Hungary ministry limits logging in protected forests to preserve wood volume

Experts from the Ministry for the Protection of the Living Environment in Hungary reviewed all protected forest areas to determine where timber harvesting can occur.

The ministry officials determined that logging will stop completely on 2,520 hectares of land. These findings come after Minister László Gajdos lifted a general logging moratorium in September to fulfill contractual obligations and provide firewood. The ministry established a special working group to make individual decisions for every protected forest area.

State forestry companies and national park directorates had to reach initial agreements on these decisions. While the ministry previously stated they had only reviewed about 900 of the 1,441 protected areas, they now claim to have finished reviewing all 1,441 areas, along with 1,926 additional forest sections managed by national parks. The ministry says that logging will be entirely absent in 348 forest areas and reduced in volume in another 202 areas.

These restrictions affect a total of 12,090 hectares of forest land. The ministry claims these measures will result in 300,000 cubic meters more wood remaining in the forests compared to the 2026 plans of the previous government. Officials stated that the public can access the records of these decisions through the respective forestry companies.