Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-09-14-Speech-1-158"
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"en.20090914.25.1-158"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, yet again this year, southern Europe was impossibly hard hit by destructive fires, and fires of similar proportions also broke out in the USA and in other countries in the developed and developing world.
There can be no doubt that climate change is threatening the forests of the Mediterranean and other key areas of the planet. However, the destruction of forests in the Mediterranean is destroying the ability of natural ecosystems to act as natural carbon dioxide sinks. European polices to prevent and deal with forest fires are needed, as is financial support from the European Union for the countries, such as Greece, that face the worst repercussions this year.
There can be no doubt that, in certain countries, there were massive shortcomings in coordination between the forest protection and civil protection mechanisms, and in taking preventive measures, and this must never be repeated. It would also appear that forests within three hours of large towns or tourist areas are often threatened by fire. A lot of people feel that they can derive personal gain from destroying forests. They can ‘plant’ houses and other buildings more quickly than Member States and natural ecosystems can plant trees on burned land.
There are often national laws which cultivate such attitudes and send out the wrong messages. A European policy on the protection of forests, on the restoration of burned land, on the forestation of areas, within the framework of European assistance in combating climate change, is absolutely necessary, as is coordinated European action to prevent and fight fires, restore forests and establish new forest areas.
We need to set this in motion immediately, especially in the run-up to the negotiations at the Copenhagen conference, which will be decisive for the future of our planet. We shall be asking developing countries to protect the rainforests; we shall address the key issue of how the destruction of forests accounts for 20% of emissions of greenhouse gases. We must therefore be the ones who set an example, by ensuring there is absolute protection for forests under threat, for our forests under threat in Europe, which are the Mediterranean forests."@en1
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