The government will sell the lands of the Hungarian national parks?

In order to provide firewood for the winter, the government plans to sell the protected lands of the national parks. Hungary is preparing for severe gas shortages in winter and is looking for alternative solutions.

The forests of the national park in danger

The government has officially decided to take the drastic step of cutting down trees in order to ensure an adequate supply of firewood for the coming winter. Viktor Orbán said in his radio interview last Friday that the government is forcing forest farms to prepare plans to increase firewood production. – reports Wallet. In addition, Gergely Gulyás also spoke on Saturday about forest farms and their objective to increase the harvest of wood. “State farms supply 55% of the total supply. This amount will not only cover the amount needed for social programs, but will also provide wood for those who plan to purchase it. – said the minister. The government is dramatically increasing the supply of timber that can be cut. For example, it also lifted the ban on clearcutting in natural state forests while taking into account the importance of landscape protection.

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Greenpeace expert: it is irresponsible to subordinate the preservation of species to economic interests

“At first we didn’t want to believe it, we thought maybe it was just a misunderstanding when we learned that they also wanted to sell the national park lands” – said Katalin Rodics, research biologist to Greenpeace Hungary. As Nepszava reports, she and her colleagues were completely shocked that the idea came from the Minister of Agriculture. However, they hope that the ministry’s proposal will not pass. For example, grazing is only possible within strict regulations on protected grasslands belonging to national parks. She believes that it is irresponsible to subordinate the preservation of species to economic interests.

Environmentalists want to protect national parks

According to Katalin Rodics, Hungary should do everything possible to protect its national parks. These lands represent only 5% of the country’s territory and only 10% of its total protected areas. In addition, the EU currently sets aside a large sum of money for the protection of biological diversity. The biologist says that the government should also take this factor into account. However, she believes that instead of preserving nature, Hungary is systematically destroying it.