Criticism of the forest fund: a lack of control endangers environmental projects!

Criticism of the forest fund: a lack of control endangers environmental projects!

Dolomitenstadt, Österreich - The Court of Auditors has violent criticism of the forest fund, which was launched in 2020 under the then Minister of Agriculture Elisabeth Köstinger (ÖVP). The fund, which was originally set up to support foresters during the Covid 19 pandemic and due to pests and falling wood prices, should run by 2022. The financial resources amounted to astonishing 890 million euros by 2027, but the Court of Auditors said that the administration of this fund was characterized by serious defects, including the risk of overgrowding. No detailed needs analysis for the use of funds was carried out, which has led to non -transparency among the funds. As dolomitenstadt.at reported, the Auditors also criticized the fact that the focus on the protection forest was stunted and that the framework applications of the federal countries were only checked to document individual funding recipients.

deficits in housekeeping

In addition, the Federal Audit Office determines in its comments in 2024 that the federal government must use its budget funds more efficiently. The creation of effective government processes is necessary because the federal budget has grown considerably and the interest rates are also increasing. President Kay Scheller warns that the structural failures of the past are now meeting new challenges and calls for a comprehensive reform. The defective planning and implementation of funding programs is also targeted. The unfounded award of 52 million euros from EU funding is particularly worthy of criticism, which were not exploited, which led to a direct loss in the federal budget, such as bundesruhungenhof.de reported.

The Court of Auditors calls for a profound review and modernization of housekeeping in order to reduce administrative costs and increase the effectiveness of state expenditure. At the same time, those responsible should be forced to disclose grievances and to develop solutions. The amount of examination cases dealt with in the current report clearly shows that the reforms can no longer be delayed to maintain the state's ability to act.