site.btaClimate Change Highlights Urgent Need to Rescue Forests - Expert

ESD 12:12:31 23-10-2020
DD1210ES.105
105 ECONOMY - FORESTS - CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Change Highlights Urgent Need to
Rescue Forests -
Expert


Blagoevgrad, Southwestern Bulgaria, October 23 (Desislava Velkova of BTA) - Climate change destroys about 1 per cent of artificial coniferous forests every year, BTA learned from Engr. Alexander Dounchev, an expert at the Southwestern State Forestry Unit. With an area of nearly 200,000 hectares, those forests account for a quarter of all forests in Bulgaria's south-west. The last few years have seen forest loss there due to climate change, he said.

Forestry farms will concentrate on the conservation and transformation of those forests in the coming years - a task performed by sylviculturists in the past.

A large portion of coniferous forests, including those in Blagoevgrad Region, were planted early in the 20th century following an ecological crisis which affected the whole country. The campaign was initiated by Bulgarian sylviculturists who had studied in Western Europe. Once back in their own country, they decided to restore Bulgaria's forests. Centuries of deforestation had led to numerous disasters: floods followed by drought, and erosion which destroyed pastures and arable land, said Dounchev.

The regional units, set up early in the 20th century to deal with erosion, were the predecessors of today's forestry farms. Their only task was to replant forests, stop erosion and build anti-erosion walls. Logging in those forests started decades later.

The afforestation of the worst eroded areas started with Scots pine and European black pine, as well as with some deciduous species. The latter, however, dried out in the summer, while the conifers survived the heat.

Afforestation continued in the 1950s and the 1960s with a shift in priority - on land unsuitable for agriculture which used to be forestland in past centuries. "Pine trees were chosen again, not just because they are cheaper and take root better, but because pine timber is more valuable in construction, especially at a time when the economy was being rebuilt after the world wars," said the expert.

However, those artificial forests are much weaker and were the first to be affected by climate change in recent years. Forest loss was caused by pathogens and worse pest attacks than usual, all due to torrential rains followed by lengthy droughts.

The Southwestern State Forestry Unit has won financing for three projects for conservation and restoration in the last five years. The funding will go towards replacing conifers with deciduous forests, equipment purchases, creation of planting material and data collection. The projects focus on the worst affected forest areas, said Dounchev.

Artificial afforestation will start in areas devastated by insects and fungi. Deciduous and coniferous species that are more drought-tolerant will be trial-planted with EU funding. Those species include some growing at the border with and in Greece. Bulgarian scientists have found that vegetation across the country in general and in the south-west in particular will transition to more drought-tolerant species, said the expert.

Forest monitoring using satellite data will develop further as it helps the forestry unit follow pathological processes on a daily basis and preempt them with protection measures if they are too active, said Dounchev. Sylviculturists will try to forestall the consequences of climate change and save forests, or restore them where necessary. LN/DD