1. 22nd of May 2003 In Zentral und Osteuropa Forest treasures in Central and Eastern Europe under the hammer How forests which survived hammer and sickle are under threat to be sacrificed for profit

2. 22nd of May 2003 In Zentral und Osteuropa

3. 22nd of May 2003 In Zentral und Osteuropa Forest treasure of CEE 300.000ha of natural forests in the Carpathians (nearly half of it is covered by forests) In Slovakia, Bulgaria and Bosnia over 50% of the forests are in somewhat natural conditions In Slovakia, Poland, Macedonia and Bulgaria the share of pristine forest is about 1% Poland: in 1996 there were 1,46 million ha of environmentally important forests in Poland (IUCN Poland 1996) Romania: in 1985 there was 127 000 ha of forests without accessibility (> 5km) and 824 000 ha with relatively bad accessibility (2-5km) from road

4. 22nd of May 2003 In Zentral und Osteuropa Forests undisturbed by man in Europe Russia 260.768.700 Sweden 4.531.300 Finland 1.202.000 Georgia 550.000 Bulgaria 256.000 Norway 250.000 Romania 233.200 Turkey 188.000 Poland 144.000 Albania 84.800 Forests “undisturbed” by man in Europe [ha] by FAO/ MCPFE:

5. 22nd of May 2003 In Zentral und Osteuropa Threatened species in CEE 481 endemic plant species Last region in Europe to support viable populations of brown bear (8000), wolf (4000, 45% of Europe’s population) and lynx (3000) More than 300 species of birds: 61% of the European populations Black Storks 62% the of Lesser-spotted Eagles 42% of the Middle-spotted Woodpeckers breed in the Accession countries

6. 22nd of May 2003 In Zentral und Osteuropa

7. 22nd of May 2003 In Zentral und Osteuropa

8. 22nd of May 2003 In Zentral und Osteuropa Forest threats in CEE Forest privatisation Illegal logging Not enough strictly protected areas and no proper enforcement of the existing ones Bad forestry – clear cutting, monocultures Building of infrastructure International consortia entering the market in order to “turn the forest into value”

9. 22nd of May 2003 In Zentral und Osteuropa Consortia entering the CEE market Foria-ÖBF ÖBF Schweighofer sawmill Kaindl Holzindustrie Weltbank Private owners

10. 22nd of May 2003 In Zentral und Osteuropa Foria-ÖBF Founded by Austrian state forestry agency ÖBF & Finnish Forestry agency Metsähallitus in summer 2002. Planning to take over leadership in Central and Eastern European forest-management & timber marketing until 2007. Goal: sales of 45 Mill. Euros and 1 Mill. solid cubic meter of timber until then.

11. 22nd of May 2003 In Zentral und Osteuropa ÖBF Active in CEE with consulting department. Reformation of forestry agencies in Albania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary (and PNG)

12. 22nd of May 2003 In Zentral und Osteuropa Schweighofer Opens sawmill in Sebes (Siebenbürgen) in mid 2003 Investing 60 Mio Euros 300 employees 95% of sawn timber exported to US, Japan, Middle East Financed by Austrian Creditanstalt Cooperation with Foria-ÖBF planned

13. 22nd of May 2003 In Zentral und Osteuropa Kaindl One of the leading providers of tiber materials in Europe Particle board producer 16 enterprises in 9 countries with 8.500 employees Subsidiary Kaindl flooring is market leader in timber floorings, 23% market share 750 employees 310 Mio. Euros turnover

14. 22nd of May 2003 In Zentral und Osteuropa Worldbank Romania – Forest Development Project to support increased productivity of forest industries rehabilitating and extending the forest road network (best practice guideline) establish a forest management information & monitoring system to ensure sustainable management of private forest lands economic and environmental goals in one project