ROMANIA'S PRIME FORESTS – A paradise is being cut down
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Timber is a highly political issue in Romania. Due to legal and illegal logging, an entire natural paradise in Eastern Europe is threatened with disappearance. Economic pressure is at stake, not least of all.
Toplita/Campeni/Comanesti/Gheorgheni Fresh, clear tracks of a young bear are visible on the soft forest floor on this May morning. Hikers in the Apuseni Nature Park need not fear, however, as the wild animals in this region, which is untouched by mass tourism, flee if they even smell humans. The farmer who leads the German Press Agency reporter to a deforested area is still afraid. Not of bears, but of the timber mafia. He does not want his name printed because the police investigated him and other farmers after they blocked timber transports a year ago in protest against the deforestation. The investigation was dropped, but the uncertainty remains.
Romania's forests are like a crime thriller. Of the 6.6 million hectares of forest, Greenpeace estimates that three hectares are disappearing every hour. According to the Romanian Audit Office, the loss has been almost 400,000 hectares since the fall of communism 25 years ago. About half of the forest is privately owned, after land expropriated by the communists was returned to the former owners or their descendants. Read more…