Between 2000 and 2023, 74,200 hectares of forest in Serbia disappeared, according to data from the international platform Global Forest Watch.
Last year alone, around 7,900 hectares were cut down—almost double compared to 2022, when approximately 4,500 hectares of forest were lost. The data indicates that the forest area lost in 2023 is the largest in the past 20 years. This loss brings back into focus something long known, but inadequately punished (if at all), with long-term consequences: the increasingly frequent theft and illegal logging of forests. However, experts point out that this is not the only issue destroying Serbian forests, no matter how much damage it causes.
Three years ago, at the presentation of the Afforestation in the Republic of Serbia research conducted by the State Audit Institution (DRI), it was highlighted that Serbia has the lowest forest coverage percentage among neighboring countries. According to data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (RZS), the trend of declining annual afforestation has been evident since 1995, with less than 2,000 hectares afforested in 2021, compared to about 10,000 hectares annually in the 1980s.
According to the latest National Forest Inventory of Serbia, the country has about 39% forest coverage. However, as noted by the environmental group Eko Straža, this percentage also includes hedges and orchards, meaning the realistic figure is 34–35%. Forest coverage varies from as little as 6–7% in Vojvodina, one of the least forested regions in Europe, to eastern Serbia, which is considered above average in forestation. The National Inventory indicates that 53% of Serbia’s forests are state-owned, while the rest are privately owned.
“Forest areas are increasing despite logging, road construction, and new buildings. However, this happens because villages have been abandoned, and forests, albeit poor-quality ones, have taken over some areas. Now even scrubland is considered forest, as are areas that have been devastated. Yes, forest areas are increasing compared to previous periods, but the quality of these forests is poor,” said forestry engineer Dragić Tomić, president of the ecological and forestry association Eko Šum, in an interview with NIN.
Tomić believes that the problems facing Serbian forests are the result of numerous factors and mistakes made over many years. Decision-makers, he added, do not think ahead.
“Or they think ahead only until the next term. They have no interest in or concern for what will happen in 50 or 100 years. Right now, we are paying the price for everything that has happened in previous years, just as the next generation will suffer the consequences of what is happening today. The most important thing is to save what can be saved. There are solutions—the problems are solvable. But we need expertise, the right people in the right positions, and the will to act,” Tomić stressed.
Hitting the head and the pocket
Tomić explained that returning forests to their original owners, for various reasons, was a mistake, as much of it was immediately cut down and devastated. The return of church and monastery forests, he added, had a very negative impact on the forests. Currently, one of the biggest problems, according to Tomić, is the devastation of private forests, which are supposed to be protected by the owners themselves. “Srbijašume” protects state-owned forests, while private forests only receive advisory support. Fines for illegal logging, according to the Forest Law, vary depending on the severity of the offence and the value of the damaged forest. For example, fines for individuals range from 10,000 to 100,000 dinars.
“The penalty policy needs to be radically tightened as soon as possible. You can pay for the damage of one felled cubic meter, but the total damage is far greater when considering the public benefits of forests, such as oxygen production. Moreover, forest theft is hard to prove, and many people are afraid to testify in court or say anything because illegal logging is carried out by organized groups that can wipe out an entire forest in a day,” Tomić pointed out.
He noted that illegal logging without authorization was banned in 2010 but not penalized until amendments to the Forest Law in 2015. In the meantime, organized groups became technically equipped, individuals started businesses, and the illegal activity continues today.
“And so, private forests in Serbia have been, to put it mildly, ravaged. The penalty provisions are laughable. There needs to be a compensation price list, where penalties are issued proportional to the damage caused. We don’t even need to reinvent the wheel—Croatia already has this model,” Tomić emphasized, adding that it is also crucial to increase the number of inspectors or at least fill the planned number.
In other words, a solution must be found to protect private forests, which the owners cannot protect on their own. Private owners, according to Tomić, also need to be incentivized to afforest eroded areas, as this is essential for flood prevention.
“We wonder why we have floods… But the problem will not be solved by concreting rivers from source to mouth, which is absurd. We should afforest all eroded areas, provide incentives for private forests—give them free seedlings and everything they need, and they wouldn’t have to pay taxes on that land for 20 years. Torrent barriers should also be built. What was done in the 1980s has not been cleaned or repaired, it’s just been left as is. We don’t understand that the consequences we are treating are far greater than if we had taken preventive measures in time,” said Tomić.
In these cases, he added, “we need to act on the head and the pocket.” By educating people about the importance of forests and imposing stricter penalties.
“Will is required”
Tomić also highlighted another problem in Serbian forestry: the irrational and dysfunctional management of state forests, which are managed by six or more enterprises, despite having one owner and one activity.
“State forests in Serbia are managed by ‘Srbijašume,’ ‘Vojvodinašume,’ and four national parks—Fruška Gora, Đerdap, Tara, and Kopaonik. So, six enterprises, six general directors, six policies… Meanwhile, Austria’s federal forests, OBf A.G., manage all state forests, national parks, and lakes across Austria. Or take Poland, where one company manages nearly eight million hectares of state forests,” he noted.
If all state forests and national parks, he added, were consolidated into one decentralized enterprise with clearly defined responsibilities and authorities, it would benefit “the forests, the state, and future generations.”
“Or are we perhaps richer than Austria, so we can afford to waste resources like this?” Tomić asked.
He also pointed out the problem of social forests, or state forests, that no one manages. For example, he said, if someone cuts down a social forest, there is no damaged party, which the government and the relevant ministry must address urgently.
“We need to look at how forestry is organized in European countries and adapt their practices to our specific circumstances. The problem can be solved, but the will is necessary,” Tomić concluded for NIN.
The case of Fruška Gora National Park
In addition to the issue of illegal logging, the environmental organization Eko Straža points out that the managers of protected areas, including national parks, are largely funded by logging, which leads to national parks functioning like forestry enterprises.
“In 2022, Fruška Gora National Park generated 57.5% of its income from logging. Unfortunately, this is a logical consequence of the Provincial Institute for Nature Conservation approving, in 2018, a ten-year forest management plan that permits logging on up to 97% of Fruška Gora National Park. As expected, Fruška Gora is not the only protected area that is primarily or significantly funded by logging. In the same 2022, 42.4% of all income for the managers of protected areas came from logging. These are official government data collected by the Environmental Center ‘Stanište’ in their analysis of nature protection in Serbia,” writes Eko Straža.
In connection with this, in February of this year, the movement “Defend the Forests of Fruška Gora” filed two reports with the forestry and hunting inspection regarding illegal logging, which confirmed unlawful activities. The inspection identified illegal logging at two sites on Fruška Gora—church-owned forests of the Diocese of Srem and state forests in the GJ Andrevlje area, as reported by the Novi Sad portal 021.rs.
The logging at these locations—the church forests near the Srneći Potok site, GJ Monastery Jazak, the Diocese of Srem, and state forests in the GJ Andrevlje, Testera, and Hajdučki Breg areas—was not planned in the forest management plan.
The reports involve the enterprise “Fruška Gora National Park” and the company “Šume Fruške Gore d.o.o.” owned by Radivoje Kaurin, who was disciplined in 2021 for a work-related violation. The Diocese of Srem has a forest management contract with this company, and according to the “Defend the Forests of Fruška Gora” movement, returning the forests to the Diocese is a grave injustice against Fruška Gora.
(NIN, 17.09.2024)
https://www.nin.rs/drustvo/vesti/56108/ko-pustosi-srpske-sume