Disputes and irregularities in forestry

Rallies were held in Romania at the weekend, in an attempt to bring abusive deforestation to a halt

Mihai Pelin, 11.05.2015, 13:24

Rallies to protect forests were organised in Bucharest and other big
cities across Romania at the weekend. Under the slogan, Together we can stop
the massacre of forests, thousands of people alongside representatives of 27
NGOs from both Romania and abroad took to the street to protest abusive
deforestation and to call on the authorities to make Romania’s forests a
national priority. The protest is legitimate, considers Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis, who has sent the new Forestry Code
back to Parliament, for-re-discussion. The document will be re-debated by the
Chamber of Deputies this week, with the government hoping that the final vote
will be able to prevent, fight and penalise illegal logging and break the
monopoly held by any particular company. In his request, the Romanian president
has underlined that the document, which has been sent to him for promulgation,
contains some provisions that might limit the activity of entrepreneurs and
companies and might also make the sector less competitive.

In another move, Klaus
Iohannis has announced that illegal logging will be on the agenda of the future
meeting of Romania’s Higher Defence Council. Two weeks ago, the Senate rejected the changes requested by the
president and voted the initial version of the law. In turn, Prime Minister Victor Ponta considers that, if the new Forestry Code
is adopted and promulgated, the relevant authorities will have more powerful
tools in the fight against those who abuse their market position to encourage
excessive deforestation. Actually, the government has notified the National
Anti-Corruption Directorate on at least 50 possible acts of corruption in the
forestry field, committed by people who brought a significant prejudice to the
forest fund and the state institutions.

The report drawn up by the Prime
Minister’s Control Corps has
brought to light a series of irregularities made within the National Forest
Authority, Romsilva, and by the forest divisions of five counties, between 2009
and 2012. The document shows, among others, that Romsilva allowed some
companies to take part in tenders without making proof they had either the
required financial and material means or the specialised labour force for
logging. According to a survey, Romania’s wood exports, except for furniture,
doubled in the 2008-2013 period, amounting to 1.9 billion Euros. The countries
which imported the largest quantities of wood from Romania include Austria, Egypt, Italy, Germany and Turkey. Overall,
Romanian forests lost over 357 million cubic meters of wood to logging between 1990
and 2012, in the context in which the average wood density of 6.4
meters/hectare in Romania is far below the average of other European countries
with a similar topography, like Austria – 36 meters/hectare or Germany – 45
meters/hectare