storing carbon in forests
Slovakia is seventh in Europe in storing carbon in forests. This was stated by the Minister of Agriculture Samuel Vlčan (OĽaNO nominee) after Tuesday’s presentation of the Report on Forestry in the Slovak Republic for 2020 (the so-called Green Report) to the National Council (NR) of the Slovak Republic.
Vlčan presented the report at the meeting of the Committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic for Agriculture and the Environment, which took the report.
Slovakia ranks seventh due to the forest cover of almost 45% of the territory last year. The area of the forest in the Slovak Republic (approximately two million hectares), the average of 1990 increases by 993 ha every year.
Last year, 12 million cubic meters (m3) of wood increased in Slovak forests. In contrast, 7.5 million m3 was extracted, which is the lowest volume of timber harvesting since 2005. The Slovak forests also have the highest stock of dead wood with a thickness of 10 centimeters or more.
A key tool in the fight against the climate crisis
“Forests, with their ability to store carbon, are our key tool in the fight against climate change. Slovakia ranks seventh out of 43 European countries in the amount of stored carbon per hectare of forest. At the same time, we are constantly increasing the amount of carbon stored in wood products, which also contributes to reducing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, “said Vlčan.
According to him, the fact that the forest cover, the volume of wood and the amount of stored carbon in our forests are growing indicates that the talk about their looting is not based on law. “On the contrary, it shows that our foresters are good forest managers and growers,” he added.
Mining in national parks has declined
Mining in national parks fell by a third compared to the previous period. In other forests, twice as much is harvested. At the same time, more carbon is stored in commercial forests, with carbon being the most intensively stored in growing fast-growing trees.
According to the director of the National Forestry Center (NLC) Petr Balogh, the implementation of appropriate adaptation measures is necessary in order to prevent the decay of forests and maintain all functions, including wood production, carbon storage and water retention in the country.
“Prospective is the wide application of the principles of nature-friendly forest management. I would like to emphasize that these principles are already applied exclusively in national parks, and even today not a single tree in Slovak forests will be cut without the consent of the state nature protection, “said Balogh.