€280 million (CZK 7 billion) from the Czech state budget will be made available for these payments. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the actual sum will depend on the amount of carbon stored in the forests, as silvarium.cz reports. The Czech Republic has almost 2.7 million hectares of forests, of which 45% are privately owned, while 55% are state forests.
The subsidy program is to come into effect in 2027 and be paid out one year later. Up until now, forest owners have not received any funding from the Czech state for complying with climate protection measures. The EU, however, grants subsidies over several years to help countries adapt forest ecosystems to climate change.
Richard Podstatzký from the Association of Municipal, Private and Church Forest Owners in the Czech Republic (SVOL) welcomes the measure: “When ecological interests take precedence over economic ones, such as the sale of wood, some form of compensation is needed.”
