Greens and army argue over forests

  • 2000-02-03
  • By Rokas M. Tracevskis
VILNIUS/KAUNAS - The Lithuanian Green Movement (LZJ) has accused the Lithuanian Defense Ministry of plans to expand the military training grounds onto 26,000 hectares of additional forest lands, but the Defense Ministry denies such plans exist.

Rimantas Braziulis, chairman of the LZJ, said on Jan .25 that the Defense Ministry has 6,500 hectares of training land with nearby forests used as protection. Braziulis promised a protest campaign with the slogan "No to Militarization of Lithuania's Forests." If local protests failed to achieve results, he said, his movement would initiate protest actions outside Lithuanian embassies in Western European capitals and NATO headquarters in Brussels. The Lithuanian Greens said that their action is supported by the Green group in the European Parliament.

Speaking from the LZJ headquarters in Kaunas, Linas Vainius, deputy chairman of the LZJ, accused the Defense Ministry of not maintaining a serious dialogue with the Greens.

"We ask why they are expanding their training territories. They sent us some one-page features about everybody being allowed to pick mushrooms and berries in the forests used by the army. They write about some NATO standards for training lands. When we ask to see them, they show us some Soviet documents about shooting trajectories," Vainius said.

He expressed concern that some parts of eight state reservations, forests and other unique natural areas under state protection, will be under the control of the military.

"Forests must belong to the Environmental Protection Ministry. Military training lands should not overstep the borders of these protected areas," Vainius said.

The Defense Ministry issued a statement denying the Greens' accusations. It was signed by Vida Primakiene, head of the ministry's information department. The statement says that the Greens are disseminating "misinformation and fiction figures." The Defense Ministry states that it has no plans to expand its training lands.

"Lithuanian military training grounds occupy 4,680 hectares of land not covered by forests and 21,220 hectares of nearby marshes and forests. The total figure is 25,900 hectares. This territory is already used by the Defense Ministry for training soldiers. There is no intention to expand it," reads the statement.

The Defense Ministry also said that Soviet occupation troops controlled 67,000 hectares of land. After the withdrawal of the Soviets, the Lithuanian army took just part of it and made a nature reserve in these territories, said the statement.

Talks are ongoing among the Environmental Protection Ministry and the Defense Ministry about rules and sharing responsibilities for the 25,900 hectares.

Jonas Kronkaitis, commander of the armed forces, described the Greens' fear about the future devastation of forests by the military as "nonsense."

"Look to western Germany. The best preserved forests are those which belong to army bases there," Kronkaitis said.

Algirdas Katkus, Conservative MP and chairman of the parliamentary National Security Committee, said the Greens' accusations about the expansion of military training grounds is misinformation.

Wherever the truth lies, the fact is that discussions boil around a very small portion of Lithuanian forests. Wooded areas cover 30.2 percent of Lithuania. Protected nature areas cover 680,900 hectares.