\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Rallies to protect forests were organised in Bucharest and other big
\ncities across Romania at the weekend. Under the slogan, Together we can stop
\nthe massacre of forests, thousands of people alongside representatives of 27
\nNGOs from both Romania and abroad took to the street to protest abusive
\ndeforestation and to call on the authorities to make Romania’s forests a
\nnational priority. The protest is legitimate, considers Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis, who has sent the new Forestry Code
\nback to Parliament, for-re-discussion. The document will be re-debated by the
\nChamber of Deputies this week, with the government hoping that the final vote
\nwill be able to prevent, fight and penalise illegal logging and break the
\nmonopoly held by any particular company. In his request, the Romanian president
\nhas underlined that the document, which has been sent to him for promulgation,
\ncontains some provisions that might limit the activity of entrepreneurs and
\ncompanies and might also make the sector less competitive. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In another move, Klaus
\nIohannis has announced that illegal logging will be on the agenda of the future
\nmeeting of Romania’s Higher Defence Council. Two weeks ago, the Senate rejected the changes requested by the
\npresident and voted the initial version of the law. In turn, Prime Minister Victor Ponta considers that, if the new Forestry Code
\nis adopted and promulgated, the relevant authorities will have more powerful
\ntools in the fight against those who abuse their market position to encourage
\nexcessive deforestation. Actually, the government has notified the National
\nAnti-Corruption Directorate on at least 50 possible acts of corruption in the
\nforestry field, committed by people who brought a significant prejudice to the
\nforest fund and the state institutions. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The report drawn up by the Prime
\nMinister’s Control Corps has
\nbrought to light a series of irregularities made within the National Forest
\nAuthority, Romsilva, and by the forest divisions of five counties, between 2009
\nand 2012. The document shows, among others, that Romsilva allowed some
\ncompanies to take part in tenders without making proof they had either the
\nrequired financial and material means or the specialised labour force for
\nlogging. According to a survey, Romania’s wood exports, except for furniture,
\ndoubled in the 2008-2013 period, amounting to 1.9 billion Euros. The countries
\nwhich imported the largest quantities of wood from Romania include Austria, Egypt, Italy, Germany and Turkey. Overall,
\nRomanian forests lost over 357 million cubic meters of wood to logging between 1990
\nand 2012, in the context in which the average wood density of 6.4
\nmeters\/hectare in Romania is far below the average of other European countries
\nwith a similar topography, like Austria – 36 meters\/hectare or Germany – 45
\nmeters\/hectare<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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