The Payments Agency for Rural Development and Fishery will open a EUR 176 million financing line for all those who want to plant forest on agricultural lands in Romania. No co-financing is needed for the financing line and funds will be disbursed over four sessions, with EUR 44 million up for grabs during each session.

The actual funding will depend on the geographical region where the forest is planted. For example, those who want to plant a hectare of forest on the Romanian plane will received EUR 1,330. Potential beneficiaries have to own at least 5,000 sqm of agricultural land. The first session on this funding line will be open on March 1 and will be available until the end of March. A second session is scheduled from May 3 to may 31, then a third from August 16 to September 14 and a fourth from November 15 to December 14.

More than 5 percent of the total forests in Romania have been destroyed by private owners – some 350,000 hectares –  in the last 20 years.

The country has around 6.4 million hectares of forest and 120,000 people employed in the forestry sector. In 1990, all of Romania’s forests were state owned. A new law on retro-cession was enforced, so at the end of 2010, the state had only 66.3 percent of the country’s forests. The ratio went down further to 52.2 percent.

In recent years, foreigners have started to buy more of Romania’s forests. The largest private forest owner in Romania is Harvard University, with over 35,000 hectares.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Photoxpress.com)