Deputy minister urges faster clearing of storm-damaged protected forests

Storm-damaged trees in protected areas should be cleared more quickly under revised rules, Deputy Environment Minister Algirdas Pieniuta told BNS after a meeting in the Lithuanian parliament, LRT reported.

Forests in the Dzūkija region were damaged by a storm about two weeks ago, and some broken trees remain in place, posing potential risks to people and the environment. Pieniuta said the rules should allow authorities to carry out limited interventions without lengthy permits in exceptional situations.

He said there was currently no major danger, with the fire risk rated at three on a five-point scale. However, two weeks of drought could make it difficult for firefighting vehicles and people to reach a fire through areas filled with fallen trees. In such a case, authorities might only be able to contain the fire’s spread, he said.

“We must think about how we will respond to such situations in the future,” Pieniuta said, adding that exceptional circumstances required exceptional measures.

Under the proposed rules, forest stands posing a potential threat to public safety, fire safety or sanitary safety could be managed. Pieniuta said not all fallen wood would necessarily have to be removed, but areas where drought had toppled coniferous stands and tree crowns lay on the ground were particularly dangerous from a fire-prevention perspective.

Angelė Jakavonytė, the member of parliament who convened the meeting, said some broken trees were dangerously suspended above roads. Varėna district deputy mayor Alvydas Verbickas said trees hanging two to four metres above roads could fall on people or vehicles.

Saulius Tamulevičius, deputy director of the Fire and Rescue Department, said the tree-removal work could continue for another month.

Druskininkai and Varėna forests in southern Lithuania suffered the most damage from the storm, BNS reported on August 7.