The Community's Dying Forests

Download or read book The Community's Dying Forests written by Commission of the European Communities and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 3 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The community is rich in forests. They cover one-fifth of its total land surface and provide employment for 1.4 million people. But as European Commission President, Mr Gaston Thorn, noted on a visit to West Germany's Black Forest last March, many of the trees are dying, struck by a variety of diseases flowing from pollution of the air and soil. Sulphur dioxide is the main enemy but this 'acid rain' is only one of several toxic elements that are poisoning the forests. The culprits are mainly heavy industry or energy plant, and their fumes and emission particles are oblivious of national boundaries. The first signs of damage appeared in the mid-seventies, and have been accelerating since. A European Commission effort to introduce a common Community forestry policy in 1978 has so far failed to materialise, but there has been legislation designed to limit emissions of dangerous substances into the atmosphere, and the Community is a signatory to the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution which came into force on 1 May 1983.