Logging operations in Romania’s Retezat, Godeanu, Sarcu and Vîlcan mountains have led to the disappearance of the last Intact Forest Landscape (PFI) in the temperate climate zone of Europe, Agent Green said in a statement.
‘We protested at the site and at the ministry, we tried in court to stop the cut forests, I pointed out that the forests are being exploited in Râu-Șes, Câmpușel and Domogled. But it’s too late. Corruption and greed have triumphed. The largest temple of nature in Europe has been lost.’ said Gabriel Păun, President Agent Green.
Agent Green has published a new filmed report of investigations was conducted 2009-2015 on logging in PFI. In the research, the material has represented the areas of Retezat affected by logging.
In Câmpușel, the Austrian company responsible even owns the PFI territories that were illegally sold to it by Câmpu lui Neag. The forest, a natural mixture of beech and conifers is FSC certified yet has been systematically exploited since 2006 immediately after the acquisition.
Another area in the PFI where the significant territories were lost is that of the Godeanu Mountains, the Domogled National Park where the Gorges Company Succes has systematically exploited the timber in recent years.
At least 78,601 m3 of wood left the park in 2013-2014. One part was extracted and processed directly by Succes and another 53,525 m3 were extracted by the companies Trans Fag, Beech International, Alindo Impex, Mirona Forest and Trans Exfor who sell the wood to the company Succes. From here, the timber goes to a factory in Arges County for drying and is then sold to China.
The Intact Forestry landscape was discovered by researchers in 2006 and confirmed by a new scientific study conducted by ICAS for the Ministry of the Environment in 2007. The Romanian Government ignored this study, which included a set of recommendations for the legal protection of this national treasure and European. PFI was also confirmed by the study published by Agent Green in Nature Protection, the magazine of the Romanian Academy in May 2011.
According to the scientific criteria, a PFI measures at least 50,000 ha of wilderness with a breadth of at least 10 km. Even though PFI was lost, there were still 218,000 hectares of virgin forests in Romania. The largest ones barely exceed the surface of 5,000 hectares and are located in the Semenic, Godeanu and Vilcan mountains.
Only about 20% are well protected by law. 80% are in danger of disappearing because the logging operations have been more aggressive since the logging and processing companies came to know the map with the virgin forests identified by the Veen Ecology study published in 2005.
MICHAEL WALSH is a worldwide journalist, broadcaster and author of 63 book titles with 36 years’ experience. Like other journalists of integrity, he no longer writes for corporate media, opting instead for true journalism.