Tag Archives: law enforcement

Groundbreaking supreme court ruling for the protection of Romanian natural forests

November 16, 2020Court of Appeal, forests, High Court, law, law enforcement, logging, Natura 2000, natural, nature conservation, Nature Directives, old growth, romaniaWoodland

Bucharest Court of Appeal decides on full public access to forest management plans; EU Commission calls for full transfer of the Natura 2000 directives into Romanian national law.

Forest management plans contain environmentally relevant information and must therefore be publicly accessible. The Court of Appeal in Bucharest has now also adopted this legal opinion. The NGO Agent Green has filed more than 100 lawsuits against forest owners and authorities in the past year to get public access to forest management plans in order to enforce the EU directive on public access to environmental information, the Aarhus Convention and the EU Nature directives in connection with the protection of ecologically valuable forests. The Court of Appeal in Bucharest has now handed down an important decision: The public has the right to access environmental information in forest management plans.

For a long time, Romanian authorities and Romsilva, Romania’s state forest administration, have kept environmentally relevant information in forest management plans secret – contrary to the provisions of the Aarhus Convention and the EU Environmental Information Directive. Agent Green has therefore had to seek access to relevant information in numerous legal proceedings. The court of appeal in Bucharest has now found Agent Green is correct and dismissed an appeal lodged by the Ministry of the Environment. With immediate effect, the ministry is therefore obliged to make environmentally relevant information from forest management plans available to the public on request. This means that civil society can finally access information, including: the volume of wood that exists in the forest, the species of trees, the average age of the trees, what kind of logging activity is planned and the volume of wood approved for cutting in the last 10 years. This is an important step to ensure public control of compliance with EU directives and thus the protection of ecologically valuable forests.

The decision also sends a strong signal to the rest of the EU, because forest management plans are kept secret almost everywhere. The issue of inadequate access to environmental information is also essential with regard to the EU infringement proceedings against the government in Bucharest. The EU Commission could soon escalate the infringement proceedings to the Court of Justice of the EU.

At the same time, the pressure from Brussels on the Romanian government is growing. In its latest publication on infringement proceedings, the European Commission calls on Romania to fully ensure the conservation of the country’s natural habitats and the protection of wild animals and plants in accordance with the requirements of the EU Nature Directives. The EU Commission complains that the forest management plans often do not take Natura 2000 provisions into account. The nature conservationist witnesses of Agent Green have repeatedly documented illegal logging, in particular in designated Natura 2000 sites. Romania now has two months to remedy this situation, otherwise the EU Commission threatens to issue a reasoned opinion, which could lead to legal proceedings at the Court of Justice of the EU – and potentially a harsh sentence afterwards.

Devastation of a (formerly) pristine side valley in the Domogled – Valea Cernei National Park / Natura 2000 area.

Success: Romanian High Court suspends logging plans in Domogled national park

February 27, 2020biodiversity, climate, court, crisis, deforestation, EU, European Commission, forest, Green Deal, IUCN, law, law enforcement, Natura 2000, nature, old growth, primary, romania, wildernessWoodland

Forest management plans for Domogled – Valea Cernei national park and Natura 2000 site ignore nature conservation laws

The Romanian High Court of Cassation and Justice suspended forest management plans of forest units Cernisoara, Baia de Arama, Balmes, Ivanu and Olanu in the upper sector of Domogled – Valea Cernei National Park, which is also under protection by EU Natura 2000 legislation. The trial was initiated by Agent Green to obtain the annulment of all forest management plans within the park territory, which are in severe contradiction to provisions from mandatory nature protection legislation such as EU’s Habitats and Birds Directives.

The entire national park has been designated as a Natura 2000 site and as a UNESCO World Heritage site (including a buffer zone). However, not even 50% of the forests in the park are under effective protection and have been included in the strictly protected core zone. The rest of the forest, including highly valuable primary and old growth beech forests, is vanishing progressively due to intensive logging.

State forests enterprise Romsilva is controlling the national park management and they have been issuing logging permissions for a large number of forest parcels in the buffer zone. Even old growth and primary beech forests have been sawed down with official papers.

Euronatur foundation and Agent Green welcome the court decision as a major milestone in their campaign to save the outstanding natural forest heritage of Romania. Only recently, the EU Commission has launched infringement procedures against the Romanian state, following a complaint by EuroNatur, Client Earth and Agent Green.

“Domogled National Park can for the first time since many years breath in peace,” Gabriel Paun from Agent Green said. “It’s just the beginning! Agent Green won the High Court of Cassation and Justice trial against the Ministry of Environment and state forests Romsilva. 19369.24 hectares of Domogled National Park – Cernea Valley can no longer be reached for logging as of today. Anyone who sees a wood truck coming out of UP is asked to immediately notify the police. Transportation would be 100% illegal. Any forestry work now means a forest offense and a violation of court decisions,” Paun added.

The forest management plans for four production units was suspended and with it, all planned cuts. Another trial to achieve anullment of the forest management plans of the production units in lower Cerna valley is still underway and the court decision is awaited.

Agent Green and Euronatur call on the Romanian government to urgently take all necessary measures to ensure that Romsilva and the operating logging companies immediately leave the Domogled National Park and all logging operations will be stopped.

In a next step, the forest management plans have to be changed in a way to fully comply with both Natura 2000 legislation and IUCN Guidelines for Category 2 protected areas, national parks. This means, that commercial forest exploitation must be ended in the whole national park and all natural (old growth and primary) forest stands need to be included in the non intervention zone of the national park.

Furthermore, the non intervention zone fragments must be connected to ensure fullfilment of globally defined IUCN guidelines for national parks. IUCN wording about national parks: “Large natural or near natural areas set aside to protect large-scale ecological processes, along with the complement of species and ecosystems characteristic of the area, which also provide a foundation for environmentally and culturally compatible spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor opportunities.”

In the interpretation of the protected area management categories for Europe (EUROPARC and IUCN, 2000), the IUCN guidelines clearly state that management of the IUCN protected category II should eliminate exploitation (of natural resources), including hunting and fishing, and that this is a duty of the authorities responsible for the management of the national park.

Brutal wounds in the paradise: Destructive logging road in unprotected Radoteasa valley – in the middle of Domogled national park.

Unprotected forest wilderness in Cernisoara production unit. Logging there is suspended for the time being – and must not return.

Weak protection of primeval forests in Romania

December 9, 2016clearcut, euronatur, Government, law enforcement, legal, primary forest, protection, romaniaWoodland

EuroNatur calls on the new government to amend laws, declare a moratorium on logging in primary forests and tighten the reins on forest authorities

Press release from 9. Dezember 2016

Radolfzell / Bukarest. Romania harbours the largest old-growth forests in Europe, but they vanish at breath-taking speed. A conservation programme, the “National Register of Primeval Forests” is destined to save the remaining old-growth forests. However, the recently published interim report is more than disappointing: Currently, the register only includes about 13,000 hectares, which is less than six percent of the potentially existing old-growth forests in the country. According to the experience made by experts and nature conservation NGOs, the reasons are obvious: “Forest authorities keep withholding essential documents such as forest maps and management plans, thereby impeding the preparation of the studies that are prerequisite for nominations for the register of primeval forests”, explains Gabriel Schwaderer, CEO of nature conservation foundation EuroNatur.

In September 2016, EuroNatur partner organization Agent Green submitted studies on primeval forests covering an area of 1,929 hectares in the provinces of Bacau, Buzau, Vrancea and Covasna to be included in the “National Register of Primeval Forests”. However, responsible forest inspectors did not react in any way. “This is unacceptable, because laws oblige authorities to confirm the studies within 45 days,” says Gabriel Schwaderer. Therefore, all these paradise forests remain under imminent threat by logging. In the coming winter, they could fall victim to chainsaws. A ‘forest protection regulation’ passed in July 2016 only aggravated the situation, as no studies can be submitted and areas examined between September and March.

While the July regulation by the interim Romanian government, whose mandate will end with the parliamentary elections on 11 December 2016, had finally created a legal basis for the protection of primeval forests, it has major flaws: The regulation is complicated and still allows logging, even in strictly protected virgin forest reserves, for example ‘conservation’ cuttings after windfalls. “In a country like Romania, where corruption is pervasive, this opens the door to continued destruction of old-growth forests,” says Gabriel Schwaderer.

EuroNatur therefore calls on the future government of Romania to urgently come up with a comprehensive logging moratorium for all the potential primeval forest sites in Romania until they have been scientifically examined. “We also urge the incoming government of Romania to immediately and thoroughly repair the legal basis for the protection of virgin forests in Romania. A law that allows logging of old-growth forests through the back door is unacceptable,” Gabriel Schwaderer concludes.