Illegal deforestation mafia
Illegal logging continues in Romania, a country with one of the oldest forest areas in Europe.
România Internațional, 20.09.2021, 13:50
Illegal deforestation in Romania has once again come to the attention of the authorities, after a recent incident. The members of a team that was filming an international documentary about illegal deforestation were brutally beaten by about 20 individuals in a forest from Suceava County (in the northeast). The filming equipment and all the recordings were destroyed. The team was accompanied by an environmental activist, who helped them identify the evidence of forestry crimes in the area. The attack was severe, and some of the victims lost consciousness on the way to hospital, according to Greenpeace Romania. All three victims subsequently received medical care, and they are now in a stable condition. Among the people heard by the police are the owner of the forest where the incident took place, as well as the head of the forest division, but investigations continue to identify all those involved in the attack.
Another tragi-comic incident caught the attention of the press last autumn. At the time, a mayor from a commune in Argeș County (south) was caught by police while illegally transporting almost 40 cubic meters of wood without documents of origin. Both the wood and the truck were confiscated. A criminal file was opened against the mayor who defended himself saying that he had nothing to do with the wood. He claimed that he was just driving the truck, because his wifes company did not have enough drivers. The irony is that the mayor claims that he did nothing illegal.
According to NGOs, in recent years, in Romania, over 600 people have been attacked in forests by criminals, and 6 of them have died because of this violence. The Romanian Police reports that, in the first 8 months of 2021, forestry crimes have increased by over 60% compared to the same period of last year. In the first 8 months of this year, more than 27,000 checks were made and the authorities have given more than 5,500 fines amounting to 9 million lei (approx. 1.8 million euros), which is actually a very small amount, if we think of the real value of the stolen wood. About 20 million cubic meters are illegally cut in Romania every year, the former Environment Minister, Costel Alexe, said at the end of 2019, part of this amount coming from virgin forests.
Romania has about two-thirds of Europes virgin forests, most of them protected under the Natura 2000 program. In 2020, the European Commission launched the infringement procedure against Romania because it failed to take measures to protect forests. Unfortunately, it did not produce effects, environmental activists claim. In their opinion, the Romanian politicians are only putting the blame on one another. No government that has been in power all these years has been able to do anything about illegal logging. The recent changes proposed by the authorities in relation to forestry legislation, debated in Parliament, are meant to significantly tighten the rules on illegal logging. Any wood theft, regardless of the amount, will become a crime and will be punished by imprisonment, irrespective of the amount cleared. Until then, forestry crimes continue. (LS)
