Research: How Is Macedonia Planting with Trees

RESEARCH: HOW IS MACEDONIA PLANTING WITH TREES

Title: The trees are planted with enthusiasm and many improvisations

Subtitle: It is impossible 7 million trees to be planted in one day

Sunchica Stojanovska

Biljana Lajmanovska

Macedonia will plant trees for the fourth time in two years. Without previously determined strategy, with plants and locations determined in a rush, with earth problems which are solved ad hoc from case to case, instead with systematic approach, untrained, but enthusiasts – citizens will participate to plant trees,with God’s will and hope that are investing in the future. This time there should be planted 7,500,000trees on 3,674ha, on 120 locations throughout the country. Hoping that meteorologists haven’t made any mistakes regarding the weather prognosis and with prays to God to help them their trees to grow (due to the fact that the Public Company “Makedonski Shumi – Macedonian Woods” can’t achieve to protect them all), the organizers of the campaign “The Day of the Tree” have mobilized the government, municipalities, students, soldiers, celebrities, businessman and foreign ambassadors to level the ecological awareness of the citizens.

The idea of gathering people around common goal and benefit is excellent. The problem is in its’ execution in which procedure there are many lacks, the experts say.

Without any objections regarding the benefit of this, we are pointing to the systematicdefects of the planting trees – generating history from the bad laws, old cadastre segregation of woods and pastures, non-utilization of the entire capacities of the seed-plant gardens and non-equipment of the state authorities. The worst results are performed in the most essential issue – protection and maintaining of the plants. After 20 years the old bulldozers of the Public Company “Makedonski Shumi – Macedonian Woods” are more often damaged rather than in operational mode. The State Inspectorate for Woods employees only 16 inspectors for the entire territory of the country. However,the organizers areoptimistically spreading the message “Imagine Macedonia green” – the motto of the autumn campaignfor planting trees. How much this optimism is satisfactory that everything that is planted will grow up?

While the office of the citizen’s initiative “The Day of the Tree” in the past month intensively is preparing the latest planting of the treesin Macedonia, the experts from the Faculty of Forestry are secretly against - in this as well as in previous three campaigns the participation of the science is symbolic and the lacks are not removed. The main target is the campaignto be massive on behalf of the rules that are existing in the woods and which the science is existing to be obeyed.

- The first campaign organized in March last year was a disaster. The organizers have provided figure of 70% acceptability of the plants. This campaign has showed that is massive. In the second and the third campaign the quality should exist– says the professor from the Faculty of Forestry.

The organizers of the citizen’s initiative “The Day of the Tree” last year have conflicted with the Faculty in Skopje. The tensions have increased because photos have appeared from the locations on which the trees were planted, showing the upwards plantedtrees, with their roots up and above the ground.This was evidence for the professors for the unpreparedness of the organizers and the citizens, without the expert assistance and advices to participate in campaign in which the entire Macedonia is mobilized. The Faculty has sent letters to the former president Crvenkovski, to the prime-minister Gruevski and the authorized institutions. In that letter is emphasized that the science is supporting the idea for planting but not the manners of its realisation.

“Neutral analyses of the spring campaign are pointing to many lacks, which should not be repeated in the following massive campaigns. The planting was performed in totally improper conditions, due to the fact that the processing and planting were on dry soil. Public Company “Makedonski Shumi – Macedonian Woods” has enormous organizational problems with preparation of the planting ground, transport and protection of the plants, mainly due to its massiveness and the pressure to be executed in one day. In that type of massive campaign it is almost impossible to be performed export monitoring over the non-expert working force which have only enthusiasm and are practically unequipped. The long and dry summer was additional enemy of the planted trees, whereas the success of the planting with minor exemptions is far from satisfactory. On the ground only the small percentage of the trees has survived, therefore the campaign in any case could not be characterized as successful”, it is stipulated in the reaction of the Faculty sent in October last year. The entire letter was never published. Another document which is pointing to the defects in the campaign is also non-disclosed, that is elaborate of the Professor Acevski, prepared upon order from the Ministry for Agriculture. In that elaborate, among the other issues, it is mentioned where the mistakes are made and is also suggesting that on the appropriate soil should be planted appropriate trees.

Around 7,000 trees on the location of Gorna Matka after the last spring campaign for planting were extracted. That is almost one third from the planted trees in that region. Afterwards, on that area the trees have been planted again on area of 10 ha in order the damage from the unscrupulous citizens to be repaired. In Makedonski Brod and above Miladinovci the trees were eaten by the cattle. On the locations in Strumica this year should not be planting due to the resistance from the local citizens. Many planted trees were ripped out and stolen.

The fantastic figure of 7,500,000 trees is predicted for the planting on Friday. It is more than the previous three campaigns – in March last year were planted 2,000,000 trees, in October 6,000,000, and in the spring campaign in March this year another 5,000,000 trees.

All the professors that we have been contacted have agreed that the planting should not been performed in one day – and they are proposing “The Day of the Tree” to be executed as it should. They say that the one day campaigns are only parade of the politicians. After four conducted campaigns, additionally should be drafted the long term programme for mass planting. The last programme for planting is dated 1971. Its duration was 20 years. Large areas were planted with trees. Than the ecological tax was paid, which now does not exist. The organizers are insisting on establishing of separate Fund for woods, in order to provide continuity and the campaign not to be dependable from the good will of the governing parties.

The care about the planted trees remains to be performed by the Public Company “Makedonski Shumi – Macedonian Woods”. The company is obligated to prepare the hills for planting, to replace the damaged plants with new ones and to refill on the places where the trees will wither. The company is seeking help, because with 3,400 permanent employees and hundreds temporary workers is not in a position to manage to deal with the massive campaigns for planting trees.

Another problem is mechanization. The bulldozers are 15-20 years old. With all that old machines now should be prepared for planting 3,800ha of land. From 30 branch offices, only 15 possess their own transport goods, buses or minibuses.

Finding locations has occurred as the problem in planting. The organizers are requesting the trees to be planted on locations near the cities in order the citizens not to travel and walk a lot and also the effects to be more visible. The institutions authorized to deal with woods issues are complaining that are hardly finding the locations for planting – part of the land are private fields or fields given under concession on which is prohibited to be planted trees. On a places where was not acted in compliance with, the trees were eaten by cows and sheep.

- Our intention is the locations to be outside the woods, respectively on agriculture land from 5-th to 7-th class, the high located pastures which are not in use. Those will be transformed and on those areas will be planted trees – Vojo Gogovski, advisor in the Ministry for Agriculture explains.

On the places where problem occurs, the organizers of the campaign are negotiating with each shepherd separately for the parcels which are planned to be planted with trees.

We have requested the institutions authorized to deal with woods issues to provide us information where the cattle are kept and to provide contacts from the owners in order to discuss with them, together with the representatives from the Agency for Pastures and Makedonski Shumi. We have excellent experience from the location Ajatovski Rid. With the owner of 250 pieces of cattle we have agreed where the trees will be planted and where the cattle will be pastured. In Veles has been performed the change of location in order to have pasture for 2,500 sheep –Boris Trajanov, initiator of the campaign stated.

For the current campaign there are disputable around ten locations which are used by shepherds. The possibilities for separate agreement with each of them were examined. However, such agreements with the shepherds are solving the problem only partially.

- Macedonia should implement separate policy in order to transform the unused pastures into woods, or other way around – where there is necessity the wood should be transformed into pasture -Marjan Gjorchev, former Minister for Agriculture says.

In the country exist around 300,000ha of pastures and naked land. These are enough for 10 times more sheep’s than there are currently.

In these circumstances, the question arises whether and how much are successful the campaigns for planting trees which are paid by the country’s budget. The research has tried to answer this question.