Swedish environment activist Greta Thunberg urged the Romanians to “stand together against illegal logging and the destruction of our common planet.” Local Mediafax recorded the video message in Brussels.

“Hi! My name is Greta Thunberg and I am a climate activist from Sweden, and I want to urge you to join the Fridays for Future movement in Romania and support them, and stand together against illegal logging and the destruction of our common planet. Because we only have one planet and we need to protect it, we need to protect the ecosystems, the biosphere and nature. So, see you on the streets,” the 17-year-old activist said.

Greta Thunberg was in Brussels these days, where she criticized the European Commission’s plan to achieve European climate neutrality by 2050. She said the “Green Deal” package of measures gives the world "much less than a 50 per cent chance" to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, Euronews reported.

Illegal logging continues to be a major problem in Romania. A few days ago, for example, acting environment minister Costel Alexe announced that over 100,000 cubic meters of wood were stolen from 340 hectares of forests in the county of Maramures, in northern Romania. He said that this “the largest operation of illegal logging” registered in Romania in the last five years.

Meanwhile, a major afforestation campaign kicked off in Romania on Friday, March 6. Present at the event marking the debut of this campaign, president Klaus Iohannis also planted a tree in Dambovita county.

“The forest must be protected. It’s unacceptable to have massive illegal cuts in the 21st century and thus I urge the prime minister and the government members present here to find new tools to protect Romania's forests,” Iohannis said at this event, according to News.ro.

newsroom@romania-insider.com

(Opening photo: ID 166715890 © Antonello Marangi/Dreamstime.com)