IUFRO Research Group 6.1300 and the USDA Forest Service
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Research Collection Working Paper Experiences with new forest and environmental laws in European countries with economies in transition proceedings of the Third International Symposium; Jundola, Bulgaria, June 2001 Author(s): Schmithüsen, Franz Josef Publication Date: 2002 Permanent Link: https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-a-004405078 Rights / License: In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted This page was generated automatically upon download from the ETH Zurich Research Collection. For more information please consult the Terms of use. ETH Library ISSN 1420-1143 FORSTWISSENSCHAFTLICHE BEITRÄGE 26 der Professur Forstpolitik und Forstökonomie Experiences with New Forest and Environmental Laws in European Countries with Economies in Transition Editors: Franz Schmithüsen / Georg Iselin / Dennis Le Master Proceedings of the Third International Symposium; Jundola, Bulgaria, June 2001 Jointly Organized by the IUFRO Research Group 6.1300 and the USDA Forest Service Zurich 2002 Recommended Catalogue Entry: Schmithüsen, F.; Iselin, G.; Le Master, D., Eds. 2002: Experiences with New Forest and Environmental Laws in European Countries with Economies in Transition. Proceedings of the Third International Symposium; Jundola, Bulgaria; June 2001; Jointly Organized by the IUFRO Research Group 6.1300 and the USDA Forest Service. Forstwissenschaftliche Beiträge der Professur Forstpolitik und Forstökonomie, Nr. 26; ETH, Zürich, 2002. 184 pp. Keywords: Forest Law; Environmental Law; Administrative Law; Sustainable Forestry; Nature Conservation. ISSN 1420-1143 ISBN 3-907648-01-3 Available from: Professur Forstpolitik und Forstökonomie Departement Forstwissenschaften ETH-Zentrum Rämistrasse 101 CH - 8092 Zürich Tel.: + 41 1 632 32 17 / Fax: + 41 1 632 11 10 e-mail [email protected] http://www.fowi.ethz.ch/ppo Price: CHF 30.00 / € 20.00 © Franz Schmithüsen, Chair Forest Policy and Forest Economics; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH, Zurich. I PREFACE The 3rd International Symposium on "Experiences with new forest and environmental laws in European countries with economies in transition" was held in Jundola – Educational and Experimental Forestry at the University of Forestry (Bulgaria), 12 - 17 June, 2001. It was sponsored by the USDA Forest Service, additional support was provided by the ETH Zurich, the German-Bulgarian Forestry Project and the Bulgarian-Swiss Forestry Project. The Symposium was organized by the University of Forestry, Sofia (Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nickola Stoyanov) and IUFRO 6.13.00 (Peter Herbst). Altogether thirty-six participants representing seventeen countries participated in the 2001 Symposium. Following two previous meetings in Ossiach (Austria), 1998 and 1999, the objective was to promote the exchange of information amongst researchers and practitioners active in forest law and environmental legislation in Eastern and Central European countries with economies in transition. It provided a forum for the exchange of experiences concerning the formulation, implementation and administration of newly adopted forest and forest related laws. It created an opportunity for participants from various countries, to get familiar with the new legal situation, and to identify open questions and impending problems. The symposium started with formal well-come speeches by Vice Minister Milko Stanchev (Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Sofia) and Rector Prof. Dr. Dimitar Kolarov (University of Forestry, Sofia). The key note address on forest related policies and legislation was presented by Prof. Dr. Franz Schmithüsen from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH). Country sessions followed and we were happy to welcome more new countries as Yugoslavia, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. We also had presentations from participants who had attended previous meetings with research papers on recent developments in Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Romania, Ukraine and Bulgaria. An interesting view from outside Europe was provided by our colleagues from Japan presenting a paper on "Forest Legislation in a Constitutional State - the Japanese Example". The 2001 Symposium was again a success. I wish to express my thanks to all that have contributed to make it an interesting, useful and enjoyable event. Particular thanks are due to our colleague, Prof. Dr. Nickola Stoyanov for his friendly and patient support in organising the meeting, and to Prof. Dr. Dimitar Kolarov, Rector of the University of Forestry in Sofia for his hospitality in making available to us the facilities of the university in Jundola. Everybody felt that there was a high demand for a follow-up in order to continue the discussions on open questions (left open and new ones) and to consider latest developments concerning the sector. I am glad to announce that IUFRO 6.13.00 will be in the position to cover this demand, following invitations by group members and participants, and to announce the 4th International Symposium on "Experiences with new forest and environmental laws in European countries with economies in transition" to be held in Latvia, August 2002. We also will organise the 5th International Symposium on "Experiences with new forest and environmental laws in European countries with economies in transition" in May 2003 in the Czech Republic. Peter Herbst, Leader IUFRO Research Group 6.13.00 II REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTS NATIONAL BOARD OF THE FORESTS To the Third International Symposium “The Experience of the Countries inTransition In the Field of the Forest and Environmental Legislation” Yundola, 12-16 June 2001, Dear Participants in the Symposium, Dear Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Esteemed Colleagues, I would like first to say how pleased and honoured I am to be here and to welcome you to Bulgaria. I would like also to extend the regards of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests and the National Board of the Forests to the organizers, participants and guests of the Third International IUFRO - Symposium on “The Experience of the Countries in Transition in the Field of Forest and Environmental Legislation”. Since the beginning of the democratic changes in Bulgaria in 1989, our country has faced the extremely important issue of legislative amendments. Up to 1997 the forestry sector had been functioning on the basis of provisions of the Forest Act of 1958 with state property of forest at hand. By adopting the programme “Bulgaria 1997 – 2001”, the government of the United Democratic Forces determined the general priorities in forests and the forestry sector as a whole: • Speeding up ownership restoration of the forests and lands within the state forest area; • Management and utilization of state and private forests while balancing the economic and ecological factors of sustainable development; • Separation of the state and economic activities in forestry; • Privatization of structures in forestry; • Adjustment of timber prices as well as the prices of other forest products to the international ones according to market principles; • Observance of international treaties and conventions on biodiversity conservation and protected areas. To fulfill these priorities, the forestry sector had to pass throgh an extremely hard and constantly changing phase. Fulfilment was based on the requirements for a general change in the legal and by-legal base in the field of the forestry. The staff occupied in forestry had to face the serious challenge to develop normative documents, in which apart from well-known and traditional requirements related to forest management, completely new market-driven elements and mechanisms, pluralism in property, etc, had to be introduced. Along with this and in accordance with national strategy for EU accession, recently enacted legal documents had to be harmonized with their Community equivalents. III It is obvious that a reform of such size entails development of a significant legislative framework, which supposes much intellectual labour and time. Three laws have been enacted by the National Board of the Forests and adopted by the Parliament, namely the Act on Restoration of Ownership of the Forests and Lands in the State Forest Area (1997), the Forest Act (1997) and the Act on Hunting and Game Conservation (2000) that has become the real basis for implementation of the priorities of forest sector reform. The Act on Protected Areas (1998) has been developed by means of our active assistance. 7 regulations (guidelines), 11 orders, 6 instructions and numerous ordinances, tariffs, methods and rules within the sector of forestry and hunting have been endorsed. In the field of nature protection legislation, experts working with National Board of the Forests took part in developing of draft-law on biodiversity, by which two conventions and directives of the EU will be applied on a national scale. The National Plan for biodiversity conservation was endorsed and the foundations of ecological forest certification were set down. It is appropriate here to point out that carrying out this work out was possible only with the active participation of both scientific workers and practitioners in forestry. The utilization of this potential supported by information exchange and analyses of the legislation of the member-states as well as other countries in transition, provided the opportunity for accomplishment of the main tasks of Bulgarian forest reform. Of certain importance was the application of the related results to the two international symposiums organized by working group