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Zagreb - The Croatian Parliament's Agriculture Committee on Monday warned of the need to find answers to weather threats during a thematic session dedicated to revitalisation of the forests affected by natural disasters and strengthening their resistance to the impact of climate change.
"Last year's storm caused damage never before seen by the forestry sector in Croatia. More than 3.9 million square metres of forests managed by Croatian Forests were destroyed, of which 1.7 million square metres were of common oak, for which this region is known," the Committee's chairwoman Marijana Petir said in Vinkovci.
The Committee is particularly interested in how the afforestation and revitalisation of the forests were approached, whether there is sufficient institutional support to rehabilitate the forests and how to respond to similar natural disasters in the future.
According to Petir, it is obvious that climate change is happening and that similar threats can be expected in the future, and Croatian agriculture and forestry must find ways to prepare for such challenges.
"Croatia has been sustainably managing its forests for almost 260 years. Forest can do without people, but people cannot do without forests, so it is in everyone's interest that these forests are revitalised as soon as possible because apart from being vital to us by producing oxygen, they also mean a lot to the local population because they are a source of employment," underlined Petir.
Natural disasters must also be taken into account when planning future climate policies and strategies in the EU, she said, adding that the parliamentary committee has repeatedly warned the European Commission that forest management should fall within national jurisdiction.
"We sent a message that forest management at the European level is unacceptable," she said.
Last year's storm caused damage to 4 million square meters of forest
Ante Sabljić, a board member at the Hrvatske Šume forest management company, said that it is difficult to present financial estimates of the damage caused to forests by last year's storm. "About four million square metres of forest was damaged. The financial loss has not been estimated yet," he said, adding that the damage could be about €150 million.
Sabljić said that work on clearing forest roads had started, and now work is being done on felling and extracting felled trees and reforestation, which started last autumn.
"We have planted some 150,000 seedlings in the Otok forest, which suffered the most," he said, adding that it is difficult to forecast what will happen in the future, but more can be expected because climate change is undoubtedly happening.