1 year after the March for Forests: Government postpones SUMAL 2.0 launch for the third time in 12 months

Bucharest, 4 November 2020 – Greenpeace, Declic and Agent Green deliver a bleak assessment of the Government’s achievements in forest protection: none of the measures announced following the November 2019 march to save the forests has been implemented.

The 3 organizations, together with the thousands of people who took to the streets for forests, secured the Environment Ministry’s commitment in 2019 to address their demands urgently: modernizing SUMAL, satellite monitoring of forests, an electronic register of incoming and outgoing timber at depots, mandatory GPS on every timber transport vehicle and tracking the route of every shipment, and surveillance cameras at key points on the road network, at sawmills and at timber depots.

A year later, not even one of these problems has been resolved: satellite maps have not been purchased and the video cameras are missing. Moreover, contrary to the triumphant statements by former Environment Minister Costel Alexe about SUMAL 2.0 being operational since October, the authorities have now announced another postponement of the Timber Tracking System’s operation until January next year.

At the beginning of the week, during a meeting at the Environment Ministry, environmental NGOs requested explanations for all these delays. “It is extremely frustrating to learn that the development of SUMAL 2.0 is being slowed down for trivial reasons. STS says the system is 100% built but cannot become operational now because the very forest data from the Environment Ministry are missing. We therefore face another 90-day delay because of the team coordinated by Director Dănuț Iacob(Environment Ministry). Forest guards, forest districts and economic operators will only be able to use the application once the system has been populated with forest management plans,” said Greenpeace campaigner Ciprian Gălușcă.

The environmental organizations point out that we will not have a functioning timber monitoring system even in January. That is because the tender for purchasing satellite maps has not even been launched. “While everyone knows that the inspection authorities can identify only 1% of illegally logged timber, the ministry has completely abandoned satellite monitoring of forests and the issuing of alerts, although it had promised to prioritize this work. Moreover, it consulted nobody on this issue. More seriously, all these delays leave the inspection authorities without the tools needed for a fair fight against the forest mafia,” said Antoniu Bumb, a Declic representative.

Furthermore, the authorities’ lack of involvement may lead to severe sanctions from European institutions. “Repeated and unreasonable delays aggravate the infringement proceedings concerning illegal logging. We are one step away from sanctions from the European Court of Justice; the new SUMAL has only just entered testing for economic operators in recent days. We are effectively facing another postponement disguised as a grace period until the end of January. It is crucial that at least this deadline is respected. Nothing is available to citizens yet. From February, we should all be able to see transport routes and the creation of the electronic register at depots, where legal and illegal timber are still mixed. If this really happens, neither wood chips nor logging residues will escape the new system. But promises are no substitute for making it operational,” said Gabriel Păun, president of Agent Green.

The three environmental organizations renew the demands made at last year’s March for Forests. Only the automation of forestry inspections can eliminate many corruption mechanisms and dismantle criminal networks deeply embedded in logging. Forests would then no longer be seen merely as a source of quick wealth, but as what they are: Romania’s lungs and Europe’s last wildlife sanctuaries.

Press contacts
Ciprian Gălușcă, Greenpeace campaigner 0728794694, ciprian.galusca@greenpeace.org
Antoniu Bumb, Declic campaigner, 0746799409 , antoniu@declic.ro
Gabriel Păun, president of Agent Green, gabriel.paun@agentgreen.org