Vitalie GULCA

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Vitalie GULCA

• IUFRO Division 5 Conference
• 5.12.00 Sustainable utilization of forest products

STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
CHISINAU, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
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Vitalie GULCA

• Distrust in Private Forests Main Gap in
  Sustainable Forest Management of Moldova

Forestry and Public Gardens Department State
Agricultural University Mircesti Str. 44 Chisinau
2049 Republic of Moldova
Republic of Moldova
STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
CHISINAU, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
3
Aim of work and methods

• To fill the empirical and theoretical research
  gap in Sustainable Forest Management of Moldova
• In order to investigate and write this paper we
  completed historical analysis, reviewed documents
  and literature relevant to the territory now
  called Republic of Moldova. The study is
  interdisciplinary and therefore qualitative and
  quantitative data were linked.

STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
CHISINAU, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
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Site

• The relief of the country is complex and variable
  with highest altitude 429.5 m
• The annual average temperature is 810C
• Precipitation oscillates from 560 mm in the
  northern part to 380 mm in the southern part.
• The country is divided administratively in 10
  counties and has 1680 localities.
• The population of the Moldova constitutes 3,6
  million thousand inhabitants, the average density
  of population being 119 per km2 .
• Two principal natural resources are soil and
  forest

STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
CHISINAU, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
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• The total area 3 384 357 ha constitutes from
  57.6 of agricultural lands, 9.1
• of localities lands, 17.84 of reserve fond
  occupied by pastures and roads,
• 1.8 of lands destined to industry 11.4 of
  forest fond, 0.06 land destined
• to nature protection, and 2.2 of water funds.

STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
CHISINAU, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
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Results

• Some centuries ago forest covered until 30 of
  this territory.
• In 1812 year forest percentage was already 13.
• After the 2nd World War forest cover decreased
  until the limit of 4 and now has 9,6.
• State became forest holder in 1812 year and after
  2nd World War remained one alone owner.

STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
CHISINAU, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
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Results

• The practical forestry expanded selective cutting
  until middle of 19th century, while coppice
  systems were mainly recommended until end of 20th
  century.
• Consequently the age structure of forests has
  been significantly disturbed, and most of the
  forests became pure and even-aged.

STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
CHISINAU, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
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Some important characteristics of Moldavian
forestry

• Presence of friable lithology substratum
• Climate with cyclic droughts in the south
  regions
• Presence of the large zones favorable for the
  oak forests
• Lac of forest conscience
• The Strategy for SFM, 2001, provides for
  extending of forest area from
• 9,6 percent, to 15 percent
• The base strategic directions of forest strategy
  are restoration of
• eco-protective and bio-productive potential of
  the forest.

STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
CHISINAU, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
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Evolution of the forest ownership

• In the period of Roman domination (106-271)
  forests were public
• During the centuries was much expanded monastery
  property and forest
• owners obtained through donations, abuses, and
  other means
• In the beginning of XIX century the majority of
  the forests were owned
• by monasteries, boyars, and free peasants while
  the state was practically
• absent in the forest property statistics
• According to the first forest planning realized
  during 1860-1861 years,
• forest ownership comprised monasteries (15,9
  ), boyars and free
• peasants (76,1), Bulgarian colonists (0,1),
  and state (7,9)
• Actual pattern of forest ownership in Moldova
  state forest authority
• (90,25), mayoralties (6,22), agricultural
  unites (2,39), cities and other
• localities (0,61), industry and transport
  (0,4), territory of aquatic
• fund (0,1), other holders (0,035).

STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
CHISINAU, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
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Results

• To afforest the lands, state forest enterprises
  have to convince local authorities about
  temporary administration of some pastures or
  another area, and after the canopy will be
  created to return back to mayoralty.
• In many cases after afforestation rural people
  with a goal to maintain the pastures for cattle
  they pluck out saplings and after leave the cows
  for pasturing. Even 30 of forests are used for
  cattle grazing because of bad quality of pastures.

STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
CHISINAU, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
11
Results

• Distrust in private forests is based on
  historical facts and legislative acts.
• Forest Code (1996), stipulates that private
  forest ownership are admitted in the case of
  afforestation of private agricultural lands,
  while Strategy for SFM (2001) provides for
  transferring of all new forests in the
  administration of state forest authorities
• Land Code (1991) allows aforestation of lands
  with low productivity
• Nonfeasible policy, according to Caughley and
  Sinclair (1994), although it may give each
  interest group at least something of what they
  desire, sometimes the logical consequence is that
  two or more technical objectives are mutually
  incompatible.
• As a result state owns degraded forests, rural
  people own eroded soils, and villages own poor
  pastures.
• 1,8 mill. ha (55.1 ) from all country are
  private lands that have a high potential and
  could be partly afforested, including
  agroforestry .
• Large spreading of pasturing and illegal logging
  in most of state forests point out that rural
  people are strongly interested in forests.

STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
CHISINAU, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
12
Conclusion

• Because afforestation challenge fixed in the 70th
  of last century still remains an important issue
  during last strategies we conclude that distrust
  in private forests is the main gap for the
  sustainable forest management of Moldova.
• We suppose that overuse of land for pasture,
  turning out of seedlings, and illegal logging are
  effect of wood insufficiency and bad pastures,
  both rooted in inadequate forest ownership.
• In the same time we are conscious that after
  entire land expropriation in the middle of last
  century rural people lost the confidence in the
  land property rights and state representatives.
• The actions, which created this breach were
  expropriations, chronic changing of the states,
  governments, moneys, with no compensation for the
  society.
• Fragmentation of agricultural lands by small
  patches of private forests should be the main
  bridge between the past and future, poverty and
  economical stability.
• Continuous promotion of private forests through
  the laws, state subsidies, assistance, credits,
  financial facilities, training and other actions
  could implement SFM in practice.

STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
CHISINAU, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
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Conclusion

• Governments are changeable, and Basarabia
  (Moldova) could be both independent and part of
  any country or empires (this is specific
  character of geopolitical ecoton) but local rural
  people will remain forever from father to the son
  during centuries.
• As consequence to trust in private forests
  especially owned by local rural people it means
  to manage forest in a sustainable way.

STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
CHISINAU, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
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Thank you for attention
STATE AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
CHISINAU, REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA