Protect virgin forests
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Protect virgin forests
The report chronologically analyses the data from the process of adding forests to the “National Catalogue of Virgin and Quasi-Virgin Forests” and exposes the bureaucracy that directly resulted in the loss of Romania’s largest area of virgin forests and, with them, the last vast intact wilderness areas in Europe’s temperate climate zone.
The first attempt to conserve these intact forests took place in 1999, when Romania’s National Sustainable Development Strategy proposed the strict protection of 400,000 hectares of virgin forests. At the beginning of 2021, only 43,823.36 hectares, or just 10% of them, are protected in the National Catalogue of Virgin and Quasi-Virgin Forests.
See the Catalogue of Virgin Forests here (archived page)
“This failure to protect nature is no accident. It is the consequence of a complete lack of political will, at the cost of Europe’s most valuable forests disappearing before our eyes. Far too few forests have been strictly protected, and many of those that have are the result of reports to the Forest Guard and media campaigns that we carried out in the Semenic, Țarcu and Godeanu mountain areas, forests such as Cernișoara, Coșava Mică, Olteana, Hideg, Hidegel, Radoteasa and others,” says Gabriel Păun, President of Agent Green.
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The report presents 24,260.56 hectares of virgin forests for which NGOs and other members of the scientific community, at the Government’s invitation, signed and submitted virgin forest studies for inclusion in the National Catalogue.
Inexplicably, these studies, representing 80% of the studies submitted, were either rejected, blocked, returned or even lost by the authorities at various stages of entry into the catalogue.
The most shocking findings are the 8,890.76 hectares that were rejected outright, the 10,543.80 hectares returned to the experts, but above all the 4,056.22 hectares of forests of high conservation value that were actually lost by the Ministry of the Environment and the Forest Guards subordinate to it.
It should be mentioned that scientists made considerable efforts over long periods of time (3 years), often working in hard-to-reach locations and at substantial cost, to prepare meticulous studies and subsequently submit them. The fact that Romanian officials lost these studies is a disaster for Romania’s natural heritage and an affront to the specialists who prepared them.
Agent Green’s correspondence with the authorities reveals a startling contrast between the numbers of reports received and acknowledged by different government bodies. The Ministry of the Environment says it received studies for only 42 forests, totalling 9,382.70 hectares. The Forest Guard says it received studies for 105 forests, totalling 24,260.56 hectares. No authority could provide explanations for these huge inconsistencies.
With this Catalogue, the authorities have gone beyond their famous game of ping-pong with one another and with us. We are dealing with a Bermuda Triangle in Romania. The virgin forest studies have disappeared, and consequently the most precious forests are falling prey to chainsaws. For example, the virgin forests of Colții Bâlei in Bacău County were accepted for inclusion in the Catalogue, but later all evidence of the existence of this virgin forest simply disappeared,” Păun added.
“The official process of adding forests to the National Catalogue of Virgin and Quasi-Virgin Forests has been particularly unprofessional and abjectly managed. The last primary and old-growth forests of temperate Europe deserve the highest level of protection and attention. Time is of the essence for their survival, yet the bureaucratic maze and utterly defective management show a systemic lack of care and seriousness towards Romania’s unique natural heritage. Those in government have undoubtedly failed in their roles of protecting these forests through the Catalogue,” says Gabriel Schwaderer, Director of EuroNatur.
Agent Green and EuroNatur call on the Ministry of the Environment to immediately protect all primary and old-growth forests that still exist. At a time when Romania faces infringement proceedings from the European Union precisely because of the loss of primary forests in Natura 2000 sites, this request would be an important step towards remedying this disastrous situation. This measure would also help Romania fulfil its obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity and contribute to the European Union’s future nature conservation objectives of strictly protecting 10% of terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
AGENT GREEN’S VISION FOR ROMANIA’S FORESTS
Press contacts:
Agent Green: Gabriel Paun, office@agentgreen.org
EuroNatur: Anja Arning, anja.arning@euronatur.org, Tel.: +49 (0)7732 – 92 72 13
