PRESERVING ROMANIA’S FORESTS

Introduction

In the past 19 years, Romania has lost as much forest land as other countries have lost in the whole of the last century. Such an abrupt and catastrophic loss made it an absolute imperative that the nation’s remaining forests be preserved through a combined effort at biodiversity, the ecological reconstruction of existing forests, effective fire prevention, and the regulation of wood exploitation. Until recently, compliance with existing laws designed to protect Romania’s forests has more often been avoided and ignored than enforced and honored. This was partially due to the poverty of some who depend in winter on illegally obtained wood, and partially upon the greed of others who simply choose to ignore the law and the grave harm that uncontrolled deforestation creates.

In March 2008, the Romanian Parliament passed Law 46/2008 adopting a new Romanian Forest Code (hereinafter refer to as the “Forest Code”). Necessity aroused Parliament to enact the new Forest Code because the prior law had been amended so often that confusion alone caused many acts of deforestation. The new Forest Code embodies the government’s desire to prevent uncontrolled deforestation, increase public awareness of diminishing forest land, and enforce a better crafted and more understandable law.

Forest Ownership in Romania

The Forest Code provides that forests can either be public property or private property but, whatever the case may be, all forests are of national interest, falling within the protection of the state and not local authorities. The law allows for privately owned forest land to be enjoyed by the owners, and even sold or transferred, but in accordance with the provisions of the Forest Code which limit the exploitation of their ownership rights, and expressly prohibits any construction on f