Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-07-06-Speech-4-316"
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"en.20000706.13.4-316"2
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"Forests play a huge role in maintaining fundamental ecological balances in the ecosystem of life itself. Unfortunately, the protection and attention which they are afforded is not commensurate with their importance. The major catastrophes which forests have suffered over recent years and the failure to react adequately in dealing with them are seriously jeopardising the ecological balance, as well as health, safety and numerous cultural and social values inextricably bound up with our forest heritage.
Mountain and forest areas, especially in the Mediterranean, have been seriously damaged by deforestation, fire, erosion desertification, abandonment, abuse and inadequate reforestation, with the result that tens of thousands of acres of forest land have been lost.
Allow me to bring to your attention the dramatic problem in Greece, which is at the top of the European league in terms of the numbers of acres burnt for every fire. Only 10% of the surface area destroyed in Greece is reforested. The remaining 90% is either abandoned or, more usually, is swallowed up and developed by economic interests (such as the tourist businesses generally encouraged by the government of the day), which take advantage of the fires – and/or are perhaps guilty of arson in starting them – the unresolved problem of land ownership and the fact that there are no forest land register or records of government-owned forests in order to improve their profits.
We have a wide variety of forests within the Community (northern, temperate, Mediterranean and tropical) and an equally wide variety of general and specific problems. Not only has the EU's forest policy to date failed as a result of fragmented, one-off, inconsistent and incoherent action and the wholly inadequate funds provided; the Commission has now proposed further cuts in the already minimal funds available to protect forests from fire and atmospheric pollution. The reason given for the proposed cuts is the reduced take-up of funds during the last period! But the problems have not been solved. On the contrary, they have multiplied. Such a policy is not merely hypocritical. It is aiding and abetting fire.
We shall not give up.
We call on the European Parliament to stand by its repeated votes and positions on the need to strengthen measures to prevent and fight fires and protect and enhance the value of our forest heritage in all areas of the Union. We believe that the Community funds allocated to forests were and still are totally inadequate and we call for them to be increased in line with real needs and the importance of forests.
We really must take suitable initiatives in collaboration with national and local authorities and the agencies responsible and set out an efficient forest policy and develop direct and coordinated action so that the forests destroyed can be revived and reforested on the basis of the latest scientific data and methods, taking account of the biological, climatic and ecological conditions in each region and, we repeat, the EU and the national governments must provide the funds needed in order to create the necessary infrastructure and recruit sufficient personnel which, if Greece is anything to go by, are woefully lacking.
In doing so we shall be helping to ensure that the forests in these countries are protected, developed, restored ecologically and used productively."@en1
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