The public institution “Forest Inspection” warns that the changes aim to cut down old pine groves in the park, and the movement “Extinction Rebellion Lithuania” missed the conclusions of the State Forest Service and other state environmental institutions regarding the proposal to reduce forest areas in Vilnius city.
Meanwhile, the climate movement “Fridays for Future Lithuania” says that an ecological status assessment of each area, results of protected species and habitat inspections, analysis of alternatives, and environmental and climate impact assessments have not been provided.
According to the Ministry of Environment, which prepared the draft government resolution, in two plots of Vingis Park – 0.87 ha and 0.73 ha in the western part – it is planned to build a pedestrian and cyclist bridge over the Neris River near the “Litexpo” exhibition and congress center, which, according to Vilnius municipality, would improve the city’s mobility and image.
Vilnius city municipality informed BNS that from January, government approval is required to convert forest land to other uses.
“Therefore, a written request was made by the director of the municipal administration to the government regarding several plots,” the sent comment states.
“Deforestation of the area is necessary for the construction of bridge structures, as well as pedestrian and bicycle paths. Without this procedure, a building permit for the bridge could not be issued,” the capital’s municipality asserts.
“Extinction Rebellion Lithuania” criticizes that when converting 1.7311 ha of forest land in the park to other uses, specific constructions are not indicated, limiting to the general formation of public purpose, common use, and separate green areas.
“Fridays For Future Lithuania” and “Extinction Rebellion Lithuania” state that last week they appealed to the Prosecutor General Nida Grunskienė to protect the public interest by safeguarding the high recreational potential banks of the Neris River in Vilnius city.
The General Prosecutor’s Office informed BNS that such appeals have been received and are under review.
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“Forest Inspection” also opposes the plan to revoke the forest land status of two Vingis Park plots, where, according to the public organization, based on the State Forest Cadastre data, pine groves up to 225 years old grow.
“We strongly oppose converting these two plots of forest land to other uses until it is reliably proven that the decisions will not affect the 225-year-old pines, their root systems, habitat integrity, and ecological environment,” it says in their letter.
According to “Forest Inspection,” a 225-year-old pine grove in the center of Vilnius city is a unique and practically irreplaceable ecological, landscape, climate regulation, recreational, and cultural value, and such a forest cannot be compensated with new plantings, and weakening its protection cannot be justified solely by a more convenient infrastructure route or change in land use.
As BNS stated, the founder of “Forest Inspection,” Laurynas Žemaitis, it is still unclear how many trees could be cut down.
“It may be that the entire area will be cut down, or only a few trees. Therefore, we are preparing letters to ensure and clarify exactly how many will be cut and what impact and damage it will cause to nature,” he said.
Part of the forests is proposed to be converted to other uses by the capital’s municipality, supported by the Ministry of Environment.
The draft resolution proposes changing the designation of more than 20 plots in total. For various reasons, a total of 10.14 ha of forests in the city are intended to be converted to other uses.
