We would like to inform you that as part of our activities in the SMURF Project, we have teamed up with our friend Ing. Michal Kravčík, CsC., who is an internationally renowned hydrologist, environmentalist, co-author of the New Water Paradigm, winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize, founder of WaterHolistic and the NGO People and Water. We informed Mr. Ing. Michal Kravčík, CSc. about the participation of our Land Community in the European Project SMURF. We focused on our activities, activities and incorporation of the policies of the SMURF Project into our work in the management of our forests. Our friend has pledged to help us, with his practical experience and advice within his expertise. We talked about the relationship between Water – Forest – Earth. We bring his opinion, which you can get acquainted with.
Activists accuse foresters and forest managers of being responsible for the floods because they harvest wood to restore forests. What is your opinion?
„In the balance of rainwater runoff, we have forests represented by 41 percent, agricultural land by 51 percent, 5 percent is urbanized and the rest is made up of other areas such as transport infrastructure. However, it is important that agricultural landscapes account for 56 percent of rainwater runoff and land drying, while forested land accounts for only 17 percent, and urbanized landscapes account for up to 26 percent. Accordingly, we should prioritise investments and solutions that need to be implemented.
Another thing to look in the eye is the temporal and spatial changes in the distribution of precipitation. Imagine a mountainous area, i.e. mostly the northern part of Slovakia and the surroundings of Banská Bystrica. Towards the south, we have an open agricultural and more urbanized landscape. In terms of the overall water balance in the mountains, the annual precipitation is increasing and decreasing in the lowlands. The intensity of precipitation is also higher in forested areas. This means that even if the forest is more overdried and more precipitation falls on it, more water will drain from it.“
Why is that?
„The reason is not climate change or the concentration of carbon dioxide, but because the southern part of Slovakia is an agrarian and urbanized country, it overheats very quickly and there is an increase in heat production. According to the law of conservation of energy and the second thermodynamic theorem, this phenomenon causes the displacement of clouds into the hills. Our grandfathers used to say that forests attract rain. It is not the forests that attract them, but the rain clouds are pushed above them by the overheated open landscape.
Again, I have to go back to the emptying of small water cycles, due to which perceptible heat is released. In the past, precipitation fell more evenly in time and space, because water remained in the landscape. In the New Water Paradigm, we have defined the cause of the occurrence of gusty winds in the Tatras. The solution to this problem is not only in the cultivation of forests in the Tatras, but in solving the entire Poprad basin and preventing it from overheating and cooling down so quickly.“
So if people and society are triggering these extreme climate events, what needs to be done to prevent them from happening?
„Now it is fashionable to plant more trees. But if there are more of them, nothing will happen. Sure, there are known examples that after planting trees on a hundred square kilometers, positive results were achieved, but only after several decades. What will happen until then? Therefore, it is necessary to correct the functioning of the entire system of country management. Life, biodiversity, forests, birds, animals and microorganisms are here thanks to water.
Therefore, we must return water to this system by revitalizing the landscape. There is no need to talk about biodiversity and support for natural rejuvenation, because there will be enough seedlings only if they get a chance to germinate in the soil thanks to moisture. That is, not because of leaving dead wood in the stands, but because of the abundance of water in the forest. And for that, it is enough to retain rainwater in the country.“
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