Carpathian Mountains’ flora and fauna

Thematic mountaineering and Romanian identity

Daniel Onea, 27.07.2023, 14:00

There
is a growing number of tourists who are set to discover the Carpathian
Mountains’ wildlife, thanks to several special tours they’re willing to take in
the mountains. Going on such tours enables them to understand hidden details,
to watch the wild animals in their own habitat, while in the summer, tourists
can enjoy the beauty of the Carpathian Mountains’ flora. Tours can be personalized
and completed with visit in the rural regions, to the traditional craftsmen or
to several tourist assets of a particular area.

Cosmin Zgremția is a forestry engineer by profession. Since
2014, he has also been a specialized flora and fauna guide. Ever since he was a
child, Cosmin imagined the forest resembled an outdoor museum. Later on, he
found out Romania had a surface area of 6.5 million hectares of forest, an
immense surface area, that is, which he himself, as a forestry engineer, could
have never imagined as a whole. Therefore, given the country’s so great
forested area, Romania has become increasingly known, internationally, as a destination
of exploration of the natural wildlife.

Cosmin Zgremția:

I have been doing sylvan tourism, which
is part of ecotourism, and I do believe in the value of conservation through
eco-education. Actually, I ended up being a tourism guide out of love for
nature and thanks to my profession. I was quick to discover that those auxiliary
services which according to us are attached to silviculture were poorly put to good
use by my fellow forestry workers. In 2011, when I was a hunting fund manager as
part of Brasov Municipal City’s Hunting Fund, I came up with the idea of opening
to the lay public the hunting observatories for bear observation tours. That’s
how my tourism career started. Gradually, I have grown fond of that, more and
more. I noticed I had a penchant for explaining all those intimate details of bears’
lives, and of the forest in general. So I decided, having resigned from the
position I had with the Forestry Directorate, to dedicate my entire life and
activity to that particular field of ecotourism.

All
visits Cosmin has been organizing are thematic visits.

One such tour enables visitors to observe the wildlife fauna. What we do,
actually, is follow the animals’ traces. We stand a 90% observation chance for
the common species and 10% for the protected species: bear, wolf, wild cat.
Another tour gets us explore the rural environment, it is part of a thematic
visit blending details about trees, plant species into details pertaining to
the Romanian cultural identity. Another tour takes you on a visit to a chalet.
Such a visit is made in the company of a specialized guide, a nature scientist, and
includes several stopovers. The most popular visit is the thematic walk through
the forest. It is like a safari where you have
stopovers every ten meters. Plant species are observed, certain bird species,
even insects. I have been trying to speak about each separate species. I want
to involve everybody. Therefore, the experience is like an outdoor documentary,
where participants really get involved. It is a giant leap we take, from watching
a documentary on the telly to actually being part of it. The most spectacular option
could be a tour in the Fagaras Mountains. Its difficulty is a little bit
greater, but you can have the chance to watch the bears but also the chamois,
in the wildlife. Practically, each time we go out in the wilderness I use the environment
to offer tourists the required info and instil the love of nature in them, at
once pursuing my aim, eventually, that of eco-education.

Some of the tourist who opt for such wildlife observation
tours also have the required photo technique. They are keen on having snapshots
of bears, woodpeckers and even wolves in their natural environment. With details
on that, here is our guide today, Cosmin Zgremtia, once again.

Each species can be taken pictures
of. There are optimum periods, for taking pictures or for observation. For example,
you stand very little chances to photograph a bear in the wilderness, in winter.
Therefore, the bears’ photographing season usually begins on April the 10th
and ends on September 15, when the bears retire for their winter slumbers. Actually,
latterly, towards winter, bears are less active during the day and more active during
the night, before they retire. If they want to live a wild experience, my guests
need to have the minimum required equipment for hiking. Which means boots with
a grippy sole, proper trousers, three layers of clothing, for the abdomen and
the chest and something to cover their head with. As for my challenge as a
guide, I want to have in-shape tourists.

First of all, tourists are always impressed with the
information they get. Cosmin Zgremtia once again:

Secondly, they are impressed by the interaction
with the wildlife, with the forest as such, what also impressed them is the way
they felt they connected to nature. And, thirdly, they are impressed by the way
I treated them and how they felt among the locals. In the tours I offer, I try
to integrate my guests in the naturel environment but also in out authentic Romanian
community. In effect, I am trying to offer Romania an identity
as regards its natural resources, but also culture-wise. Most of the tourists
come from Great Britain, they are followed by French and Italian tourists, but
we also had guests from Australia, even from New Zealand and even from North America,
the United States.

Cosmin told us most of the tourists he accompanied were
foreign and that he would like the Romanian tourists to take an interest in such
tours. However, such an interest may stem from a certain kind of education in
the field of tourism.

Practically, most of my tourists are
foreign citizens because they already have that particular upbringing, that
kind of education. They can identify the key words in the description
of the tourist programs and are quick to accept a trip into the wild. Moreover, the foreign tourists’ faith in a tourist
guide is stronger.

If you contact the national tourism information and promotion
centres across Romania, especially those located close by the nature or
national parks, you’re sure to get data about a tourist guide who can accompany
you in the exploration of nature, so that you can have a truly special
experience. (EN)