Save Romania's Forests and Prosecute Illegal Logging!

This action is crucial for the preservation of Europe's last pristine forests and the wild animals they are home to.

Please HELP up by SIGNING and SHARING this petition, as well as the original one at: http://www.agentgreen.ro/petitia-pentru-salvarea-padurilor-si-demnitatii-romaniei/

Thank you very much!

Dear Mr. Dacian Cioloş, Prime Minister of Romania:

For quite a few years now we, as a country and people, have been faced with the grave issue of illegal and abusive logging. Throughout this period, prosecutors, NGOs, foresters, the international and national press have brought to surface evidence that the situation has spiraled out of control and too little has been done to solve it.
The lack of efficiency in the battle against corruption and illegalities – that recently have increased alarmingly – is a dishonorable mark that stigmatizes the Romanian people.

Over the past 13 years, several foreign companies have increased their sawmill capacity way beyond the legal wood harvesting allowance that Romania has to offer. Consequently, the strain put on our forests is tremendous and unprecedented in the history of our country. In fact, it is so bad that it has also begun to affect Romania’s neighboring countries. Because of these companies, Romania has violated the Espoo Convention. The current Forestry Code and its implementation rules are far from solving the issue.

Unless something will change fundamentally in the attitude of the political class and the government, regarding their interest for reforestation, afforestation and restorations of forest sites, the conservation of the biodiversity and for the adaptation of the forests to climate change, the future of Romania will remain pessimistic, with future generations who will look upon us and pass a harsh judgement.

We must prosecute illegal logging in our country, and we must save our forests and the animals who inhabit them NOW! By signing this petition, you are helping to put pressure on the Romanian government, so that they will listen and preserve this important habitat!

In the following, I offer you arguments and solutions for a fair analysis and immediate action via OUG (Government Emergency Ordinance)

ARGUMENTS:

• At least 8.8 million cubic meters of timber are officially illegally cut down, every year.
• The country’s forest-covered area has dropped below 27%, whilst the optimal forest-covered area percentage, according to scientists, is between 35%-40%.
• The Wood Tracker is a great tool but yet inefficient and easy to cheat. There is no tracking proper and robust system in place that can ascertain the legality of the timber from the forest, up to the finite product. A truck with timber can make even 5 trips a day, with a single unique code, to the nearest depot.
• At the depot, the illegally obtained timber is mixed with the legal one. The APV number (the capitalization document, named “Act de Punere in Valoare”) is valid only from the forest up to the first destination. This may be a depot or a sawmill. But then the track is lost and consumers have no chance know what they buy.
• Due to the lack of a complete tracking system, the illegally obtained timber can easily enter the European or Global Market. A new robust tracking system is a must, one which will ensure that the APV can be tracked by the authorities, companies and consumers, up to the final product, which would be technically possible.
• The forests' capability of counteracting climate, hydrological and geomorphic hazards has diminished tremendously. The area of forests undergoing caretaking activities has diminished at an astonishing rate. Simultaneously, there areas with forests with logging activities and clear cuts that have not been completely or at all regenerated while the areas with unnatural species inadequate to the natural types of forests have increased.
• The economic pressure is rising, threatening even forests from protected areas, national parks and the last virgin forests. The fact that Romania still holds the most valuable forests patrimony in the temperate zone of Europe – including virgin and quasi-virgin forests, seems to have eluded our national decision-making entities.
• The legal amount of timber harvested from Romania’s forests is about 18 to 20 million m3, plus 8,8 million m3 of illegally harvested timber.

The persons with interests in this field consider this amount to be too low, compared to the available wood, irresponsibly requesting the increase of this amount by unjustifiably reducing the cutting age of the trees. The following facts are being deliberately ignored:

• the surface of the exploitable arboretum has significantly diminished due to the excessive logging over the last seven decades; thus, today, most arboretums on hills and mountains are under 80 years (well below the harvesting age);
• nearly a quarter of the country’s forests have special protection functions of great importance (functional type I and II), for which the production process is not regulated;
• in the country, there are extremely many territorial units that are gravely lacking in harvestable arboretum, particularly in the hillside and plain areas;
• foreign firms still massively export unprocessed timber.

SOLUTIONS:

1. 0 (ZERO) deforestation. The decreasing of Romania’s forest-covered areas must be stopped at 27% and it must gradually increase to 40%, by 2030.
2. Prohibiting the export of unprocessed timber.
3. The tracking system from forest to final product (APV / unique code).
4. Limiting the logging volume at an affordable level prioritizing local communities and domestic industry using superior processing, but not more than 15 million m3/year.

I hope that you will find my arguments and solutions to be at least reasonable, strategic and helpful. I am hopefully looking forward to hearing from you and to see you taking urgent action to solve the issues mentioned above.

Sincerely,
[Signature]