Uzhgorod, 21.11.98.

The discussion on the reasons of the flood in Transcarpathia

It has been already mentioned in our previous reports that there are appeared a few articles in regional Mass Media on the theme "what caused the floods in Transcarpathia in the last years".

Please find here a summary of them (14.11.-20.11. 1998).

Summary

The disastrous flood in Transcarpathia was caused by uncontrolled felling in the mountains, state scientists and ecologists, and it was not the first one. Last time Transcarpathian region and neighbouring territories often suffered of the floods. E.g. the value of the damages caused by the flood of the rivers Tysa and Prut, which originate in Carpathia, in 70-ies in Hungary and Romania was equal to the 10th part of their annual national income. 800 millions of dollars was the worth of the flood damages in 1992-1993 in Transcarpathia. The flood damages of today in the region is even worse.

The main reason of the floods is systematic destruction of the forests and flora of Carpathian mountains, which caused the raising of the humidity flow.

The old mixed forests are replaced by mono-planting of the fur-groove, and now 70% of the mountain area are covered by new and middle forests (in the area of upper Tysa this data is even high in number). The age of the forests, which have the function of water regulation, has to be over 100 years.

Conception of the forestry development in Transcarpathia

The territory of Transcarpathian region counts 12,800 sq km, 50% of which, i.e. 694 000 hectares, are covered with forests.

Forests supply national economy with row products, function as a water-protector, water-control, soil-protector, anti-erosion system, and sanitary and health protector. Forests in the highlands have a great influence on the delay and the control of precipitation.

However, the most important role of the forests in Transcarpathia is their water-control influence on the level of the river flow, and especially on the decreasing of the flood destructive power.

Forests also have a great influence on the natural water recourses, on normalization of the constant high water in the mountain streams and rivers. They save the soil hydrological optimum and humidify of air not only in Transcarpathia, but in the neighbouring territories as well. Every year the moisture, concentrated in the soil of the Carpathian forests, vapours into the atmosphere 3 sq km of water.

The Carpathian forests located in the Tysa river basin are also of a great international significance. 30% of the basin is formed here, which is the main tributary of the Danube. They here are very important as a factor of the catastrophic floods warning in Ukraine, as well as in the nearby Hungary. They promote the increasing of the underground dirt flow, which hampers the development of the erosive processes and the natural floods formation.

The policy of the European countries towards the principles of a fixed, indestructible and inexhaustible use of the forests is represented in the Resolutions of the international conferences of the Ministers for Forest Protection in Europe (Strasbourg 1990, and Helsinki 1993). These Resolutions have been ratified by Ukraine as well.

Analysis of the forestry in Transcarpathia

Privatization of the timber industry enterprises has become the main reason of the forestry reorganization in Transcarpathia, which had been the property of these enterprises till 1995. As forests have always been the national property, they still belong to the State. In 1995 the regional authorities of Transcarpathia founded the forestry administration together with 17 other timber industry enterprises, and all state forests are given at their command. This new organ of government is in charge of the forestry and hunting operation, side timber use and forest conservation. It is not in charge of a timber cutting.

The regional authorities give permits for timber-cutting, and according to them the forestry administration signs leases with physical and juridical bodies on timber-land of the national resources.

It is common knowledge, that breaking the rules of the timber lease requirements has always been a result of its managing by many different enterprises and their departments, leaseholder has never owned anything. He always wants to take as much as possible from the state forests rather than to invest something into reforestation. Thats why timber-leasing for the last three years has become more and more ruthless. Every person or organization uses it the wrong way, breaking the rules, cutting timber even in the forest conservation areas without waste recycling.

It is a fact, that 60% of coniferous and 70% of beech forests on one hectare have more than 20 thousand pieces of undergrowth and volunteer plants. Since timber-cutting has always been run with the help of mechanized skidding and in the snowless periods of the year, almost 80% of undergrowth, volunteer plants and soil are being damaged. Herbage and forest cover are erasured, the top horizons of soil are dislocated and then washed away. From one hectare of entire timber-cutting with mechanized skidding 150-500 m3 of fertile soil is washed away. The natural growth of soil of 20 cm on the hard/solid matrix requires more than 1500 years.

As a result of rude violations of the rules of timber-cutting the protective function of ecosystem in the mountains has been reduced, the hydrological habits of the mountain rivers have been broken. Therefore floods, avalanches and windfalls take place more often. According to the data of water resources administration of the region, during the last 30 years 115 floods took place, and their damages for people and national economy of Transcarpathia are about 460 million gryvnya or average of 15 million gryvnya per a year.

In June and July of 1998 there were already three floods in Transcarpathia. Now there was one more.

Only in 1995-1996 unauthorized timber felling was 18 thousand m3. There are cases when the best trees are cut down just to please a consumer, and this considerably degrades forestry efficiency.

The authors of the articles:

Ph.D. of Economics, professor Ruschak M.Y.

Ph.D. of Biology, a head of Carpathian Biosphere Reserve, Fedir Hamor

Table 1. Figures of the wood, woodworking, pulp and paper industries in Transcarpathia for the years 1990-1997.