Coșava Mică: appeal to protect the virgin forest (2015)

Archive context: this appeal was published on 17 February 2015. The data, classifications and requests below describe the situation at that time. For the later announcement of ten-year protection, see the release of 7 December 2015.

The appeal for protection

Agent Green submitted documentation to the Ministry of the Environment to protect the Coșava Mică virgin forest, proposing its inclusion as a strict reserve in Semenic – Cheile Carașului National Park. The appeal warned that Romsilva opposed protection and wanted to commercially harvest the centuries-old beech stands.

Aerial photograph of the Coșava Mică virgin forest. Photo: Agent Green.

The forest described in the documentation

The Coșava Mică virgin forest comprises compartments 121–141 in UP I Helișag, OS Nera, DS Reșița. The documentation presented in the appeal indicated approximately 739 ha, on the southeastern side of Semenic – Cheile Carașului National Park, adjoining it. Agent Green stated that it did not know why the forest had not been included in the park from the outset.

Coșava Mică was described as a primary forest of pure beech stands, in an advanced dynamic equilibrium, with high stability and multifunctional efficiency. Its complex, uneven-aged structure, trees several centuries old at the limit of their physiological longevity and of exceptional dimensions, together with dead trees in various stages of decomposition, made it an archetype of Carpathian beech forests.

According to the appeal, special forestry operations had taken place over small areas at the margins in the preceding decade, removing small volumes. The organisation considered the forest still to be in an excellent state of equilibrium.

The forest had been identified as primary in 2002–2003. Within the process “A joint nomination of virgin and ancient beech forests as UNESCO World Heritage sites: Beech forests – Europe’s shared natural heritage”, international experts had selected it as a candidate for nomination alongside the Izvoarele Nerei Nature Reserve, subject to strict protection being secured. At the time of the appeal, Coșava Mică was classified as production forest, which the organisation considered an imminent threat.

Measures proposed at the time

The documentation identified two routes to protection:

• Inclusion of the compartments in functional categories 1-5J and/or 1-5O (TI), under Ministerial Order 3397/10.09.2012 on criteria and indicators for identifying virgin and quasi-virgin forests. Classification was proposed during the revision of the OS Nera forest management plan, then under way.
• Establishment of nationally protected natural area status under the legislation cited in the appeal, including MMDD Order no. 1710/2007.

Agent Green proposed adding Coșava Mică to the strict protection zone of Semenic – Cheile Carașului National Park. The archived text compared it with the “Cheile Nerei strict reserve” and also requested designation as a Natura 2000 site, in the context of the September 2015 deadline mentioned in the appeal.

To protect Coșava Mică and Izvoarele Nerei, the organisation also requested full protection for Coșava Mare, which separates them. The Helișagu Mare valley, west-southwest of Coșava Mică, was proposed for inclusion in the park at least as a special conservation zone.

Agent Green asked the Ministry of the Environment for an appropriate protection regime and support for urgently including Coșava Mică, alongside the Izvoarele Nerei Nature Reserve, among the areas proposed for nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage List.