The Croatian forest management company Hrvatske Sume (HS) on Thursday denied accusations by MEP and co-chair of the European Green Party, Thomas Waitz, of excessive logging, stating that this "unprofessional and unverified information" has damaged the company's reputation.

After Waitz visited Croatia in July, he launched a media campaign in Croatia warning of excessive logging in areas managed by Hrvatske Sume.

In a public letter sent to the European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius, Waitz warned of what he described as an alarming situation in Croatian forests, particularly in the area of Crna Mlaka, a special bird reserve just south of Zagreb, where he witnessed violations of rules relating to Natura 2000 and the Ramsar Convention.

HS denied the accusations, saying that they are surprised Waitz did not seek an expert explanation and did not meet with official institutions for forest management.

“Had he turned to us, he would have been given concrete data in all areas of interest including Crna Mlaka, which he declared was “excessively logged,” even though HS has not conducted any logging in that area over the past few years,” HS said.

HS explained that that area had been affected by a fungus and that ash trees had dried up and the area needed to be rejuvenated.

Ash trees were felled in 2016 and new seedlings of  Lucerne oak and black alder trees were planted. The drought years had led to some of the seedlings drying out and the failed seedlings were counted in 2018, and HS has continued to rejuvenate the area.

“Such unprofessional and unverified information has caused huge damage to the reputation of Hrvatske Sume and Croatia, particularly in international circles where Croatia is considered to be an example of excellence in forest management,” HS said.