Tag Archives: old growth

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.

Illegal road detected in one of Europe’s wildest mountain valleys in Romania

June 25, 2020crime, Environment, EU Commission, illegal, impact assessment, infringement, logging, Natura 2000, nature, old growth, primary forest, road, romaniaWoodland

Illegal road cut into the pristine Sâmbăta Valley in Romania’s Făgăraș Montains Natura 2000 site

A few weeks ago, the Sâmbăta Valley (Sibiu province) was still a true paradise: the valley was not spoiled by any road and hosts vast old growth forests, remote mountain ridges, rare wild animals (including wolves, bears and otters) and a romantic hiking trail that passes under large, mossy, ancient trees. But a few weeks ago, this sanctuary has been despoiled: a local forest owner bulldozed a road along the once pristine river, destroying the banks and slopes covered with wild and biodiversity-rich ravine and mountain forests.

But this is just the beginning. Logging machinery are soon expected to invade the valley, now that they have access to the large old trees that have been growing here for centuries. And the fairytale forest, which is reminiscent of film scenes from “Lord of the Rings” could soon be ravaged. Tragically, Sâmbăta is not the only wild valley in Romania that has suffered from illegal logging during the COVID-19 lock down.

Local environmentalists discovered the new road and called for immediate inspection by officials from the Forest Guard authorities in Brasov. The response caused great concern and shock: no permits are required because an old road already existed that “was only being repaired”. This outrageous claim clearly contradicts the facts: pictures from previous years show that no road actually existed and that the valley was an untouched wilderness, hosting old-growth forest of sycamore, beech and spruce. Forest maps also confirm that the valley was not accessible by a road.

Questions of serious mismanagement are raised.

Why are forest guard officials defending this unauthorized road and why are they covering for the unknown beneficiary who drove this illegal project forward?

How could this happen during the very time when the EU Commission has initiated infringement proceedings against the Romanian state for deliberate, systemic and widespread violations of EU legislation by systemic logging and destruction of natural ecosystems in Natura 2000 sites?

Natura 2000 requires mandatory environmental assessments to be carried out prior to intervention in protected areas in order to exclude the risk of a deterioration of the ecological conservation status of listed habitats and species.

The facts, known to date, are:

The new dirt road stretches for about 1.5 km, is 3-4 m wide and was built between March and May 2020.
The road is in a Natura 2000 site
The road does not have a valid building permit
No adequate environmental assessment has taken place
No agreement or approval has been given by the Natura 2000 site custodian for works in protected habitats
The road has not been approved by the Romanian Forest Guard for cutting in areas mapped as “virgin forests” by the “Pin Matra study”
The road has not been approved by the Ministry of Environment for forest works in areas officially proposed for inclusion studies in the protection system of the “National Catalog of Virgin and Quasi-virgin forests”.

This is a long list of evidence showing clear violations of laws, rules and regulations that were supposed to ensure the permanent protection of such precious forests.

The work was carried out without an information panel, under the pretext of “rehabilitating a dirt road” that never existed on the left bank of the Sâmbăta river in a formerly roadless, wild valley. Only the touristic path that leads to mountain refuge Cabana Sâmbăta and which is located on the right bank of the river Sâmbăta appears on the forest maps.

The valley harbors large tracks of old growth forests with high biodiversity and scientific values (researched by the REMOTE Primary Forests project).

According to the NGO Agent Green, this is the list of potential illegalities:

Unauthorised construction of a dirt road without proper building permit
Unauthorised construction of a road without a proper environmental assessment
Unauthorised construction of a road without consent of the Custodian of a Natura 2000 site
Illegal change of land use category, from forest to road
Disturbing the national forest fund and protected species by carrying out the illegal construction of the road
Unauthorised construction of a road in forest stands identified by the “Pin Matra” study as virgin forests
Unauthorised road construction damaging Natura 2000 protected habitats and species, ignoring the legal obligation of carrying out a (nature impact) appropriate assessment prior to any intervention
Unauthorised road construction through the Sâmbăta riverbed and other tributary watercourses
Destruction of the soil and dislocation of rocks on the edge of watercourses and in the forest
Abandonment of felled trees in streams
Unauthorised logging of trees in Natura 2000 priority habitats, in Pin Matra polygons and in potentially virgin forests included in the official list of the Ministry of Environment
Damaging the status of protected species and habitats

In the context of the EU infringement procedure against Romania for forest exploitation in protected habitats without adequate appropriate assessment, it is very worrying that the new road was even built through potential “priority habitats” which are under strict protection in the whole of the EU – in particular:

91E0 * – Alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior – Alno-Padion, Alnion incanae, Salicion albae

9180 * – Tilio-Acerion forests on steep slopes, rubble and ravines

Furthermore, the illegal road was built directly through the habitats of several protected species for which the Natura 2000 site was designated, such as the wolf and the otter, and the fact that the road affected the course of the river Sambata and will have had a negative impact on fish species found in this river, such as Cottus gobio.

Agent Green will file complaints against this illegal road, stating that the Environmental Guard, Romanian Waters and the National Agency for Protected Natural Areas have a direct responsibility to investigate and prosecute these clear violations of the law and to force those who built the road to restore the affected area to its original state.

This scandalous contemporary example of clear contempt for nature and the law underscores the urgent need for EU intervention, as Romanian authorities are not able, and seemingly unwilling to fight such environmental crimes.

Here is a video by Agent Green showing the extent of the destruction:

The same location in Sâmbăta valley in 2020: the rich biodiversity at the river banks has been devastated.

Untouched fairy tale forest in Sambata valley – Fagaras Natura 2000 site.

Forest maps do not show the existence of any road.

The beginnig of the new road, which is obviously not built on the hiking trail.

The road gives easy access to the old growth. Logging machinery will soon follow. Thus, the road has to be rehabilitated and the natural values completely restored.

Finally a clear announcement: EuroNatur and Agent Green welcome EU biodiversity strategy

May 20, 2020agent green, Biodiversity Strategy, EU, euronatur, forest, old growth, primary, romaniaWoodland

The EU Biodiversity Strategy aims at strict protection of 10% of EU’s ecosystems – including protection of all primary and old growth forests

EuroNatur and Agent Green welcome the announcement by the European Commission regarding the new EU Biodiversity Strategy. The EU Commission clearly states that „nature is in a state of crisis“ and declared that „at least one third of protected areas – representing 10% of EU land and 10% of EU sea – should be strictly protected.” The EU Commission also emphasized, that “it will be crucial to define, map, monitor and strictly protect all the EU’s remaining primary and old-growth forests“.

The biggest and most precious chunks of never systematically managed or long untouched forests („primary and old growth” forests) of the EU can be found in Romania, Bulgaria and Scandinavia. In particular in Romania, the progress of logging of extremely biodiversity rich old growth and primary forest ecosystems is causing big concern among scientists and conservationists globally.

Lately, conservative voices from the Romanian forestry sector have been drawing the misleading picture that Romania’s high biodiversity value forests are a product of the Romanian forestry system, claiming that 90% or Romania’s forests are ecologically equal to natural forests and try to spread the non-factual picture, that Romania’s natural forests are “man made” and that „forest management“ (= logging) is key to sustain biodiversity in forests. These assertions are in sharp contrast to bold evidence for a catastrophic loss of high biodiversity value forests ecosystems in recent years.

Approximately 8% of Romania’s forests potentially still show a very high degree of naturalness. These forests should be subject of conservation efforts to meet the 10% EU target for strict protection, as now initiated by the EU Commission.

In order to get there, existing mapping inventories need to be further validated in a transparent and cooperative way – also using digital data from forest management plans, which are not publicly accessible yet.

EuroNatur and Agent Green are ready to collaborate with the Romanian government in order to improve forest protection, if it is ensured that this is happening in a fair, transparent and positive manner and the recent wave of attacks against forest conservation is being halted.