European Union calls on Šumava park management to cease logging trees

The European Union has called on the Šumava park management to cease tree logging in certain areas of the national park. The European Commissioner for the Environment, Janez Potočnik, in a letter expressed concern over the fact that the park’s management last year had felled trees in areas where protected species, such as the wood grouse, live and thereby had negatively impacted their natural environment. In the letter, the commissioner asks the park’s management to stop large-scale tree-logging. He adds that he cannot rule out legal proceedings in case of the Šumava national park management’s non-compliance. Last summer, the logging of bark-beetle infested trees in a protected area of the park was met with a massive wave of protests and blockades.