Tree theft estimated at €200,000 in Dorna Candrenilor, Suceava County

A forestry engineer who makes shocking disclosures is framed

Bucharest, 21 February 2023 – Agent Green reveals its investigation “Plunder in Dorna Candrenilor, Suceava County”, exposing massive tree theft by understating tree dimensions (diameter and height) in records compared with reality. The Suceava Forest Guard confirms the theft method. A forestry engineer from the implicated forest district makes shocking disclosures about his superiors, who framed him for acts he allegedly did not commit. The university professor of the engineer accused by the district chief comes to his defence.

Part I – The theft method

Part II – The testimony of forestry engineer Victor Pavel

The forests within the Dorna Candrenilor Forest District are publicly owned by the state and administered by Romsilva. They are forests targeted by last autumn’s raid, in which nine state bodies took part. Police and prosecutors raided this district and others in Suceava County, as well as 146 companies and even private addresses in another 17 counties targeted in connection with timber and money obtained from Suceava’s forests.

Now, a few months after the raids, the time has come for heads to roll. As the bosses are protected, the scapegoat is a defenceless young forestry engineer who has been framed for the entire theft, accused of illegally using the forestry marking hammer and of complicity in felling and stealing trees. His name is Victor Pavel, and he in turn has reported his superiors’ acts to the authorities.

“I estimate the damage at 200,000 euros. I did not agree to endorse the theft through the method of understating dimensions, for which I was promised undue material benefits. Had I accepted, I could never have opened my mouth again. The current system cannot be changed. Creating a system from scratch might change something. The problems arose because I do not fit the system and its requirements. For some, criminal acts have become a way of life. The people who wish me harm have so many levers, so many people placed everywhere… Further abuses are very likely. I do not know in what form,” said Pavel Victor.

“Pavel Victor graduated in 2016 with a very good bachelor’s dissertation under Professor Cenusă’s supervision on forest succession, and it was good enough to sow the idea of turning it into a doctoral thesis. In general, the system does not integrate our best students. Some go abroad. For those who stayed, it has happened that the system asked them for money in certain situations in order to be hired,” said Laura Bouriaud, university professor at the Ștefan cel Mare Faculty of Forestry.

Mihai Gășpărel, chief inspector of the Suceava Forest Guard: “The inspection concerns differences in tree diameters and heights in the timber assessment documents, and situations where marks have been removed or damaged. Removing marks has implications beyond administrative offences.”

“We no longer encounter trees cut without a mark in the forest. Such cases are extremely rare. But we do encounter these underestimates of the quantity and assortments of timber leaving the forest,” said Dan-Cătălin Turiga, forestry engineer and Agent Green investigator.

“We are in a pre-election year. Before the last elections, six forest defenders died. Such a thing must never happen again. I appeal to the justice system to deal with Victor Pavel’s case with complete detachment from the political scene and to punish everyone involved in this organised timber theft. For its part, the Romanian Government must reform forestry administration from the ground up,” concluded Gabriel Păun, president of Agent Green.

Press contact: office@agentgreen.org