Codrii Iașilor, a state within a state: Agent Green alerts the Prime Minister’s inspection body

Codrii Iașilor, a state within a state:

Logging continues despite the court ruling and interventions by the Police and Forest Guard

Agent Green alerts the Prime Minister’s inspection body

Iași, 23 August 2021 – Agent Green caught a logging company persistently ignoring the Bucharest Court of Appeal ruling of 2 July and interventions by the Police and Forest Guard. The organisation had already caught Rebo Forest violating the court decision on 3-13 July. Agent Green investigators caught the company illegally logging the forest again in August. One company representative was even caught under the influence of alcohol, while another said “it’s my bad luck”, referring to being caught stealing by Agent Green for the second time within just one month of the Court of Appeal decision. Confronted by Agent Green investigators, a representative of Romsilva’s Iași Forestry Directorate said of the illegal logging: “If you order a bowl of soup and you are halfway through it, I think you finish your meal, don’t you?” Agent Green called the police and the Forest Guard to stop the logging, penalise the company and assess the damage.

VIDEO (for free distribution):

Court of Appeal decision suspending forest management plans:
http://portal.just.ro/2/SitePages/Dosar.aspx?id_dosar=200000000390819&id_inst=2

“What is happening in Iași is a dangerous signal for national security. A company that breaches a court decision, is encouraged by Romsilva to continue illegal logging and ignores the Police and Forest Guard sets an example to other logging operators that the Romanian State no longer exists,” warns Mircea Barbu, Agent Green’s head of investigations.

“From the moment of the court decision, trees may no longer be felled, timber may not be dragged out, processed or transported. Not even new trees may be marked for felling. Everything cut here was illegal, and it continues. It is solely within the remit of the Prime Minister’s inspection body to penalise these unlawful activities,” added Cătălina Rădulescu, Agent Green’s lawyer.

On 2 July 2021, the Bucharest Court of Appeal ruled in favour of claimant Agent Green against defendants Romsilva, the Environment Ministry and the Iași Environmental Protection Agency. The area covered by the ruling is a record for Romania: logging is now prohibited on 19,232 hectares administered by Romsilva through the Dobrovăț and Lunca Cetățuii forest districts. Agent Green had previously also won the case concerning the suspension of administrative acts on 24 May: http://portal.just.ro/2/SitePages/Dosar.aspx?id_dosar=300000000920154&id_inst=2

Only 1% of the protected areas where the court ordered logging suspended was strictly protected; the remaining 99% had been put up for logging by Romsilva with the Environment Ministry’s approval. In the last 2 years, even the last parcels of ancient forest with an average tree age of 120-160 years have been logged. The Environment Ministry approved the harvesting of over 750,000 cubic metres of timber for the current decade without appropriate and strategic assessment studies. In the absence of these mandatory assessments, the court ruled in favour of Agent Green and the European Commission launched infringement proceedings against Romania, which are expected to lead to harsh penalties to be set by the European Court of Justice during this year.

The area was declared a site of Community importance by Environment and Sustainable Development Ministry Order No.1964 of 13 December 2007, as an integral part of the European Natura 2000 ecological network in Romania for habitats and birds. It is a natural area of deciduous forests, transitional woodland, pastures, meadows, arable land and streams tributary to the Bârlad Valley, within the continental bioregion of the Central Moldavian Plateau, sheltering and conserving diverse wild flora and fauna. The natural area has two natural habitat types, Asperulo-Fagetum beech forests and Dacian oak and hornbeam forests, which provide food and living conditions for several species of small mammals, birds and insects and protect rare flora. Inexplicably, the ministry completely forgot that, under its own order, Bârnova became a special bird protection area 13 years ago. Consequently, the area has no management plan and logging has been approved that will leave the very bird species for which the protected area was designated without habitat.

Besides the private logging company, Romsilva also cut timber after the forest management plan was suspended, through employees of the Dobrovăț forest district in parcel 50, UP 2, as established by both the Forest Guard and the Police.

Agent Green calls on the Prime Minister’s inspection body to investigate the conduct of the Environment Ministry, Forest Guard, Environmental Guard, Environmental Protection Agency and Romsilva in the Codrii Iașilor case.

The environmental organisation also reiterates its request to the Environment Ministry for:

1. Increasing the strictly protected area within the Bârnova-Repedea Natura 2000 protected areas from 1% to at least 50% by placing it in functional category T I. The remaining protected areas must be placed in functional category T II.
2. Establishing the nationally protected “Bârnova–Repedea Natural Park”, overlapping the Bârnova–Repedea protected areas of European interest. The Natural Park will correspond to IUCN category V.
3. Abandoning plans for new forest roads. The four forest roads under construction have neither an environmental endorsement nor an appropriate environmental assessment. They are planned exclusively for extensive forest exploitation in areas of high biodiversity and have no place in a Natura 2000 site. The current forest road network is sufficient for responding to natural disasters or saving human lives, including tourists.

Findings report for protected areas ROSPA0092 Pădurea Bârnova and ROSCI0135 Pădurea Bârnova–Repedea, here.

Press contacts:

Cătălina Rădulescu, Lawyer, 0745138165, catalina.radulescu@gmail.com
Mircea BARBU, Head of Investigations, 0721777188, mircea.barbu@agentgreen.org