Agent Green's observations on the emergency ordinance on protected areas

Bucharest, 20.02.2023

Dear Minister,

Agent Green’s observations on the draft emergency ordinance on the regime of natural protected areas and the conservation of natural habitats, wild flora and fauna

General considerations:

• The current proposal must be completely redrafted, updating concepts, measures and methods to the current state of knowledge and drawing on the experience of more than two decades of failure, during which the current approach to administering the National Network of Protected Areas has failed.
• We consider it necessary to implement a new vision of conservation and administration and establish clear, predictable rules that transpose the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 within a short period.
• Below are just a few general observations on the current proposal, as we consider that applying its current form would bring no improvement to protected areas and would, in some situations, complicate their administration.
• The period for consultation, public debate and redrafting of the legislation needs to be extended.

SECTION 1 Categories and types of natural protected areas, management categories

The current IUCN categories are to be transposed into national legislation as established in the Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories, IUCN 2008.

An Urban Protected Area category is to be established to protect human settlements (the built-up areas of localities) from climatic and environmental factors that could affect residents’ satisfaction, providing space for recreation, regulation of excessive temperatures, drinking water, protection from wind, landslides, noise, etc. (the protected area’s role is to maintain the natural setting, rather than specifically protect species or habitats)

SECTION 2 Establishing natural protected area status

An area is to be established by applying the criteria set out in the Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories, IUCN 2008.

Areas of national interest are to be approved by the Government without an opinion from the Local Council, because national public interest takes precedence and, in most cases, the land belongs to the state’s public domain rather than that of the administrative-territorial unit.

For simplification and less bureaucracy, all protected areas of national, European and international interest are to be established by Government Decision

A “private protected area” type is also to be provided for, enabling landowners to voluntarily establish a protection regime on their own land. The state formally recognises, through legislation, the land’s classification as a protected area in the appropriate IUCN category. In this way, NGOs, individuals and legal entities can designate and administer their own protected areas, and the measure encourages civil society to participate in nature conservation through its own property.

SECTION 3 Administration of the national network of natural protected areas

Protected areas are to be administered on the basis of criteria concerning their importance, ownership and the level at which the protected area is designated.

• Areas of national, European and international interest are to be administered by the Government through its subordinate institution, the National Agency for Natural Protected Areas.
• Areas of county interest are to be administered by the County Council that owns the land and designated the protected area.
• Areas of local interest are to be administered by the Local Council that owns the land and designated the protected area.
• Areas of private interest are to be administered by the individual/legal entity that owns the land and designated the protected area on its own initiative.

Where an administrator lacks the capacity to manage a project, programme or activity, it will contract that service under public procurement law. We stress that administering the state’s public domain or private land (a component of a protected area of national interest included in the state’s public domain) cannot be lawful and creates the conditions for breaching the law that explicitly sets out the conditions under which land belonging to the Romanian state may be rented or concessioned.

Scientific Councils must have a strictly scientific role and issue points of view. We consider that these Councils should no longer issue “opinions” with a regulatory role, given their lack of legal training and legal accountability (they are not public officials and do not file declarations of assets and interests). The Councils must consist solely of university academics and researchers (without the director, biologist or any other employee of the administering institution, as they have a conflict of interest). We consider that having a single Scientific Council at national level may suffice. The measure reduces bureaucracy and simplifies management.

The Advisory Council is not justified because any act of public interest must undergo public consultation, giving every citizen the opportunity to express a view. The current Councils restrict citizens’ right to be consulted and, in our experience to date, these Councils have made no significant contribution to conservation and administration. The measure reduces bureaucracy and simplifies management.

Protected areas of national interest will be monitored by video, while interventions to combat breaches of the law will be carried out by operational teams of the Romanian Gendarmerie in accordance with their duties. This measure will ensure effective guarding, replacing the current form of guarding by rangers without military training, equipment or a real capacity to enforce the law.

SECTION 4 Coordination of natural protected areas of international interest

This section has no purpose because these protected areas must be administered by ANANP, within which a dedicated service needs to be organised. A national “Committee” is unnecessary and needlessly complicates site management. The “National Man and the Biosphere Committee – MAB UNESCO”, or similar bodies, is to be established only if provided for in international conventions. The measure reduces bureaucracy and simplifies management.

SECTION 5 Management of natural protected areas

Management Plans are to be drawn up by the protected area’s administrator on a digital platform and approved by Ministerial Order, with an implementation period of 6 years (this can be synchronised with EC reporting deadlines for N2000 sites), because over a longer period numerous changes in conservation status may arise that require action.

The plans will contain only conservation, assessment, monitoring, restoration, recurrent interventions, etc. A protected area’s management plan must not contain tourism developments or other activities beyond the institution’s remit (other state institutions are responsible for spatial planning, tourism and education).

Preparing the management plan (excluding mapping and inventory activities, which are assumed to have been carried out) cannot take more than 3 months.

The preparation guidelines must be drawn up when a digital platform exists on which management plans can be drafted and progress, changes and indicators reported. We stress that Romania had such a platform under the SINCRON project, which must be reimplemented nationally.

The advantage of digitalisation will be that plans can be prepared very quickly at low cost, errors are eliminated, management progress is visible, information is centralised nationally and thousands of pages of paperwork, as currently exist, are eliminated.

SECTION 6 Internal zoning of natural protected areas

National parks must have only two zones:

1. The park’s core, established as an IUCN Ia / Ib protected area
2. Built-up zones – which will identify existing buildings individually, with no possibility of expanding urbanisation and an obligation to reduce it over time.

Each national park will have a buffer zone at least 100 metres wide, where only pest-control work may be carried out. The interior of national parks will be strictly protected, and forestry, agricultural and mining exploitation is prohibited throughout the entire national park.

Protection is to cover 100% of the national park, and in the core zone (Ia/Ib reserve) no human activities whatsoever are permitted except research, conservation and monitoring.

Zoning is not to be carried out through the management plan. For all parks, it is to be established through legislation, leaving the administration to focus strictly on implementing management measures.

Guarding/surveillance and restoration, reconstruction and protection must be among the activities permitted in the park.

Activities are to be regulated in conjunction with the provisions of the Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories, IUCN 2008.

Zoning in natural parks

1. protected areas in IUCN categories Ia / Ib; III; IV
2. Built-up zones – which will identify existing buildings, built-up areas, localities, etc. individually.

In the rest of the natural park, sustainable management principles apply and human activities are permitted at a lower intensity than on land outside the area.

Other protected areas must not have internal zoning, and the management regime specific to the area is to apply. In N2000 sites, specific conservation measures apply to each habitat type, and any idea of zoning is unjustified.

If the law’s provisions are clear and internal zoning is established for an indefinite period through legislation by the Government, regulation will be greatly simplified and any action will become predictable.

SECTION 8 Financing the ecological network

Funding is to come from the state budget for ANANP to administer protected areas of national, European and international interest. Funding for protected areas of county and local interest is to be provided on the same principle. Protected areas of private interest are not to receive state-budget funding.

We consider this a disguised form of state-budget funding for organisations and institutions that may become administrators of protected areas (state land), for which they receive money instead of paying rent, concession fees or royalties. This provision must be removed.

“Art. 45 1. (3) The activities of legal entities that have acquired administrator status may be financed from the state/local budget and/or European and private funds, donations or any other sources.”

Fees for issuing opinions must be approved uniformly, similarly to those charged by environmental protection agencies (APMs), and only if the existence of the fee is justified.

This chapter must refer to the relevant funding programmes, agri-environmental measures, etc., as well as the financial mechanism for state land purchases, compensatory measures, etc.

CHAPTER III Conservation of natural habitats and wild flora and fauna species

This chapter is essential to conservation, so a longer consultation period is needed to formulate observations.

Many more conservation elements, rules and measures must be detailed here.

The national scientific authorities designated to implement Council Regulation (EC) No. 338/97 on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein cannot be designated by law if they are not subordinate to the environmental authority; nor is it right for a particular research institute to acquire this status. Scientific expertise can be obtained through consultancy services under a contract following a public tender, between the environmental authority and a competent institution.

Listing organisations such as those below in the law is discriminatory:

1. a) The Romanian Academy;
2. b) The “Marin Drăcea” National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry;
3. c) The “Delta Dunării” National Institute for Research and Development.

CHAPTER IV Conservation of other natural heritage assets

This chapter must be removed because caves are a Natura 2000 habitat and are regulated uniformly like all other habitats, while geodiversity is a component of N2000 habitats.

The proposed classification system is unnecessary because it overlaps with the categories of protected areas intended to ensure protection, including that of caves.

The Speleological Heritage Commission is a commission that regulates by issuing authorisations, yet its members are not public officials or employees of an existing regulatory institution (APM, ANPM). Establishing the Commission is discriminatory through the naming of certain legal entities (four specialists from the Romanian Academy’s “Emil Racoviţă” Institute of Speleology, two specialists from the Romanian Federation of Speleology, and one specialist from other institutions and nongovernmental organisations).

As for the cave database, it must be established at the National Environmental Protection Agency, as for all Natura 2000 habitats. It is wrong and unjustified for the protected areas law to assign a tailored competence ((6) The custodian of the cave cadastre in Romania is the Romanian Academy’s “Emil Racoviță” Institute of Speleology, through its specialist department.) to an institution that is not subordinate to the environmental authority instead of developing ANANP’s capabilities.

The secretariat of an environmental regulatory body can only be organised within the subordinate institution designated to administer and regulate. Such a “secretariat” could only be at ANANP or ANPM, but the Commission’s existence is not justified ((8) The secretariat of the Speleological Heritage Commission is provided by the Romanian Academy’s “Emil Racoviță” Institute of Speleology.)

The Geodiversity Commission is no more justified than the Speleological Heritage Commission.

Naming institutions in the law is discriminatory and shows that the current draft legislation was drawn up on the basis of prior understandings with certain institutions that currently benefit. “The Geodiversity Commission consists of specialists, namely one representative each from the Faculty of Geology at the University of Bucharest, Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iași, the Geological Institute of Romania, the National Institute for Research and Development on Marine Geology and Geo-ecology GeoEcoMar, the Geological Society of Romania, the Romanian Society of Palaeontologists, the Romanian Association of Geomorphologists and the ‘Victor Gorduza’ County Museum of Mineralogy in Baia Mare. (4) The secretariat of the Geodiversity Commission is provided by the Geological Institute of Romania.”

The two commissions and classification systems are not justified because geodiversity elements (which also include caves) come under a protection regime through their specific designation as a Natural Monument or Strict Integral Reserve, or are protected through inclusion in another category of protected area – a national park, for example.

ANANP can have a department of specialist geologists and speleologists or receive specialist scientific advice under a service contract or an institutional agreement. The chapter needs to be removed, and certain rules specific to caves and geodiversity can be included in the chapter dealing with habitats and species.

CHAPTER V Other protection mechanisms and recognition of areas important for biodiversity

It is incomprehensible why the Geopark is no longer classified as a protected area, when it is an area specialised precisely in conserving geodiversity and caves; instead, the creation of two national Commissions is proposed to issue authorisations that overlap with existing regulatory acts, making obtaining approval even more bureaucratic.

CHAPTER VII Sanctions

Sanctions must be provided for every action that degrades biotic factors (water, air, soil) and biotic factors (fauna, flora, habitats).

CHAPTER VIII Transitional provisions

It must be specified that protected-area boundaries are drawn in accordance with the specifications of the Inspire Directive, technically approved by ANCPI and made available to the public for downloading and viewing on the platforms of ANANP, ANPM, ANCPI and others.

All plans, projects, programmes and activities in protected areas are to be published on ANANP’s website during the procedure for issuing an opinion.

Every year, ANANP is to publish the report “Conservation status of protected areas, habitats and species”

The article “(2) Changes to the boundaries of natural protected areas of national interest, for the purpose of delineation with greater precision, are made by the central public authority for environmental protection” is to be removed, because boundaries are drawn according to the Inspire Directive’s specifications and the term “greater precision” is unclear, breaching legislative drafting rules.

Provisions for transition to the new IUCN categories of protected areas must be established to ensure international compatibility, a quality system recognised by IUCN and a coherent system of protected areas.

The current conflict of interest must be eliminated within a period of 6 months, during which protected areas are to be taken over by ANANP from organisations that exploit natural resources or issue regulations (e.g. companies such as Romsilva, which benefits financially from exploiting forest resources whose protection regime should be ensured by that same company).

Annexes

Only Annex 1b – IUCN categories is to be retained, incorporating all the defining elements of each category as established in the Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories, IUCN 2008.

Observations

Article in the Ministry’s version

Proposed article

Comments

1. Isolated local communities

New article – isolated local communities – human communities: hamlets, sheepfolds and other human shelters, permanently or temporarily inhabited, located inside the natural protected area, that own property or hold land-use rights within the natural protected area and for which strictly necessary firewood and construction timber can only be secured from their immediate vicinity.

Add a separate definition of isolated local communities to Chapter I – General provisions to simplify the specifications for integral protection zones, given that these differ from local communities in the conventional sense, which also include large localities outside protected areas and adjoining them.

Art. 35 (4) Integral protection zones are zones containing natural heritage assets where conservation takes place primarily through natural processes, and where natural resources may be used strictly for the needs of local communities.

(4) Integral protection zones are zones containing natural heritage assets where conservation takes place primarily through natural processes, and where natural resources may be used strictly for the needs of isolated local communities.

For clarification, given the introduction of the definition of isolated local communities

b) forest areas in the immediate vicinity of communities, hamlets, sheepfolds and other inhabited human shelters where strictly necessary firewood and construction timber can only be secured from their immediate vicinity;

b) forest areas in the immediate vicinity of isolated local communities

For clarification, given the introduction of the definition of isolated local communities

d) timber harvesting, carried out traditionally, exclusively to provide the wood required for the community’s basic needs, from within the natural protected area and where wood supplies cannot be obtained in any other way, subject to the limitations in the management plans referred to in art. 30 para. (1)

d) timber harvesting, carried out traditionally, exclusively to provide the wood required for the isolated local community’s basic needs and where wood supplies cannot be obtained in any other way, subject to the limitations in the management plans referred to in art. 30 para. (1)

For clarification, given the introduction of the definition of isolated local communities

2. Management plans

Art. 30 (7) The management plans referred to in para. (1) are to be drawn up for a period of 20 years.

(7) The management plans referred to in para. (1) are to be drawn up for a period of 10 years.

A duration of 20 years is excessive. We propose a duration of 10 years, similar to forest management plans, possibly even synchronised with them (the 2 are to be prepared simultaneously so that the forest management plan fully incorporates the conservation objectives and measures in the protected-area management plans). Over 20 years, the condition of habitats and conservation objectives may change significantly, leaving the plan outdated.

(8) The management plan is to be prepared within no more than 2 years if the protected area has not had a management plan, and within no more than 1 year after the previous management plan expires. The central public authority must approve submitted management plans within no more than 6 months.

New article. The 2-year deadline for preparing a management plan was unjustifiably removed from the current law. Without a legal deadline for preparing management plans for protected areas, they could deliberately be left without a management plan indefinitely.
A deadline for approval by the central authority is also necessary to make the process more efficient.
Also introduce the sanction of terminating the administration contract if the protected area’s administrator fails to meet the legal deadline.

Art. 30. – (1) Natural protected areas are to be managed as follows:

a) on the basis of the National Management Plan for sites of Community importance/special areas of conservation;

b) on the basis of the National Management Plan for special protection areas for birds;

c) on the basis of management plans drawn up for each individual natural and national park;

d) on the basis of the national management plan for nature reserves, scientific reserves and natural monuments that do not overlap with any other type of natural protected area;

e) on the basis of specific management plans for areas of international importance that have specific management requirements under international conventions and/or programmes.

Art. 30. – (1) Natural protected areas are to be managed as follows:

a) on the basis of management plans drawn up for each individual site of Community importance/special area of conservation, natural and national park, nature reserve, scientific reserve and natural monument;

b) on the basis of specific management plans for areas of international importance that have specific management requirements under international conventions and/or programmes.

It is impossible to prepare a national management plan for all sites of Community importance, nature reserves and scientific reserves because their number is very large and conservation objectives and measures differ from area to area and habitat to habitat. A national management plan leads to superficial administration, setting out measures only theoretically, without being specific to each individual case. If the aim is to simplify the preparation and approval procedure for individual management plans, the solution is to amend their legal framework, rather than eliminate them by replacing them with a national management plan.

3. Sustainable conservation zones – zoning

Art. 35 d) tending and stand management work, special conservation work emphasising the promotion of natural regeneration and without removing dead wood, except where forest pest outbreaks occur that may spread over extensive areas, silvicultural treatments promoting the natural regeneration of stands: cutting treatments for conversion to a selection system, selection and quasi-selection cutting treatments, classic shelterwood cutting or shelterwood cutting at the forest edge with a regeneration period of at least 10 years, and successive cutting at the forest edge in spruce stands. Silvicultural treatments are to be applied taking into account the conservation requirements of the species and habitats for which the natural protected area was designated, with restrictions imposed by the management plans referred to in art. 30 para. (1) and the guidelines for forest management in natural protected areas,

d) tending and stand management work corresponding to functional type TII, special conservation work emphasising the promotion of natural regeneration and without removing dead wood. No more than 2/3 of the forest’s annual growth may be harvested for the exclusive benefit of isolated local communities.

Harvesting is to be carried out taking into account the studies and conservation requirements of the species and habitats for which the natural protected area was designated, with restrictions imposed by the management plans referred to in art. 30 para. (1) and the guidelines for forest management in natural protected areas,

Reword for the sustainable conservation zone: the current wording of the law, which does not differ from the sustainable management zone, has been erroneously retained. The forests will be in T2, this being the role of the buffer zone; otherwise, they are no different from any production forest outside the park.

Shelterwood and successive cutting have no place in and are incompatible with a national park, as they are carried out in forests with a production role.

(3) Internal zoning of natural parks is carried out by the natural protected area’s administrator, with the Scientific Council’s opinion, by defining and delineating, as appropriate, strictly protected zones, integral protection zones, sustainable management zones and sustainable development zones.

(3) Internal zoning of national parks is to be abolished, as they require strict protection in accordance with IUCN principles. They will be protected by a buffer zone beyond their boundaries extending up to 500 metres.

Internal zoning of natural parks is carried out by the natural protected area’s administrator, with the Scientific Council’s opinion, by defining and delineating, as appropriate, strictly protected zones, integral protection zones, sustainable conservation zones, sustainable management zones and sustainable development zones.

Internal zoning in national parks is to be abolished, as they require strict protection and a buffer zone outside the park extending 50-500m. Introduce sustainable conservation zones (functional type TII) as a buffer between non-intervention zones and the sustainable management zone only in natural parks, similarly to the current first row of entire compartments in national parks.

4. Sustainable development zones – zoning

(13) Sustainable development zones for human activities are zones where investment/development activities, primarily those of tourism interest, are permitted, while respecting the principle of sustainable use of natural resources and preventing any significant negative effects on biodiversity;

(13) Sustainable development zones for human activities are zones where investment/development activities, primarily those of tourism interest, are permitted, while respecting the principle of sustainable use of natural resources and preventing any significant negative effects on biodiversity.

Sustainable development zones may not be expanded beyond their current extent except in exceptional cases, following scientific studies and with the opinions of the Scientific Council and the Romanian Academy.

At present, these zones are unjustifiably expanded from one management plan to the next at the request of property developers or other interest groups, with the aim of building villas, guesthouses, ski slopes, etc. in protected areas. No scientific study is carried out and no compensation is provided for the lost zones.

5. IUCN for national parks

Art. 36. – (1) In national parks, the principal management objective corresponding to category II is to be established on at least 75% of their area.

Art. 36. – (1) In national parks, the principal management objective corresponding to category II is to be established on at least 75% of their area. Thus, strictly protected zones will occupy at least 75% of their area and will be expanded to 100% where the land is in state public ownership and there are no isolated local communities within them.

(2) The expansion of strictly protected zones in national parks to achieve the objectives in paragraph (1) will be carried out by the central environmental authority within 12 months of this emergency ordinance entering into force.

For clarification, the IUCN concept must also be transposed through zoning. A clear deadline is needed to achieve this objective.

6. Strict protection zones

Art. 37. The strict protection zones defined in art. 4 point 56 include, but are not limited to: the strictly protected and integral zones defined in art. 35, virgin and quasi-virgin forests, as well as those mentioned in European Commission recommendations; they are to be established by order of the head of the central public authority for environmental protection.

Art. 35. – (1) Strictly protected zones are non-intervention zones where conservation takes place through natural processes. They include, but are not limited to, scientific reserves, virgin and quasi-virgin forests, and areas of high biodiversity where there has been no human intervention or its level has been very low

Art. 37. The strict protection zones defined in art. 4 point 56 include, but are not limited to: the strictly protected and integral zones defined in art. 35, virgin and quasi-virgin forests, as well as those mentioned in European Commission recommendations; they are to be established by order of the head of the central public authority for environmental protection.

They must also be included in existing or newly designated protected areas to ensure their appropriate management and conservation through management plans, conservation measures and objectives.

Detail art. 37: how it relates to protected areas and how the terminology replaces the former strict protection zones so as not to create confusion between terms. How they will be included in protected areas (mandatory in my view), their management, conservation measures and objectives, etc.

We propose a different name for strict protection zones to eliminate confusion between terms and similarity with strictly protected zones.

7. Forest management plans

(2) Within 12 months of the approval of a natural protected area’s management plan, the forest management plans of overlapping production units must be amended by incorporating the conservation objectives and measures in the management plan through an addendum to the forest management plans and in compliance with art. 42 para. (3).

(2) Within 6 months of the approval of a natural protected area’s management plan, the forest management plans of overlapping production units must be amended by incorporating the conservation objectives and measures in the management plan through an addendum to the forest management plans and in compliance with art. 42 para. (3).

The 12-month deadline for aligning forest management plans with the management plan is too long.

8. Plans

(7) Development plans for zones included in natural protected areas are to be amended by the responsible authorities by incorporating the boundaries and taking conservation objectives and measures into account, as well as the legislation specific to natural protected areas.

(7) Development plans, projects, programmes and strategies for zones included in natural protected areas are to be amended by the responsible authorities by incorporating the boundaries and taking conservation objectives and measures into account, as well as the legislation specific to natural protected areas.

Cover all types of plans/projects

9. Annex No. 1A

h) Natural World Heritage sites

Natural World Heritage sites are those natural protected areas whose purposes are to protect and conserve areas of natural habitat containing natural features whose value is recognised as being of universal importance. Their extent is determined by the requirements for ensuring the integrity and conservation of the features subject to this protection regime. These zones may contain human communities whose activities are directed towards development compatible with the natural site’s protection and conservation requirements.

h) Natural World Heritage sites

Natural World Heritage sites are those natural protected areas whose purposes are to protect and conserve areas of natural habitat containing natural features whose value is recognised as being of universal importance. Their extent is determined by the requirements for ensuring the integrity and conservation of the features subject to this protection regime. These zones may contain human communities whose activities are directed towards development compatible with the natural site’s protection and conservation requirements.

To ensure the protection and conservation of UNESCO natural heritage sites, for the Ancient Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions component, the following zones are distinguished:

1. Core zone, with restrictions similar to scientific reserves

2. Buffer zone, outside the site, whose role is to protect the core zone and where only activities with no negative impact on it are permitted. Forest areas will be classified as functional type TII, harvesting more than 2/3 of annual growth in conservation cuts will be prohibited, and the diameter of gaps must not exceed the height of a tree.

No forestry work is to be carried out in a belt of 200m around the core zone; these areas are to be delineated as separate compartments and classified as functional type TI in forest management plans. Native forests with high conservation value, virgin and quasi-virgin forests in buffer zones will also be identified, delineated and separately classified as functional type TI in forest management plans.

Define their zoning, similarly to f) Biosphere reserves. Specify what is permitted in core zones and buffer zones (e.g. for forests, functional type T2, no reduction in canopy density below 0.6, etc.) and whether they correspond to the zoning of other protected areas. Incorporate the provisions of the Ministry’s letter to RNP No. 18953/DPDF/04.12.2019 into legislation for the forests forming part of the UNESCO site. There is currently no legal framework for them!

10. Park administration

Art. 23. – (1) Natural and national parks must be administered by administrators through specially established administration structures.

Art. 23. – (1) Natural and national parks are administered by the National Agency for Natural Protected Areas through specially established administration structures.

To eliminate the conflict of interest in park administration by RNP

11. Transitional provisions

(2) The special conservation zones/special areas of conservation established under other legislation correspond to the integral protection zones in this emergency ordinance.

(2) The special conservation zones/special areas of conservation established under other legislation correspond to the strict protection zones in this emergency ordinance.

Updating error, inconsistency

12. Changes to protected-area boundaries

(3) Changes to the boundaries of natural protected areas of national interest, for the purpose of reassessing the conservation objectives for which they were designated, are to be made on the basis of a substantiation study, with the opinion of the Scientific Council/Scientific College of the National Agency for Natural Protected Areas and the approval of the central public authority for environmental protection.

(3) Changes to the boundaries of natural protected areas of national interest, for the purpose of reassessing the conservation objectives for which they were designated, are to be made on the basis of a substantiation study, with the opinions of the Romanian Academy and the Scientific Council/Scientific College of the National Agency for Natural Protected Areas and the approval of the central public authority for environmental protection.

Add the Romanian Academy.

It is not specified who carries out the study, the methodology, etc.

13. Motorised access

Art. 40 (2) j) unauthorised access by motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles, cars or other types of motor vehicles,

j) unauthorised access by motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles, cars, skidders, harvesters or other types of motorised vehicles.

Motor vehicles frequently encountered in protected areas, not always lawfully

14. Nature reserves

Art. 38. – (1) All human activities are prohibited in scientific reserves, except research/monitoring activities and invasive species management, with the agreement of the Romanian Academy and the natural protected area’s administrator.

(2) Activities using natural resources are not permitted in nature reserves.

(3) By way of exception to para. (2), only interventions aimed at protecting, promoting and ensuring the continued existence of the features for which the reserves were established, certain activities involving sustainable use of natural resources, and the possibility of maintaining or restoring existing buildings/infrastructure constructed in compliance with the law, using nature-based solutions as far as possible and without the possibility of expanding them, are permitted, with the opinion of the natural protected area’s administrator.

Art. 38. – (1) All human activities are prohibited in scientific reserves, except research/monitoring activities and invasive species management, with the agreement of the Romanian Academy and the natural protected area’s administrator.

(2) Activities using natural resources are not permitted in nature reserves.

(3) By way of exception to para. (2), only interventions aimed at protecting, promoting and ensuring the continued existence of the features for which the reserves were established, and the possibility of maintaining or restoring existing buildings/infrastructure constructed in compliance with the law, using nature-based solutions as far as possible and without the possibility of expanding them, are permitted, with the opinion of the natural protected area’s administrator.

Remove the phrase: certain activities involving sustainable use of natural resources, which leads to logging in nature reserves.

d) Nature reserves

Nature reserves are those natural protected areas whose purposes are the protection and conservation of natural habitats and species important in floristic, faunal, forest, hydrological, geological, speleological, palaeontological and soil terms. Their size is determined by the area required to ensure the integrity of the protected features.

Nature reserves are managed differently according to their characteristics, through active management measures to ensure habitat maintenance and/or protect particular species, groups of species or biotic communities. In addition to scientific activities, organised tourism and educational activities may be permitted, as appropriate. Certain activities involving sustainable use of some natural resources are permitted. Land uses or resource exploitation that harm the assigned objectives are prohibited. Depending on the purpose for which they were designated, nature reserves may be predominantly botanical, zoological, forest, geological, palaeontological, landscape, speleological, wetland, marine, genetic-resource or other reserves.

d) Nature reserves

Nature reserves are those natural protected areas whose purposes are the protection and conservation of natural habitats and species important in floristic, faunal, forest, hydrological, geological, speleological, palaeontological and soil terms. Their size is determined by the area required to ensure the integrity of the protected features.

Nature reserves are managed differently according to their characteristics, through active management measures to ensure habitat maintenance and/or protect particular species, groups of species or biotic communities. In addition to scientific activities, organised tourism and educational activities may be permitted, as appropriate. Land uses or resource exploitation that harm the assigned objectives are prohibited. Depending on the purpose for which they were designated, nature reserves may be predominantly botanical, zoological, forest, geological, palaeontological, landscape, speleological, wetland, marine, genetic-resource or other reserves.

Remove the phrase: Certain activities involving sustainable use of some natural resources are permitted, which leads to logging in nature reserves.

Annex 1A

b) National parks

National parks are those natural protected areas whose purposes are the protection and conservation of representative samples of the national biogeographical space, containing natural features of particular physical-geographical, floristic, faunal, hydrological, geological, palaeontological, speleological, soil or other value, offering opportunities for visits for scientific, educational, recreational and tourism purposes. National parks generally cover large areas of land, and their perimeters will include terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems or parts of ecosystems as little influenced by human activities as possible. National park management ensures that the physical-geographical setting is maintained in a natural state, ecosystems are protected, genetic resources and biological diversity are conserved under conditions of ecological stability, and any form of natural resource exploitation and land use incompatible with the assigned purpose is prevented and excluded. Features of particular value within national parks may be delineated and placed under a strict protection regime as scientific reserves. National parks’ management plans and regulations establish appropriate management to ensure natural processes and govern activities traditionally specific to communities in the national park’s area.

b) National parks National parks are those natural protected areas whose purposes are the protection and conservation of representative samples of the national biogeographical space, containing natural features of particular physical-geographical, floristic, faunal, hydrological, geological, palaeontological, speleological, soil or other value, offering opportunities for visits for scientific, educational, recreational and tourism purposes. National park management ensures that the physical-geographical setting is maintained in a natural state, ecosystems are protected, genetic resources and biological diversity are conserved under conditions of ecological stability, and any form of natural resource exploitation and land use incompatible with the assigned purpose is prevented and excluded. The management regime is established through their own protection and conservation regulations and plans, approved by the competent national scientific and administrative authorities under the provisions of this emergency ordinance. Their perimeters will include terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems or parts of ecosystems as little influenced by human activities as possible. Features of particular value within national parks may be delineated and placed under a strict protection regime as scientific reserves. National parks generally cover large areas of land. Within national parks, only traditional activities practised solely by communities in the national park’s area are permitted; these traditional activities will be regulated through the management plan. National parks correspond to IUCN category II, “National park: protected area managed especially for ecosystem protection and recreation”.

The current definition is much more precise and leaves no room for interpretation

14. Sanctions

CHAPTER VII

Sanctions

An administrator’s failure to meet the deadline for preparing the protected area’s management plan set out in Art. 30 (8) leads to termination of the administration contract.

A protected-area administrator’s issuing of an opinion endorsing human activities that lead to the degradation of protected species and habitats, as well as failure to take measures to prevent and stop the degradation of protected habitats and species, or failure to fulfil contractual obligations, leads to termination of the protected area’s administration contract.

An administrator’s failure to involve stakeholders in the protected-area management process provided for in Art. 25 (1), as well as the administrator’s refusal to disclose the substantiation studies and databases underlying the preparation of management plans referred to in Art. 30 (5), leads to termination of the protected area’s administration contract.

– Sanction for an opinion issued by the protected-area administration or a lack of measures by the administration that entails a significant negative impact on the protected area and its objective, on protected species, habitats or formations, established by inspection institutions – fine/termination of the administration contract

(5) The substantiation studies and databases underlying the preparation of management plans are public information and are made available to the public by the central public authority for environmental protection/administrators;

Annex No. 1B

Management categories or IUCN categories

Art. 21. – (1) Natural protected areas are administered for the purpose of conserving their assets.

(2) The administration of natural protected areas is a service of public interest.

(3) Responsibility for administering and coordinating the administration of the national network of natural protected areas lies with the National Agency for Natural Protected Areas. .

(4) Natural protected areas and other natural heritage assets within the national network of natural protected areas referred to in art. 6 para. (1) points a) – c) are administered by:

a) the National Agency for Natural Protected Areas through its territorial structures, for all natural protected areas not assigned for administration;

b) administrators through specially established administration structures, through the assignment of natural protected areas by the central public authority for environmental protection to legal entities or associations of legal entities, under an administration contract

c) administrators without specially established administration structures, through the assignment of natural protected areas by the central public authority for environmental protection to legal entities or associations of legal entities, under an administration contract;