New report — Illegal logging in Romania’s Natura 2000 protected areas has intensified despite the imminent risk of referral to the European Court of Justice

The latest information shows that the destruction of Europe’s last large primary and old-growth forests in Romania continues unchecked.

The data presented show that illegal logging has in fact intensified over the past two years in some of Europe’s oldest and most precious forests in Romania, despite legal action taken by the European Commission against the Romanian state to combat it.

The report released by the NGOs Agent Green, ClientEarth and EuroNatur (PDF in English) highlights that the areas most affected by these illegal activities are the most valuable forests in the Făgăraș Mountains. The number of logging permits in these areas rose sharply in 2020-2021, resulting in significant degradation of forest ecosystems of high conservation value.

Following a series of complaints submitted by environmental organisations, the European Commission opened infringement proceedings against the Romanian state in February 2020.

As the Romanian state failed to take the necessary measures, the European Commission issued a reasoned opinion in July 2020 — an ultimatum for Romania to address the problem. This was accompanied by a warning that the case would be referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) if Romania did not take serious and immediate measures. Yet, as the new report shows, almost two years have passed and Romania has still not fulfilled the Commission’s request.

Environmental organisations call on the European Commission to act immediately and refer the case to the CJEU, as happened with the 2018 decision by the EU’s highest court against large-scale logging in Poland’s Bialowieza National Park, protected by EU directives.

Photographs taken in the Făgăraș, Maramureș and Frumoasa Natura 2000 sites between August and October 2021.

“Unfortunately, nothing good has happened for forests since the Commission initiated legal action,” said Gabriel Păun, President of Agent Green. “On the contrary, our field investigations, supported by data analyses, show that logging has increased massively in many native forests compared with the period before EU action. We have submitted the evidence to the European Commission and expect more serious progress in these infringement proceedings, sanctioning the Romanian state’s failure to act,” Păun added.

Despite discussions between Romania and the Commission, the Member State has so far failed to take any effective measure to stop the destruction of protected natural forests in Natura 2000 sites.

“It appears that the Romanian authorities have tried to deceive the European Commission. We call on the Commission to take urgent action to enforce existing EU legislation in Romania. Anything else would be a fatal sign of weakness, not only towards Romania but also towards other EU states. Ultimately, Brussels’ failure to act against the continuing destruction of forests in Romania jeopardises the EU’s entire Biodiversity Strategy and the Green Treaty,” said Annette Spangenberg, Head of Nature Conservation at EuroNatur.

Agata Szafraniuk, ClientEarth’s wildlife and habitats lawyer, said: “Romania’s continuing inability to act indicates that the situation of Romanian forests has worsened still further. Despite the Commission’s warnings, Romania continues to breach EU nature legislation by approving logging permits in protected forest areas without assessing the impact these activities will have on nature and wildlife. If the European Commission does not act before the EU’s highest court over Romania’s clear breach of EU nature legislation, the future of these forests looks disastrous.”

Background information

• Romania has more than 500,000 hectares of potentially primary and old-growth forests, more than any other EU Member State except Scandinavia. Around 300,000 hectares of Romania’s forests are protected by European laws as Natura 2000 sites. Several protected species, including bears, wolves, black storks, owls, woodpeckers, bats and insects, depend on these forests.
• The SaveParadiseForests campaign works to protect primary and old-growth forests in the Carpathian Mountains, particularly in Romania. It is jointly coordinated and carried out by the NGOs EuroNatur (Germany) and Agent Green (Romania).
• Link to the report (PDF in English).

Contact:

EuroNatur, Anja Arning, anja.arning@euronatur.org, Tel.: +49 (0)7732 – 92 72 13

Agent Green, Catalina Radulescu, office@agentgreen.org, +40745138165

ClientEarth, Bianca Vergnaud, bvergnaud@clientearth.org, +32 471 88 70 95