40% forest cover
Do you want 40% forest cover in Romania?
Bank transfer details
You can make an offline donation by bank transfer using the following details:
Beneficiary
Asociaţia Agent Green
Bank
Banca Comerciala Romana
SWIFT / BIC
RNCBROBU
LEI account
RO02 RNCB 0072 1569 1603 0001
EURO account
RO72 RNCB 0072 1569 1603 0002
In the bank transfer form’s Reference field, please enter the title of the project you wish to support or “Agent Green donation” if your donation supports the organisation as a whole.
You can write to us at any time at office@agentgreen.org
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40% forest cover
Context
Romania’s forest cover has fallen to 29% at present, while the Romanian Academy, the European Union and scientists recommend reaching 40%. Unfortunately, not all forests that are cut down are replanted, and the effects are becoming increasingly visible.
Considering the average of 157.5 hectares of new forests established over the past 2 years, the optimum forest cover of 40% will be reached in 16,577 years. Nurseries currently lack enough planting material to supply the saplings needed to reach this optimum level of forest cover.
As a result of excessive logging in recent decades, most forests are under 80 years old (below harvesting age). Lowland and hilly areas have a major shortage of forest cover. As a consequence, citizens’ quality of life and forests’ capacity to counter climatic, hydrological and geomorphological hazards have declined significantly, and biodiversity has been affected.
Every year, 20,755 people resident in Romania die because of pollution, including 15,126 because of air pollution. Let’s lend a hand: get involved by promoting the 40% campaign, taking part in or organising planting activities, or supporting the events we organise in spring and autumn.
Fagaras Natura 2000 Site, Romania: Protest action by Romanian and international forest protectors against logging of old growth forest in the lake Vidraru area. An investigation triggered by the action found overcutting by 4000%. The Romanian state forest enterprise Romsilva denied…
How?
- We propose solutions to the shortage of saplings in nurseries.
- We propose legislative changes for strict protection in protected areas and areas with a high degree of naturalness, where nature can recover by itself.
- We propose legislative changes requiring the state to plant where reforestation after logging has not been carried out, with the owner obliged to bear all the costs.
- Twice a year, we organise reforestation activities in wild areas that have not recovered after clear-cutting, causing wildlife to suffer. See the video below from the 2020 planting, details of the 2021 planting here, and here you can donate your birthday, passion or talent to the 2021 planting, in spring or autumn.
A sustained, progressive increase in the country’s forest cover from the current 29% (2020) to 34% in 2030 and 40% in 2040. This percentage needs to vary by zone: 15% in the lowlands, 32% in hilly areas and 70% in the mountains. There are successful models around the world. Costa Rica, for example, increased its forest cover from 25% in 1990 to 52% at present. Measures included removing subsidies for livestock farmers, banning deforestation, involving society and offering substantial awards for record planting. Romania also needs extraordinary and highly creative measures to achieve its objectives, including subsidies and awards. On the ground, growth can be supported through:
a) Reforesting the 2 million hectares of severely degraded land abandoned by agriculture with native species, in proportions as close as possible to those found in nature, taking climate change into account.
b) Enriching grasslands and agricultural crops with native trees (increasing biodiversity, enhancing the landscape, providing shade for animals and nesting places for birds that control pests in agricultural crops).
c) Creating at least 20,000 km of forest shelterbelts to protect agricultural land by 2035 (10 000 km by 2025).
d) Creating new forests with native species, in proportions as close as possible to those found in nature, taking climate change into account and with optimum structures to fulfil combined social and economic functions around towns and in areas lacking forests, particularly in the country’s south and south-east.
e) Creating plantations of fast-growing, non-invasive species outside the forest estate to reduce economic pressure on natural forests with high biodiversity (100 000 ha by 2030 and 200 000 ha by 2040).
AGENT GREEN’S VISION FOR ROMANIA’S FORESTS
WE WANT
To increase Romania’s forest cover to 40% by 2030. The remaining 11% needed to reach this objective must cover important fragmented habitats as well as lowland areas and green barriers in key locations.
Archive note: the preserved material does not contain the link announced for details of the 2021 planting.
