Planting trees is a noble activity, provided it’s real and there are results for the environment. But what happens in Macedonia? Government indebted citizens with huge amounts of activity that is not only ineffective, according to the available information, but the forests are even decreasing, said Pece Mircheski, President of the Commission of Environment and Physical Planning of SDSM, at today’s press-conference.
– According to official data from the State Statistical Office, within four years, after the action “Tree Day” started, instead of expanding, forests decreased by whopping 50 percent. From the more than 2,800 hectares forested in 2008, when the action initially started, the forested area dropped to barely 1,400 hectares in 2012. And this “Tree Day” even took about 4 million euros of the money of the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia! And that’s only according to the calculations of the available data. According to the budget items for this purpose, from 2008 to 2010, 1.5 million euros of taxpayers’ money were given for afforestation, and the Government didn’t eve provide money in the budget for this day from 2011. For “Tree Day”, Government indebts citizens in PE Macedonian Forests and that debt, as of 2013, according to the latest audit report, is more than 150 million denars or more than 2.5 million euros! – Mircheski said.
He said that the Government is obligated to respond to citizens: Where are these 4 million euros of people’s money? Is it true that the Inspectorate of Forestry, in a control of the forested areas, found that less of half of the planted trees survived?
