European Commission urged to intervene urgently to stop logging in protected natural areas
Environmental organisations Agent Green, ClientEarth and Euronatur have submitted a formal complaint to the European Commission against the Romanian authorities. Romania contains two thirds of the European Union’s last untouched forests outside Scandinavia. Following a similar complaint submitted by Client Earth in 2018, the European Court of Justice ordered Poland to pay 100,000 euros a day until logging stopped in Bialowieza National Park.
VIDEO: devastation in Natura 2000 sites
The organisations maintain that Romsilva conducts forestry operations within protected Natura 2000 sites without an appropriate assessment of the impact of logging in these unique areas. In many cases, the relevant environmental impact assessments, which should normally be carried out before logging is planned, take place several years after logging has occurred, or not at all. In recent years Agent Green has taken Romsilva to court, seeking the annulment of forest management plans implemented before environmental assessment procedures were carried out; the cases are still pending.
“For the 12 years since we joined the EU, logging in protected areas has followed harvesting plans for which no environmental impact assessment was conducted. Yet Romsilva claims that Romanian legislation allows this, refusing to acknowledge that biodiversity in protected areas is being endangered, while the Environment Ministry tolerates it. It is time for the European Commission to intervene,” said Gabriel Paun, President of Agent Green.
“The fact that environmental assessment has not even begun in areas where forests are already being logged constitutes a serious breach of EU law that must be sanctioned by both Romanian and European courts,” concluded Catalina Radulescu, Agent Green’s lawyer.
Ewelina Tylec-Bakalarz, wildlife lawyer at ClientEarth: “Systematic logging in Natura2000 sites without the appropriate assessments for those areas is a clear violation of EU laws. This problem is widespread in Romania, which is why we are bringing this case before the European Commission.” With the Romanian Government’s consent, Romsilva manages 22 of Romania’s 29 national and natural parks. All these areas form part of the Natura 2000 network and are subject to the Habitats and Birds Directives. However, legal experts maintain that Romsilva, the state forestry enterprise, most often fails to comply with binding EU requirements.
The same happens in Natura 2000 sites managed by the recently established ANANP (National Agency for Protected Natural Areas). Gabriel Schwaderer, Executive Director of Euronatur: “If breaches of EU rules continue without consequences, the entire Natura 2000 network is weakened. The continuing tragedy of Romania’s wildlife is among the most serious in Europe and, at the same time, the least recognised.” Tylec-Bakalarz adds: “The Bialowieza forest case shows how effective European law can be in protecting our continent’s natural treasures. We hope that, in the case of Romania’s forests too, the European Commission will act before the destruction of these unique ecosystems becomes irreversible.”
