of illegal logging is officially detected
in Romania today
of timber disappear illegally each year
in addition to the 18 million logged legally, but unsustainably
In Romania, illegal logging is not an exception — it is a systemic phenomenon. Data from the three cycles of the National Forest Inventory (IFN) confirm a grave reality: major discrepancies between reported volumes and what exists on the ground.
https://roifn.ro/site/
Romania constantly loses huge quantities of timber that never appear in the records.
🌳 Why this matters
Romania’s forests are:
- ✓Some of Europe’s last primary and old-growth forests
- ✓A natural climate shield
- ✓Habitat for species that have disappeared from other countries
- ✓Vital infrastructure for water, soil and air
But they are also fragile. Forestry practised over the past century has favoured monocultures, simplified forest structure and intensive interventions — resulting in forests more vulnerable to climate change, pests and disturbance.
⚠️ How we got here
- ✗Aggressive industrialisation of the forestry sector
- ✗Factories processing millions of m³ each year
- ✗Increasingly sophisticated methods of theft
- ✗Institutional oversight that is weak and politicised
➡️ The result: accelerating degradation of valuable forests.
🟢 Agent Green’s role: from an ignored subject to a national security issue
Since its founding, Agent Green has played a decisive role in turning illegal logging from a marginal subject into a national crisis. Constant investigations and exposure brought the issue:
- ✓Into the national and international press
- ✓Onto the public agenda
- ✓To the attention of Romania’s Supreme Council of National Defence (CSAT), as a national security issue
Do you remember the footage that began positive change in Romania?
The protest watched LIVE by 4 million Romanians on Facebook
🧭 Concrete changes achieved
Public pressure generated by Agent Green’s campaigns led to real changes:
📡 Monitoring
- •Forest Radar (2014)
- •Forest Inspector (2016)
- •SUMAL (continuously improved)
🔍 Transparency
- •Public access to data
- •Better traceability
🧨 We exposed how timber is stolen
The report “10 ways to fool SUMAL” revealed:
- ✗The system’s vulnerabilities
- ✗Actual methods of theft
- ✗The lack of effective inspections
➡️ Today, the authorities are being forced to close these loopholes.
🛠️ How we fight every day
- ✓🔎 Investigations — we monitor areas of interest and expose environmental crimes
- ✓⚖️ Court cases and EU infringement proceedings — strategic litigation and complaints to the European Commission
- ✓📡 Technology (Ranger Green) — hidden alarm systems that detect chainsaw sounds
- ✓🤝 Public mobilisation — protests, petitions, reports and the March for Forests
- ✓📚 Education — projects such as Forever Forest and Sunt Natură
SEE MORE AGENT GREEN INVESTIGATIONS
💥 Systemic change comes next
Stopping illegal logging is not enough. If we keep the same forestry model, forests will continue to be degraded — even “legally”.
🌲 New forestry rules: living forests, rather than plantations
Dan Cătălin Turiga, forestry engineer
- ●Former engineer in the state system (Romsilva)
- ●He refused abusive practices
- ●Now part of the Agent Green team
Together with the organisation’s biologists, he is developing new forestry rules based on forestry close to nature (close-to-nature forestry).
🌿 Close-to-nature forestry
A model based on:
- ✓Mixed forests, rather than monocultures
- ✓Natural regeneration, rather than mass artificial planting
- ✓Minimal interventions adapted to the ecosystem
- ✓Diverse structure (ages, species, layers)
This model creates forests that are more resilient to climate change, more resistant to insects and drought, more effective at storing carbon, closer to natural ecosystems and more full of life. It protects water sources. It is a clear break from the forestry of the past century, which treated forests as agricultural crops.
🚓 Law enforcement without compromise
Vasile Crețu (Vali), former gendarme
He is working on:
- ✓A tougher law to penalise theft
- ✓Training for police, gendarmes and forest guards
- ✓Strengthening law enforcement on the ground
🧭 Agent Green’s strategy
1
Stop illegal logging
2
Close the system’s loopholes
3
Reform forestry
4
Change the economic model
We do more than protect forests. We rebuild them as functioning ecosystems.
🌱 What we really want
A Romania whose forests:
- ✓Are not overexploited
- ✓Are diverse and resilient
- ✓Support life, not only the economy
✊ Get involved
- ✓Report suspicious logging
- ✓Support the campaigns — DONATE NOW
- ✓Demand transparency
- ✓Be the voice of the forest
