An average of 242 hectares of Flemish forests per year – around a football pitch per day – were felled between 2001 and 2021, a new report by environmental organisations BOS+ and Greenpeace revealed on Wednesday.
Between 2001 and 2021, 5,088 hectares of forest were brought down with permits. Despite the compensation obligation, more trees are being cut down than planted. The environmental organisations, therefore, call for an immediate moratorium on felling the most valuable forests and a general deforestation stop by 2030.
"The dynamics exposed by the report show that in recent years, despite great efforts for forest expansion, too few steps have been taken to achieve the better forest protection we so urgently need," Laure De Vroey of BOS+ said.
Inadequate compensation for lost forests
BOS+ and Greenpeace mapped the evolution of forests in Flanders which revealed that, not only that forests are still being cut down, but also that compensation measures are inadequate.
Due to various exceptions to the ban on deforestation, felled forest is not being compensated. For instance, in the first three years of this parliamentary legislature, at least 1,414 hectares were felled, while only 1,135 hectares were compensated or restored.
Credit: Belga / Siska Gremmelprez
Moreover, another third of all woodland in Flanders is at risk of disappearing because it is a zoned forest. This means that, in practice, those forests can be more easily cut down. This will then be compensated elsewhere, which will mainly lead to more fragmentation, according to the environmental organisations. On top of that, those new, younger forests can also store much less CO2 than old existing forests.
This is why Greenpeace and BOS+ list a series of recommendations to make forest conservation a priority. These include an immediate moratorium on the destruction of the most valuable forests and a general ban on deforestation by 2030.
Continue the search for afforestation
Flemish Minister of the Environment Zuhal Demir stated in a press release on Wednesday that while Flanders saw a net disappearance of 1,500 hectares of forest in the period 2001-2019, the forest balance is positive for the first time, under Demir's 2019-2023 administration. As it stands, a net 1,749 hectares of forest have been added.
However, the environmental minister agrees that it could be more, and called on nature organisations and local governments to "continue the search for extra land for afforestation so that Flanders will be even greener during the next planting season."
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Demir stated that a hurdle that she will specifically tackle in the coming period will be to "draw up spatial implementation plans to protect spatially vulnerable forests" for future generations. "After all, it is one thing to provide extra forest, we must also cherish the forest we have," the minister stated.
In parallel, Demir has been leading Flemish efforts at the EU level to block Belgium's support of the flagship European Green Deal legislation – the nature restoration law – in favour of protecting business interests.
