Albania is one of the worst-hit nations, having lost half of the forest cover recorded in 1990. Ten times more trees are felled illegally than 
legally, according to the national statistics institute, with significant clearing taking place in national parks.

Similarly, in Romania, which has the second-largest area of woodland in Europe, more than 170,000 cubic metres of illegally cut timber are seized every year. According to Romanian junior forestry minister Cristian Apostol, more than 180,000 hectares of forest have been illegally cleared since the fall of the late Communist dictator Nicolae Ceauseascu in 1989. However, prosecutions for illegal logging are rarely successful. Out of 25,000 fines issued over the past three years, only two have resulted in actual convictions. ‘The law was there, but the necessary structures to enforce it were missing,’ Apostol said.

Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia are facing similar problems, with the addition of damage caused during the 1991–95 war. In Bosnia and Croatia, some 100,000 and 140,000 hectares respectively are still littered with landmines, which may actually provide them with some protection from loggers.

The Balkans forests are home to more than half of Europe’s bear and wolf populations, and environmentalists fear that the scale of deforestation will put many in danger of local extinction.

July 2010