Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas met with beekeepers to discuss development opportunities for the sector. According to beekeepers, acacia honey generates the industry's profits, and if the European Union's proposal to include acacia as an invasive species is adopted, Hungarian producers will go bankrupt.

At the end of last year, the European Union put forward a proposal to address invasive alien species and protect biodiversity, and acacia, which is practically a national tree in Hungary, was included among the list of invasive species.

Photo: Csaba Pelsőczy

Acacia currently makes up one third of Hungary's tree stocks and 25 percent of the country's forests, and is irreplaceable for forestation and as an industrial source of wood. 18-19 thousand beekeepers work within the Hungarian beekeeping sector, providing work for some 80 thousand people, and half of the honey produced comes from acacias.

Photo: Csaba Pelsőczy

The Minister for Rural Development assured the country's beekeepers of his support, stressing that it is none of the EU's business what species of tree grow in Hungary. Hungarian acacias would be protected at every forum possible, he added. At its last session, the Hungaricum Committee included the acacia tree and acacia honey in the national treasure depository. "Our view is that acacia must be declared a Hungaricum and instead of persecuting the species, more should be planted", Mr. Fazekas underlined.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)