At first sight it is difficult to determine whether any wood has been stolen from the forest so the burgher guards are often at loss. When patrolling they watch how much wood someone is carrying. A small amount is suspicious.
“If someone is carrying a small amount of wood, we presume they are doing it without license and we try to detain them until the police arrive. But we aren’t authorized to check a bigger consignment.” – said Imrene Pallagi, burgher guard to local DTV.
Thefts cause a 7 million HUF of loss for Nyirerdo Zrt every year. Earlier, it was the illegal felling of trees that meant the biggest problem but the deputy marketing director says that this has changed: thieves are now too lazy to cut trees; instead, they steal wood that is already felled.
The forestry reports the damages in every case but the police can take action only if the thieves are caught in the act. That is why the public company employs security for the guarding of the larger amounts of felled wood.
