Forest growth has almost doubled over a 60-year period and forest use relative to growth is 50% lower than the European average
The stock of forests in the country has increased 3-fold over the period 1960-2020 and their area has increased nearly 2-fold in the last 100 years, and this is thanks to active forestry intervention in them. This became clear at the press conference "Together for forest conservation", which the Branch Chamber of the Wood and Furniture Industry (BCWFI) organized on 11 October 2023 in Sofia.
"We all care for forests. But what do we know about them? We have the populist notion that forests should be pristine and untouched, with no human activity. The myth of ancient forests that should be preserved and not set foot in is not based on scientific data at all. To give the science and the verified facts a voice, we are launching a campaign for forest conservation. We do not want to hear any more of the companies in both sectors being referred to as a timber mafia. There is no business that wants to destroy its raw material," said the chairman of the BCWFI, Prof. Vasil Zhivkov.
"If forestry interventions and proper management are lacking, thousands of cubic meters of wood could be lost and forest growth in these areas could be stunted. In the last 20 years alone, there has been an increase of more than 30% in the forest stock, which means that there is no danger of our forests disappearing. Our forests are our greatest natural resource. But to continue to manage them properly, it is also important to build new forest roads and modernize logging," said Prof. Zhivkov.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Eng. Miroslav Marinov announced that the forests and forest areas in the Republic of Bulgaria cover approximately 4.270 million hectares, which represents 38.5% of the national territory. "Without them, life as we know it would definitely not be possible. The management of forests and forest areas in Bulgaria is based on the understanding of sustainable development and on striving for a balance of all the functions they perform, namely ecological, economic and social," he said.
In the last decade, the forestry sector has faced significant challenges, increasing demands on forests in the areas of managing the effects of climate change, protecting nature and the environment, striking a balance between increased demands on forests and their sustainable productivity, Miroslav Marinov noted. "Answers are needed to questions related to the adaptation of forests to climate change, the interlinkages and between the impacts of forest management and nature conservation, the efficient use of raw materials and maintaining the value-added potential of forestry and of industries based on wood as a main raw material," he explained.
According to the statistical reporting data of the Executive Forest Agency for the period from 2010 to 2020, the total tree stock in forests in protected areas (respectively forests with protective and special functions) increased from 272 123 467 cubic meters (42.2% of the total tree stock of all forests) to 507 490 864 cubic meters (70.6%). The total stock of forests with harvesting and habitat-forming functions (respectively forests with economic functions) during the same period decreased from 372 229 612 (57.8%) to 210 919 773 cubic meters (29.4%).
