His Royal Highness Prince Charles of Wales has talked about the importance of the forests in Romania and has asked the local authorities and environmental organizations to protect this richness, in a message he recorded for Greenpace.org,

“Very few large areas of natural forests remain in the European region, and many of these are in Romania,” Prince Charles said in the message, reports local Digi24.

According to him, the forests in Romania “are an important and vital part of the country’s economy, environmental integrity, and cultural identity, but they are also of global importance in terms of biodiversity and role in regulating the climate.”

In the message, he also refers to an estimation which shows that some 180,000 hectares of forests were degraded or lost between 2000 and 2011 in Romania, due to both legal and illegal logging.

“What is worse, nearly half of the damage occurred in protected areas,” Prince Charles added.

Another study has shown that 31,000 cases of illegal logging were registered in Romania between 2009 and 2011, followed in 2012 by some 20,000 more cases. This means 53 cases per day.

The Prince himself has walked through Romania's forests describing them as “some of the most remarkable landscapes” he had ever seen. Thus, he believes that Romania can gain more from the long-term sustainable management of its forests than from destroying them for short-term benefits.

“Knowing Romania and Romanians as I do, I have the full confidence and trust that you will rise to this challenge,” Prince Charles said in his message.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com