…trees were logged illegally in Romania
during the Romanian EU presidency
in the first six month of 2019… for more information
Forest destruction in national parks
Out of Control...
Most of Europe's last virgin forests have survived in Romania. But they are vanishing, even in national parks. Please help saving these paradise forests - and sign / share the petition!
Nowhere else in Europe have as many virgin forests survived than in Romania: two thirds of the EU's last wild forests can be found here. But they are logged in front of the eyes of the government and EU, just now...
No path leads into the Boia Mica valley. Not yet ...
Although the Fagaras Mountains lie within a Natura 2000 site, pristine Boia Mica is not protected. The preservation of this unique wilderness and nature tourism could benefit the local economy way more than logging ...
Brutal logging in Domogled - Valea Cernei National Park, under the eyes of the government and authorities. Other national parks look the same. The current government is now even attacking virgin forest protection regulatione. The hat is on fire!
Nera Forest: 6000 years old, 5000 hectares in size.
A window into pre-historic times in Europe. This is what Central Europe once mainly looked like - an ocean of trees. Our last primary forests allow access to that ancient world. They are invaluable to science.
The official reason was the bark beetle. In 2013, the logging trucks endlessly thundered through the Fagaras mountains valley. Now the mountain sides are naked. It will take decades for these cleared areas to grow back. Until then it's catastrophic for soil erosion, mudslides and steep flooding...
Sinca forest has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage area. However, similar forest in neighboring upper Stramba valley (pictured), is progressively being logged. In 2017 another virgin stands have ben destroyed...
Red beech forests only grow in Europe. 5000 years ago, wild beech forests covered large parts of the continent. UNESCO has launched a European beech forest protection program. Gorgeous Iauna Craiova forest (pictured) has been inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Not far from the new UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Iauna Craiova Valley the native forest of Domogled National Park is destroyed: trees have been smashed down and the soil has been devastated. These wounds at the heart of the national park will take centuries to heal.
Very little is left of Europe's fairy tale forests. The spruce forest in Romania's Sambata valley is a real paradise. And it is much older than all the fairy tales and legends...
Europe's remaining primeval forests have thrived continuously since the last Ice Age and are constantly evolving and resilient. They are therefore extremely stable ecosystems. When they are logged, however, it can take many centuries for them to recover and reach that state again.
The hunger for wood of international sawmills and the greed of land and wood robbers has driven forest destruction in Romania in the last 10-15 years to its peak. Laws have been breached and ignored and violations of the law have gone unpunished. All in the last virgin forests of Europe.
A logging machine drags a habitat tree from the Stramba forest in the Fagaras Mountain Natura 2000 area. How is this large-scale forest destruction compatible with EU conservation targets?
The highly endangered hermit beetle can only survive in forests with old trees and deadwood. The last remaining virgin forests are critical habitat for many of rare plants and animals. If the forests are logged, these animals die with them.
Vast amounts of carbon are stored in the old trees and in the soil reservoirs in virgin forests. This carbon is dangerously released into the atmosphere when these forests are logged and the wood breaks down or combusts. Protecting virgin forests is a critical contribution to climate protection.
