The Romanian Chamber of Deputies gave the final vote on the new Forestry Code on Tuesday, December 17. Adopted with 245 votes to 2 and 6 abstentions, the bill introduces essential reforms, including provisions for unrestricted access to forests, creating green belts around cities, stronger penalties for illegal logging, and introducing new forestry offenses.

The Forestry Code reform passed the Senate in the spring and moved to the Chamber of Deputies for the final vote. To become law, the legislative proposal also has to be signed by the president. 

The new Forestry Code includes several key provisions, including unrestricted public access to forests; creating green belts around cities by protecting existing forests and expanding them; protecting the so-called 'remarkable' trees within the national forest fund; imposing sanctions, including vehicle confiscation, for illegal wood transport; imposing sanctions for those illegally cutting trees in city parks; and setting clear afforestation targets for public authorities.

The amendments to the Forestry Code bill that aim to legislate green belts nationwide have been the initiative of the Together for the Green Belt/Împreună pentru Centura Verde civic platform with support from across the political spectrum. The platform's founder, high-altitude climber and conservationist Alex Găvan, has repeatedly campaigned for the protection of forests around major urban communities, including Bucharest, as a significant step toward healthier, climate-resilient cities.

USR MP Diana Buzoianu, who backed the amendments, commented: "Today is a good day for forests, for the environment and, ultimately, for our health, for all of us. […] After years of work and months of negotiations, we have adopted a new Forestry Code that contains several important reforms, so that we can finally protect our country's forests. It is not a perfect legislative act, but we managed, in collaboration with the other parliamentary parties, to adopt firm measures, which show that, finally, the voice of civil society, experts, and all those who love and protect the environment has been heard in the Romanian Parliament."

Also under the new Forestry Code, the forest roads will be monitored with video surveillance and technical monitoring/recording systems, the system of criminal sanctions will be regulated, new forestry offenses will be introduced, the National Forestry Registry will be established to record forestry operations, and the obligations and rights of forest owners are clearly defined, according to Euronews Romania.

Plus, the area where clear-cutting is prohibited is extended to natural parks and all protected natural areas in Romania, and the minimum tree-covered area is doubled, among others.

Present at the debates on the bill in the Chamber of Deputies, environment minister Mircea Fechet noted: "15 years in which we have evolved as a society, where expectations have increased and challenges have diversified. It is a law that fully deserves to be fast-tracked, not only because it represents an important milestone in the PNRR, but because time is running out for Romania's forests, for which we need clear and up-to-date regulations. Today we are not just talking about timber, but about the importance of the forest for each of us."

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Andrei Moldovan/Dreamstime.com)