Out of Control...
Forest destruction in national parks
Most of Europe's last virgin forests have survived in Romania. But they are vanishing, even in national parks and Natura 2000 sites.
A sea of forest to the horizon...
Europe's unique natural heritage
Nowhere else in Europe have as many virgin forests survived than in Romania: two thirds of the temperate 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...
WATCH THE VIDEOS!No path leads into wild Boia Mica valley ...
Europe's wildest mountain valley
Although the Fagaras Mountains are located in a Natura 2000 site, the protection of Boia Mica has been highly controversial. The preservation of this unique wilderness and development of nature tourism will support the local economy way more than (one time) logging ...
Read moreEurope's biggest nature protection drama.
Dying Natural Heritage
Brutal logging in Domogled - Valea Cernei National Park, before the eyes of the government and the authorities. Other national parks look the same.
Read moreNera Forest: 6000 years old, 5000 hectares in size.
The largest beech forest in the EU
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.
Read moreEnormous clearing in a European protected area
An ecological emergency
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...
Read moreChainsaws and bulldozers on the march.
Critically threatened paradise
Sinca forest has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage area. However, similar forest in neighboring upper Stramba valley (pictured), is progressively being logged - and destroyed.
Take action!UNESCO Natural World Heritage Beech forest.
Worldclass Wilderness
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.
Read moreWhere have all the trees gone?
Forest destruction in a National Park
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.
Read moreEurope's real fairy tale forest
Like in a fantasy land
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 ...
Read moreIrrecoverable primordial Europe
Millenia long resilience and stability
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.
Read moreFinal stop saw milling
Woodchips instead of Natural Heritage
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.
Take action!EU Natura 2000 program flouted
Logging hotspots in European protected areas
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?
Take action!Rare plants and animals
Lost without Wilderness.
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.
Take action!Lynx, bears and company
The planet also belongs to them.
Without wild forests, our magnificent European housemates have no chance of survival. Do we really want to steal their last remaining habitat?
Take action!Carbon storage
Virgin forests protect our climate.
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.
Read more
