The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending EUR 120 million to finance projects contributing to afforestation, improved forest protection and management and the upgrading of agricultural infrastructure in rural Slovakia.
EIB Vice-President László Baranyay, responsible for lending operations in Slovakia, stated: “I am very pleased that EIB funds will be used to finance forestry projects for the first time in Slovakia, a country where forests, which cover 40% of the land, have an important function. The project will have considerable environmental benefits in terms of improved forest ecosystem health and increased greenhouse gas sequestration and renewable energy production. It will also generate new employment throughout the country.”
The EIB loan will contribute to the implementation of Slovakia’s first comprehensive Rural Development Programme. It will support the rehabilitation and improved management and protection of more than 50 000 ha of forest damaged by storms, pest outbreaks and fires, including the repair and construction of 280 km of forest access roads to facilitate forest conservation and management operations.
