The environmental organisations together with Ministry of Environment, Water and Forestry signed in 25 of February a Declaration regarding priorities and actions plan for forestry administration in Romania. This event was organised by Green peace, WWF Romania, Eco Civica Foundation and ProPark -Foundation for Protected Areas

" Forests are essential for regularising climate and the water circuit, for protection against soil erosion and desertification, they are a reservoir of biodiversity, hosting more than half of all terrestrial species, they meet cultural and recreational functions and are a renewable alternative economic resource. Their key role in limiting global climate change has been recently reaffirmed at the Paris climate agreement, which provides the need for reforestation on large surfaces, as well as the need to stop woodland degradation.

In Romania there still are extremely valuable secular and virgin forests, some of the few remaining in Europe, which host rare endemic flora and fauna species. Official data show an alarming figure of 8.8 million cubic meters of wood having disappeared from forests annually between 2008-2013, not registered officially, either due to natural processes or to uncontrolled logging outside the forestry real estate, but mainly as a result of illegal logging, of which only a small part is investigated by competent authorities.

Romania's forests need urgent actions for an efficient and responsible development and management, to ensure that their inestimable value can be bequeathed to future generations.

In May - June 2015 civil society has therefore expressed, by street actions, the need to ensure an adequate legislative framework and the urgency of achieving a National Forest Strategy, prepared based on vast consultations to include all stakeholders. Civil society believes this strategy should substantiate, for the long term, a forestry administration trend to promote the ecological health of forests, harmonising its ecological, social, cultural and economic functions, as well as the way how this resource is capitalised for sustainable development.

On the one hand environmental organisations have formulated concrete claims and proposals to ensure that forestry maintains, improves and distributes fairly, for the long term, the environmental, social, economic and cultural benefits of forests, so as to maintain or restore the ecosystem, biodiversity, resources and landscapes.               _

On the other hand the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests, in its capacity of competent authority, has prepared, after December 2015, the Strategic Sectoral Plan which includes forest-related aspects, and the Priority Action Plan for Forests, presented at the work meetings. Following these meetings, the consultations and negotiations between the signatory environmental organisations and the authority, a consensus was reached on the priorities and the need of a constructive approach through dialogue. The signatory environmental organisations and the competent authority agreed on the strategic development direction mentioned above. At the same time the signatory parties agreed on the following concrete priority objectives for sustainable forest management:

 

For 2016:

1. Reaching the objectives imposed by the EU Regulation 995/2010 (EUTR);

2. Developing the Wood Tracking and SUMAL applications as efficient control instruments, increasing the transparency of information they generate and establishing some monitoring and evidence systems for the inspections performed.

3. Adopting the guidelines for sectoral participative strategic planning in order to prepare the National Forestry Strategy.

4. Creating a structure specialised in forestry control, subordinated to the general forestry department within the central public authority in charge with forestry.

5. Defining performance and conduct criteria and indicators and monitoring measures for the Forestry Guard staff activity, through the legal act on the organisation and operation of the Forestry Guards.

6. Amending and completing the Regulation for exploiting wood mass from public property forests (HG 924/2015), so as to adequately implement the valorisation principles established by the Forestry Code.

7. Amending Law 171/2010 on forestry offences to ensure that all forestry offence acts are covered by sanctions.

8. Creating the legal framework to ensure compensation for products not harvested by owners because of their protection functions established by Forest Development Plans, which define logging restrictions.

9. Creating the "National Catalogue of Virgin and Quasivirgin Forests” (as per the Forestry Code Art. 26 par.  3), as an official instrument for evidence and management, to ensure their strict protection.

10. Ensuring the operation of the “National Forestry Council”.

 

 

For the period 2017-2020

1. Developing the Monitoring and Information System on Forest Management by integrating forestry plans in GIS format.

2. Ensuring continuity in the supply and use of updated results of the National Forestry Inventory.

3. Initiating a plan for shifting lands from private to public ownership in areas of strict, full protection in national parks and virgin forests.

4. Improving inter-organisational collaboration for increasing woodland surfaces by identifying adequate land plots and technical solutions.

 

 

The signatory parties act as per their legal competences for the planning, development, implementation, mutual support, monitoring, warning for the appropriate implementation of agreed priorities.

The signatory parties shall prepare a detailed plan of measures for implementing the mutually agreed aspects."