Ratification process completed for majority of forest maps
The ratification of 90% of the country’s forest maps was announced on Tuesday by the Environment Ministry. These are the easy parts, for which there are no objections and do not concern the remaining 10%.
The ministry promises to increase the examination rate of some 332,00 objections or requests for correction of submitted errors. For the cleared forestland the ministry announced a regulation whereby they will be designated for agricultural use for as long as they are subsidized by the EU.
The process of partial ratification of the forest maps started in August. The process should have been completed two years ago, but the continuous legislative changes brought in by the Ministry of Environment (in order to reduce the number of objections) delayed the completion of the process.
As for the 230,000 hectares of cleared forestland, the ministry reiterated that studies are under way to try to prove that its destruction is in the interest of the economy.
