Acting Director of the Directorate for Management of Forests and Hunting Grounds of Montenegro Miloš Rajković does not consider that the new Forest Law is significantly better than the existing one, except for the part where long-term concessions are officially abolished.
He believes that the proposed text of the law "needs to be acted upon with a greater number of amendments, considering that there are many undefined things", and he is aware that the European Commission has recommended that it be refined.
"This idea must be approached very cautiously, even if the proposed legal solution may be returned for refinement, after detailed serious economic and financial analyzes that should be done by expert and expert people. I'm not sure that rushing into an unknown and unverified company will do Montenegrin forests good, but I'm afraid that it will be the exact opposite," said Rajković to "Vijesta".
When asked what kind of situation he found in that company and whether he was satisfied with the way forests had been managed so far, Rajković said that a rumor had been made about the Directorate for Managing Forests and Hunting Grounds that everything in it was a "forestry mafia".
"Of course, there is certainly some of that, but what I found as a real situation is that there are exceptional people in the Administration who really want to work, produce results and improve business. When it comes to forest management so far, I think that much more and better could have been done. It's great that the long-term concessions were abolished, and it turned out that giving forests for use through one-year contracts gave very good results. It is necessary to intensify the control of the execution of contractual obligations and to control the respect of contractor's projects, to carry out constant control of the field and not to allow any omissions", said Rajković.
He says that bringing order and discipline in the Administration was the first thing he did after coming to office.
"The goal of the new management of the Administration is to turn to the future and do everything to restore citizens' trust in the Administration. It is clear to everyone that there was a shortage of resources, due to a lack of control and determination, however, this will be easily put to an end, so we believe that the citizens will soon see the first developments and support us in our activities", said Rajković.
He is very satisfied with the collection last year, and expects it to be even better this year.
"The realized revenues of the Administration for the management of forests and hunting grounds by all species for the previous year 2023 amount to 16.372.719 euros. The Budget of Montenegro for 2024 has planned funds for the implementation of the Forest Management Program in the amount of 6.677.903 euros, and the total financial income planned by the Program based on forest management, use of non-timber forest products and special purpose hunting grounds is 12.782.480 euros. We will try to fulfill all the obligations planned by the Program in the highest possible percentage, which is why the planned financial income will certainly be exceeded. Failure to comply with contractual obligations will not be an option, as we will specify everything in the contracts. I have already given instructions according to which the new contracts will be worked out, so we will immediately terminate the contract with any user who does not respect the contractual obligations," Rajković pointed out.
The Administration currently has 364 permanent employees out of a total of 440 systematized jobs. The administration has about 170 forest guards (lugars), but as it claims, all employees directly or indirectly take care of the forests.
"The lack of staff is a problem that has been following the Administration for years, but with a good organization of employees and the engagement of additional labor, we strive to perform all tasks at the best possible level. Given that the forestry profession is in deficit, there is certainly plenty of room for additional employment, but due to limited financial resources, we very often do not get approval for a significant number. The age structure in the Administration is extremely unfavorable and every year, by force of law, the employment relationship of about 15 employees ends, and in contrast, a significantly smaller number are hired. During the last year, a large number of personnel were renewed, while based on the Personnel Plan for the year 2024, consent was obtained for the hiring of only two executors, which is insufficient," says Rajković.
According to him, the opening of the Faculty of Forestry and the forestry department in secondary schools solved the staff deficit to a significant extent. He also believes that the employees are not adequately paid.
"Earnings are not at an enviable level considering the complexity, complexity and difficulty of jobs and field work. The average salary of a higher education staff is around 750-800 euros, while the average salary of a secondary school staff is around 550-600 euros, depending on the years of service", said Rajković.
According to him, in 2023, the total amount of illegal logging in state forests was 3.377,23 cubic meters, of which 1.695,34 cubic meters of conifers and 1.681,89 of hardwoods. A total of 236 criminal reports were filed, of which 38 were against known perpetrators and 198 against unknown ones. The most illegal logging was in the Sub-Division (PJ) of Berane (1.042 cubic meters) and the most in the Economic Unit (GJ) of Jelovica and in the PJ of Mojkovac (1.034 m³ ), mostly in GJ Lepenac - Palješka gora. A total of 96 misdemeanor reports were filed for unauthorized felling in private forests for a total amount of 3.016 cubic meters of wood volume. Comparative data show that of the total illegal logging in Montenegro, for the period from 2020-2023. year, in the amount of 15.129 cubic meters, 31 percent or 4.630 cubic meters were cut in the Jelovica plant in Berane.
"For these reasons, the greatest focus is on reducing illegal activities in that area. I have already dismissed the heads of regional units in Mojkovac and Berane. In Berane, we already had actions of confiscating illegally cut timber, and for the first time I provided a vehicle that removed the confiscated timber from the forest to a safe location. In recent weeks, the administration has been taking strong measures and actions against illegal activities in the forests, so we also had actions in Berane, Bijelo Polje, Kolašin, Pljevlja, Petnjica, Plav, Rožaje... Sudden controls of the terrain, but also of sawmills and wood processing plants, are intensifying. , which is the essence of solving this problem", pointed out Rajković.
When asked about the state of the Montenegrin forests and whether there are any diseases, Rajković said that the long-term stability of the forests is not threatened and that their health condition will be at a satisfactory level, if urgent action is taken regarding sanitary trees.
"I have already sent initiatives to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management in order to solve the sanitation issue as soon as possible. We are waiting for approval, we have to remove over 50.000 cubic meters of sanitation from our forests, because otherwise everything will dry out and everything will be attacked by bark beetles. This problem is most pronounced in Plav, where the specific situation is due to the Prokletije National Park, where we have about 10.000 cubic meters of toilets, which we have to remove from the forest. I have already made a public promise that while I am acting director of the Administration, I will not sign a decision concerning regular activities, until the sanitation is finished. A bark beetle always exists in every forest. However, when it begins to spread without certain control and to attack trees that are already damaged for various reasons, then its expansion occurs. That's why I gave an order that every Thursday, the set traps must be emptied, the number monitored and to determine in which cities there is an expansion of bark beetles in order to react urgently. Also, additional quantities of pheromone traps will be placed".
In the period from 2015 to 2023, a total of about 45 thousand hectares of private and state forests were burned, of which 18.617 hectares refer to private forests.
"The largest burned area was in 2021, when a total of 14.725 hectares were burned, and the least in 2023, when only 15 hectares of private forests were burned. In the state forests in the mentioned period of 9 years, a total of 26.270 hectares were burned, of which the highest was in 2017, when 13.577 hectares were burned, and the least in 2023, when 17,3 hectares were burned. Last year, a significantly lower number of forest fires was recorded, so a total of seven fires were recorded in state forests in 2023, while one fire was recorded in private forests. We have appointed the main coordinator for fire watchers, and we will try to hire as many people as possible, because prevention is the key...Also, I will demand the rigorous establishment of forest order from forest users and the removal of flammable material".
There are not enough hardwoods to produce furniture
Rajković also believes that wood resources are used within the maximum capacity of wood processing, and that we do not have enough hardwoods for more serious final production.
"Every year, all active wood processing plants in Montenegro cannot process the current annual budget given by the Administration and there are always unsold quantities. Also, it should be pointed out that in terms of some more serious final production, such as making furniture, we do not have sufficient amounts of hardwoods from which furniture is made. Conifers are used for log cabins, doors, windows, pillars, and that's where we have production. That's why we should carefully consider what we want and what our true potentials are. It is very easy to make lump sum estimates, but in reality and based on factual data, things are totally different. We forget that it is not only the economic value of forests that we should focus on.
Rajković said that in the next month, he will plant 300.000 seedlings from the nurseries in Kolašin, Rožaje and Bar, and in the fall another 200.000 seedlings. He also claims that he will introduce order in the use of non-timber forest products because "ignorance of legal regulations in this area leads to the fact that very often non-timber forest products are used without any compensation".
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