WWF Hungary has announced that the representative of the Hungarian Ministry of Environment has signed the WWF’s huge billboard-sized postcard in Bonn together with the representatives of 63 countries in the international conference on the protection of biodiversity.
It was a right action.
Apparently the representative of the Ministry did not hesitate at all to seize the opportunity – „free appearance” in the focus of the media always comes in handy. Wherever one smells some PR-event, they immediately appear. We could see this tendency during the era of Mr. Miklós „PR” Persányi.
There is no problem with this; moreover we foresters should learn some exhibitionism from others.
The problem is in the associations coming together with these „deforestation-news”, giving rise to the generalization.
The latest news that came to the top in the media was the „deforestation” in Sajólád. Whereas those, who by any chance have been there know exactly that there is no missing forest on a single hectare. Stands of different age and species exist on these 180 hectares. The forest was missing – for a while – only those areas where it was logged and regenerated (new seedlings were planted) in the next season.
Recently I have been arguing with a reporter from the country of a daily paper over the phone, who – for the umpteenth time – has written an article about the deforestation in Sajólád. The author stuck to his guns that he had used this criminated predicate as a synonym. Here comes the responsibility of literate people. Who does not know a certain language should carefully use it. Who enters into the realm of the terminology of forestry should acquire its rules. Or at least grow familiar with the Hungarian language. Namely „deforestation” means the followings, according to the Hungarian defining vocabulary: To extinguish pest, weed or vermin; to abolish a forest by clearing. The matter is the last word: to abolish. To wipe out. To powder with salt, like the ground was salted in Carthago. Or, according to professional examples: to use weedicide, to grub ragweed.
It’s high time for the reporters strayed into our specialization to learn that technically there was no deforestation in our small home country since Trianon. Moreover, the forest land area has been continuously growing. After the peace-treaties of the 1st World War the country lost 84% of its forest land area, so the percentage of forest cover decreased from 26% to 12%. This rate was managed to increase to 20% - thanks to the efforts of national economy and the foresters. Practically this means 2 million hectares of forest land area in Hungary. And this is not the end! The domestic forest land area keeps growing, mainly due to the forestation of private agricultural areas.
So there is no such thing like deforestation!
By the way, these facts also apply to Europe – forest land area is growing, and there is no deforestation on the continent. (Of course there are some exceptions: in case of several „linear infrastructural utilities”, ways, cables, certain „green” investments deforestation is needed, but the forestry authority forces the replacement of the sacrificed forest areas by strict regulations.)
Please, „virtual deforesters”, impress these things on your mind!
And please, attempt to use your words accurately, and to make a distinction between the certainly dangerous and unfortunate tendencies in other parts of the world and the tendencies in Hungary.
For the avoidance of misunderstanding!
Zoltán Zétényi