EU Biodiversity Strategy Leads Private Forest Owners to a Loss of 600 Million Euros

The Croatian Association of Private Forest Owners, representing the interests of 600,000 forest owners, warned on Friday that  Croatia, by announcing the EU Biodiversity Strategy, has accepted an economic loss of over 600 million euros in the next financial period of the European Union. 

– Aware of the fact that we must significantly change our habits and behavior towards nature in order to influence climate change mitigation, we support all activities carried out with this goal. However, by accepting this strategy, we further place ourselves at a disadvantage compared to other developed EU member states, as the guidelines foresee ‘strict protection of primary and old forests,’ the association stated on the occasion of the presentation of the “EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.” In our case, this amounts to more than 90 percent of total forests – the Association notes, adding that for comparison, in Germany, this protection applies to a maximum of 50 percent of forests.

Forest owners say that even in the current financial period, Croatia, which along with Slovenia and Albania is a country with the highest biodiversity in Europe, has implemented a high degree of protection through Nature 2000 measures, the Birds Directive, the Habitats Directive, and the National Habitat Classification without compensatory measures in the forestry sector.

They emphasize that the current level of biodiversity in Croatian forests is not the result of nature protection measures but rather the dedicated work of generations of forestry experts and forest owners, who have managed according to the principles of sustainability in accordance with the laws of nature for over 250 years.

– Croatia’s contribution to climate change adaptation in the EU area is certainly a sustainable way of managing forests, which includes natural regeneration, and our experience and knowledge could serve as an example for other countries, rather than a barrier that imposes even stricter restrictions and further impoverishes Croatian citizens – states the Croatian Association of Private Forest Owners.

{embed_digitalno_izdanje}{/embed_digitalno_izdanje}