Press release: Civil society joins forces to save the Bârnova – Repedea protected areas

Press release — Asociația Mai Bine, Reset, Codrii Iașilor, Iași.Travel, Alternativa Urbană, IASIBIKE and Agent Green

Civil society joins forces to save the Bârnova – Repedea protected areas

An increase in the strictly protected area from 1% to 50% of the sites is demanded

Iași, 3 September 2020 — Non-governmental organizations and local action groups are sounding the alarm to draw attention to the fact that logging in the Bârnova – Repedea protected areas, near the city of Iași, endangers biodiversity, citizens’ quality of life and ecotourism.
Asociația Mai Bine, Reset, Codrii Iașilor, Iasi.Travel, Alternativa Urbană, IASIBIKE and Agent Green held a press conference today near the city of Iași, in a compartment of old-growth forest destroyed over the past few years, and presented their report on findings from the field.

Read the findings report (PDF in Romanian).

At present, only 1% of the protected areas’ approximately 13,000 hectares is spared logging. The remaining 99% can be exploited. The last compartments of old-growth forest, with an average age of 120-160 years, are being logged. The Ministry of the Environment approved the harvesting of more than 750,000 cubic metres of timber for the current decade without appropriate and strategic assessment studies. In the absence of these mandatory assessments, the European Commission initiated infringement proceedings against Romania, which are set to lead to severe sanctions to be determined by the European Court of Justice later this year.

“We are talking about a protected area of which only 1% is actually protected. It is a national disgrace. We call on the Ministry of the Environment to increase the strictly protected area to at least 50% of the protected areas’ surface and establish a new nature park here, and on the candidates for Iași County Council to support these efforts. ” said Veronica Tulpan, campaign coordinator at Agent Green.

The area was designated a site of Community importance by Order no.1964 of the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development of 13 December 2007, as an integral part of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Romania for habitats and birds. It is a natural area (deciduous forests, transitional forests, pastures, meadows, arable land and streams tributary to the Bârlad valley) within the continental bioregion of the Central Moldavian Plateau, sheltering and conserving a diverse range of spontaneous flora and wildlife. The natural area has two types of natural habitats (Asperulo-Fagetum beech forests and Dacian oak and hornbeam forests), providing feeding and living conditions for several species of small mammals, birds and insects and protecting rare plant elements.

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Inexplicably, the ministry has completely forgotten that, under its own order, Bârnova became a special protection area for birds 13 years ago. Consequently, the area has no management plan and logging has been approved that will deprive precisely the bird species for which the protected area was designated of their habitat.

“We live in an urban agglomeration of more than 500,000 inhabitants, and Bârnova-Dobrovăț Forest is the largest forest near our city, our source of oxygen, our place for recreation beyond the concrete, our identity. Iași is the city beyond the forests. Much of this remnant of the old Codrii Iașiului consists of old-growth forests. Yet only 1% of this forest is currently under strict protection, although the European Biodiversity Strategy 2030, to which Romania has committed, requires us to strictly protect at least 10% of the entire country’s territory! The rest is production forest, with many parts at various stages of exploitation. At this rate, in a few years we will no longer have these old-growth forests south of Iași, but a predominantly young forest,” said Mihai Diac, representative of the Codrii Iașilor action group.

“At the ‘The Forests of Iași — Vision and Strategy’ event organized by the Ministry of the Environment, we saw concrete steps to promote recreational use, necessary steps that we welcome. But care for nature is missing in the form of a conservation vision, including alignment with the European strategy our country has adopted. More than 12,000 residents of Iași have signed the petition to protect Codrii Iașiului. The value of Bârnova-Dobrovăț Forest for biodiversity cannot be minimized. For our county to reach 10% of its area under strict protection, we must protect this peri-urban forest for all residents of Iași before it is too late!” Diac added.

The city of Iași is currently subject to European Commission infringement proceedings over air pollution as well, and the forests in the Bârnova – Repedea protected areas (less than 5 km away) are the city’s main source of clean air.
“We urgently need to treat the FOREST as a subject rather than an object, recognizing its intrinsic value and consciously acknowledging that our well-being depends on it. Beyond the logging and recreational roles, which take priority in Costel Alexe’s vision, the function of the forests and woods of Iași as the city’s green belt, protective screen and pollution filter should be promoted. Above all, we consider that their carbon dioxide capture and sequestration role must not only be recognized by those governing, but taken on as a commitment,” said Anca Chirilă – Gheorghică, coordinator and co-founder of Asociația Mai Bine.
“Our love of nature has led us to organize litter-clearing activities in Bârnova-Dobrovăț Forest and tree planting alongside volunteers. We have planted approximately 25,000 saplings. Protecting the forest near the city should be a priority. The forest can be exploited sustainably while the city’s residents continue to enjoy its benefits. We should place a large part of the area under strict protection to protect the ecosystems in our region. We believe that the forest’s value, especially near a city, is an invaluable asset, and only together will we succeed in protecting it,” added Alin-Andrei IORDAN, vice-president of Asociația Alternativa Urbană.

Near the site are numerous places of historical, cultural and tourist interest that need an intact natural setting (places of worship, architectural monuments and archaeological sites). “The institutions dealing with this issue (the Environmental Guard, the Forest District, the Protected Natural Area Custodian) should become long-term partners of civic initiatives. Precisely for that reason, I emphasize the idea of dialogue and the ecological, social and recreational value of Codrii Iașilor,” said Lucian Roșu, vice-president of Asociația Iasi.travel.
“There is no forest without deadwood, but if we are not vigilant, that is all we will be left with! As part of civil society, Reset has insistently called for a legislative framework to stop massive illegal deforestation. Our resignation and sometimes fear can prevent us from seeing that ONLY deadwood remains around us, as is the case in Bârnova Forest, where centuries-old oaks are felled to make room for the next generation. We do not want another generation of people to pass without doing everything in our power to protect what we still have!” warns Daniela Mitrofan, founding member of Asociația Reset.

“Iasibike is one of the oldest cycling and cycle-touring associations in Iasi, and our connection to the county’s forests, especially Repedea-Barnova Forest, is very strong. There are numerous routes our club members regularly take because of the beauty of nature. These trees shade us in summer and give us the oxygen we lack so much in the city, which, as you well know, is the most polluted in the country at present. Forests are not just a source of raw timber. Income from them can also come through other avenues, such as guided tours, play areas and campsites. There are ideas, and we are available to Regia Națională a Pădurilor – Romsilva to create sustainable projects together. The attitude we take now towards our precious forest resource will determine whether this resource will still exist years from now and whether Iasi will still have genuine cycle-tourism potential.”, said Ana Caterina Condurache, member of Asociația “Clubul de Ciclism si Ecologie IASIBIKE”

Agent Green, Asociația Mai Bine, Reset, Codrii Iașilor, Iasi.Travel, Alternativa Urbană, IASIBIKE call on the Ministry of the Environment and Iași County Council to:

1. Increase the strictly protected area within the Natura 2000 Bârnova-Repedea protected areas from 1% to at least 50% through inclusion in functional category T I. The remainder of the protected areas must be placed in functional category T II.

2. Establish the nationally important protected area “Bârnova – Repedea Nature Park”, overlapping with the Bârnova – Repedea protected areas of European importance. The Nature Park will correspond to IUCN category V.

3. Impose an immediate moratorium on all principal harvesting operations and suspend forest management plans until an addendum is approved and an appropriate assessment and management plan are prepared. In particular, shelterwood cuttings involving the felling of all mature trees in a compartment have no place in a protected area beside a large city. Forest districts must have a database of all biodiversity trees (biotope trees).

4. Stop the construction of new forest roads. The four forest roads under construction have neither an environmental endorsement nor an appropriate environmental assessment. They are planned exclusively for large-scale logging in areas of high biodiversity and have no purpose in a Natura 2000 site. The current road network is sufficient for intervention in natural disasters or to save lives (tourists).

Press contacts:
Veronica Tulpan — Asociația Agent Green, veronica.tulpan@agentgreen.org, — 0723 387 203
Anca Gheorghica – Chirilă — Asociația Mai Bine, anca@maibine.eu — 0745 767 939
Daniela Mitrofan — Asociația Reset, resetiasi@gmail.com — 0740 907 690
Mihai Diac — Comunitatea Codrii Iașilor, mihai.diac@gmail.com — 0754 033 056
Lucian Roșu — Asociația Iasi.travel, luci_r2003@yahoo.com — 0747 110 937
Alin-Andrei IORDAN — Asociația Alternativa Urbana, aa.iordan@gmail.com — 0751 391 443
Cati Condurache — Asociatia “Clubul de Ciclism si Ecologie IASIBIKE”, caticondurache@gmail.com — 0773 887 883