Tag Archives: protest

Romanias forests supported by more than 200 places!

July 9, 2019action, locations, protest, romania, sticker, worldwideWoodland

So far, we have collected more than 200 photos from various locations in more than 30 countries as an international symbol for the preservation of the ancient forests of Romania!

Especially in the current fight against the climate and ecosystem crisis, the preservation of our forests is extremely important. In Romania, there are still large areas of old growth forests, many parts of which are real virgin forests. These forests are not only habitat for many species, but also large CO2 storages and play an important role in climate protection.

We designed two stickers from our campaign to protect these wild forests and asked people from around the world to send us photos with these stickers. So together we can set a sign that the primeval and old-growth forests of Romania must be preserved. We have already received more than 200 photos from over 30 countries from all over the world: For example from Australia, Thailand, Montenegro, Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, the USA, Canada, Iceland and Greenland. These Show very diverse places such as urban areas, well-known sights , nature, landscapes or street art.

Many thanks to all who have already sent us photos. We continue to collect photos, please send them to: act4romanianforests@euronatur.org

Here are some examples of the photos as well as videos:

Large majority in EU supports call for better global forest protection, new poll shows

May 22, 2019destruction, Environment, EU, FERN, forest, poll, protection, protest, romania, survey, yougovWoodland

Among all EU citizens, Romanians show strongest attachment to forests and their protection

On May 21, 2019, the international non governmental organization Fern (Brussels) published a new YouGov survey documenting the very high importance of forest conservation for the EU population: 87 percent of EU respondents favour new laws to combat global forest destruction.

The majority of respondents say that neither their national governments (66 percent) nor the EU (61 percent) do enough to fight global deforestation. 91% of Europeans and 96% of people in Romania are concerned about forests and wildlife. 88% of respondents in Romania said that their government is not doing enough to combat global forest destruction.

Romanians show a clear lead with 82% of people “strongly agree” with the statement “I really care about forests & wildlife”— by far the highest in the EU, noticeably higher than other countries.

Also, in Romania, 86% of people “strongly agree” with the statement “Deforestation is harmful to the people and wildlife that live in the affected areas”. This is a much higher score than in other countries, suggesting most Romanians are very much aware of and concerned about the enormous level of forest destruction occurring in their country.

In Slovakia, where forest destruction is also a major issue in the public, it was 69% of people agreeing with this statement, one of the highest in the EU (alongside Bulgaria and Spain)

This results show that people are much more eager to care about forests when they actually still have them in their country – as in Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria, which still have significant tracts of natural forests.

Furthermore, the numbers went strongly against the common stereotype that it is only “wealthier” people who care about the environment: the countries with the lowest levels of people saying they “strongly agreed” with “I really care about forest & wildlife” were German, the Netherlands, and Denmark.

Also, in massively forested but wealthy countries like Sweden or Finland, the numbers were much lower than in forested but poorer countries like Romania, Slovakia & Bulgaria.

On 6th of May, the UN’s World Biodiversity Council – IPBES had cited climate protection as being of equally important than biodiversity preservation and restoration – in a seminal report warning about the threat of mass extinction and loss of natural ecosystems.

The IPBES results and the poll responses make clear, with a view to the forthcoming EU elections, that forest conservation is a an important piece of homework for the EU and its policies.

Thus it is very important to participate in the election to the European Parliament and to strengthen environmental protection and nature conservation in the EU.

Romania hosts the largest natural forest remains within the EU, but no sufficient action is taken neither by the Romanian government nor by the EU to stop the progressing logging bulldozers…

Activists urge EU Commission to save Romania’s Virgin Forests

November 8, 2018action, AgentGreen, banner, Brussels, EU, euronatur, protest, romaniaWoodland

EuroNatur and Agent Green: EU’s biggest nature crisis in Romania requires immediate action

A giant life-sized virgin forest tree being cut down has been etched into the pavement outside the EU Commission building in Brussels. Along with several banners calling on the EU to act now to protect Romania’s virgin forests, activists from EuroNatur Foundation and Romanian NGO Agent Green have brought the issue of the logging of Romania’s ancient forests to Brussels. Huge banners have been unravelled drawing a lot of attention to the ongoing destruction of the EU’s last large tracts of virgin forests in Romania.

“This is a wake-up call about the tragic environmental crisis that is destroying Romania’s virgin forests. Their loss through logging is one of the biggest nature emergencies in the EU today. Thousands of hectares of irreplaceable forests are being destroyed or degraded every year. Most of these precious forests are in Natura 2000 sites, where they are supposed to be protected. We call on the EU Commission to take action, now!“, Gabriel Paun, president of Agent Green, said

Romania hosts the largest remains of virgin forests within the EU, with estimates between 100,000 and 200,000 hectares. These unique forests are progressively falling victim to greed, corruption and negligence of nature conservation laws. Even in national parks and Natura 2000 sites, where deterioration of the natural habitats and species should be prohibited, logging of old growth and virgin forests is omnipresent.

“If the breach of EU legislation in Romania is allowed to continue without any sanctions, the whole Natura 2000 system is weakened. Thus the EU needs to stop looking the other way and start taking action! This is why we have come to Brussels today“, Gabriel Schwaderer, Executive Director of EuroNatur, said.

Romania will hold the EU-presidency in 2019, but authorities and the government do not show any ambition to implement national and EU environmental legislation properly.

Background information:
The creative and peaceful protest was part of a day of action in Brussels called “Spotlight on Vanishing Virgin Forests of Romania“. NGOs EuroNatur und Agent Green wanted to both inform the public and raise awareness with EU institutions about the logging in Romania, a drama that doesn’t get the attention it needs.

The day of action also includes these events:
– Expert conference “Europe‘s last virgin forests”, hosted by MEPs Thomas Waitz and Benedek Javor. European Parliament, Room number ASP5E1. Nov 8, 15 – 17pm. (Please note: participants need to register in advance at thomas.waitz-office@ep.europa.eu).
– Film screening “Out of Control”, a video series about scandalous logging in Romania’s national parks, with discussion. Kamilou in Mundo B (Rue d’Edimbourg, 26, 1050 Bruxelles), Nov 8, 19 – 21pm. Entry: free.

Contact information:
EuroNatur: Anja Arning, E-Mail: anja.arning(at)euronatur.org, Tel.: +49 (0)7732 – 92 72 13