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The peaceful landscape of South Moravian Chřibe and the Ždánické forest is shaken by a dispute. Environmentalists blame the state-owned company Lesy ČR for removing more than a hundred-year-old beech trees from the site. Now scientists from the Academy of Sciences and other research institutions have stood up for them. They are also bothered by the way the company communicates with environmentalists. Lesy ČR stands by its procedure. We will change the economy, the government promises on the contrary.
A walk through the Ždánické forest and nearby Chřibe is worth it. Few forests in the Czech Republic are so close to nature. Deciduous trees prevail here, the stands of older beech trees are especially unique. Their rotting wood then provides shelter for protected species of plants and animals. The eagle owl or the European beaver lives here, and the praying mantis has also appeared here. That is why it belongs to the most extensive and also the most valuable natural phenomena in South-Eastern Moravia.
But the area lacks wider protection, there are only a few small areas. It thus applies to ordinary commercial forests managed by the state enterprise Lesy ČR. Its representatives have repeatedly stated that they are carrying out restoration in such a way that a colorful and resistant forest is created after mining.
But this is not yet possible and the area is gradually losing its famous biodiversity, according to the environmental organizations Greenpeace and the Living Forest for a Living Region. In the last year, they draw attention to the fact that the method of restoring valuable forests is too fast and unsparing. Now their position has been supported by scientists from several important institutions.
“We are convinced that the management of public forests by a state-owned enterprise can be carried out in a much more sensitive way,” experts from the Silva Taroucy Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Horticulture, which falls under the Ministry of Agriculture, said in their opinion. The initiative was also supported by scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Academy of Sciences, the Czech Botanical Society or the Czech Ornithological Society.
“It’s clearly bad for nature”
“The foresters argue that they are undertaking the natural restoration of the beech forest, which is true. It is a shift compared to the past, that the forest is not harvested bare. But it is done too flatly,” Jan Běťák from the forest ecology department of the research institute describes the reservations of experts.
He criticizes forests, for example, for choosing across the board the so-called undergrowth method of regeneration, instead of combining several different approaches – including those used in old-growth forests in past centuries. According to the scientists, the foresters leave virtually no rotting wood on the site, which is key to maintaining biodiversity.
“Large areas of beech rejuvenation are created, which are clearly bad for nature. There is a great loss of biodiversity. Rotting trees are important for cavity-nesting birds, for moss, lichens and fungi. Inexplicably, even the oldest, 160-year-old trees, which have minimal economic value, are benefited “, states Běťák.
Forests of the Czech Republic reject the criticism of scientists and environmental organizations. They claim to use a well-thought-out procedure, proven in the Bavarian State Forests, among others. However, they reject the ecologists’ demand for the creation of larger no-intervention areas.
“During the restoration we started with, no clear-cutting occurs, we intentionally leave habitat trees in the stands for permanent aging. We prefer the natural renewal of the forest from the seeds and fruits of standing trees in order to preserve the original trees, which we supplement with others for the sake of species diversity. We selected several in the area areas in which we will leave the forest to its natural development. We will thus create a forest mosaic of managed and non-intervention areas,” said Eva Jouklová, spokeswoman for Lesů ČR.
Old beeches in paper mills and illegal mining in the Ore Mountains
The scientists blame the Forests of the Czech Republic for the way they communicate with ecologists. According to them, the company and other authorities approach them with prejudice and do not give enough weight to their opinion. “The way of conducting dialogue between the state and non-governmental organizations is toxic in the long term,” says Běťák.
The experts therefore called for joint negotiations on the situation in Chřibe and Ždánické les. Forests of the Czech Republic and the relevant ministries accepted it. The experts also have the Minister of the Environment Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL) on their side.
“I have already declared my intention to adjust the management of the Ždánické forest. Now, taking into account the natural values, as scientists also point out, a specific procedure must be set. This also applies to the Chřib forests, which we are going to discuss,” Hladík told Aktuálně.cz. He wants to present the proposed changes for the management of the Ždánické Forest and other areas during this year.
“We welcome every opportunity for a constructive and factual discussion, and in this sense also this offer aimed at the area of the Ždánické Forest. The Forests of the Czech Republic, as the administrator of the state forests there, are intensively preparing such forestry procedures that will ensure the full implementation of sustainable forest management with respect for the specific conditions of the Ždánické Forest,” added Vojtěch Bílý, spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture.
The dispute between ecologists and Forests of the Czech Republic in the area has been going on for several months. In October, for example, the Greenpeace organization found with the help of geolocators that wood from old beech trees, which according to the non-profit organization should fall under the protection of the law, is going to paper mills in Ružomberok, Slovakia. Lesy responded to the findings by stating that only low-quality wood ends up in these plants, which, according to them, cannot be processed in the Czech Republic.
Last year, together with the city of Horní Jiřetín, Greenpeace also filed a criminal complaint against Lesy ČR after the state-owned enterprise cut down several hectares of forest in the European-important location of the Východní Ore Mountains without a permit a year earlier. Because of this case, the organization also filed a complaint with the European Commission this Wednesday due to insufficient protection of rare forests in European important locations.
