Agricultural forestry in

Romania

Alexandra-Mihaela NAGY
Erasmus student
 Agricultural Forestry in Romania
Alexandra-Mihaela NAGY

Contents

General information ................................................................................................ 3

Sustainability in landscaping and forest management in Romania ................... 4
1. The general protection regime. National Forest Fund ....................................... 4
2. Forest Ownership Regime .................................................................................. 5
3. Private Forestry Fund Regime ........................................................................... 6
Forestry monitoring ................................................................................................ 6
Forestry strategy in Romania................................................................................. 7
Development of forestry road............................................................................... 10
Wood Industry ....................................................................................................... 10
Ecological and socio-economics function of forests ........................................... 11
Importance of forests ............................................................................................ 12
Uses of forest`s flora and fauna............................................................................ 13
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 14

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 Agricultural Forestry in Romania
Alexandra-Mihaela NAGY
General information

In Romania, the national forest fund amounts to 6.4 million hectares, representing 26.7% of the
territory of the country, compared to 30% considered the ecological minimum and 30-40% in other
European countries with temperate climate, ranking 10th in Europe.

The concept of sustainable forest management has emerged in recent years following the Rio de
Janeiro Conference (1992), which has adopted among other key documents for our planet, known
forest principles. This concept is based on idea that forest management should take place in such
a way that it contributes to sustainable development which, as is well known, starts from the need
to meet in all plans the needs of current and future generations.

A correctly definition of sustainable forest management was adopted at the Ministerial Conference
on the Protection of Forests in Europe in Helsinki (1993): ”the management and use of forests and
forest land in such a way as to maintain biodiversity, productivity, the regeneration capacity, the
vitality and the potential to permanently exert multiple functions that meet the social, economic,
cultural and spiritual needs of current and future generations.”

After that, there was a need to establish criteria and indicators to characterize such management.
For European forests, such criteria and indicators have been established at the meetings of the
Geneva experts in June 1994 and in Antalya in January 1995 – as part of the follow-up to the
Helsinki resolution on sustainable management. Similar initiatives have been taken for other
regions of the globe: the Montreal process - for boreal and temperate forests outside Europe; the
International Tropical Forests Organization - for wet tropical forests, as well as nationally (Canada,
Finland) and even locally at the forest management level. Until now, has not been developed a
system of criteria and indicators as a global level. However, the FAO agreed on the
characterization of sustainable forest management basis on six criteria: three criteria are related to
quantitative and qualitative aspects: forests, conservation of biological diversity, health and forest
vitality; two criteria are related to the functions of forest ecosystems: productive functions of
forests, protective functions; the sixth criterion is that of other economic and social issues related
to the forest. To this are added another descriptive and quantitative indicator that will lead to a
more assessment of the way of forest management.

Currently, the Forest Code regards forest management as a technocratic discipline. The forest
arrangements are prepared in a technical-scientific manner by the administration and applied to
the areas to which they refer. Forest management not only involves harvesting a wood. The Forest
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 Agricultural Forestry in Romania
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Code establishes a sound basis for the issuance of cutting authorizations, in that it limits them to
the maximum annual cutting allowance established based on forestry arrangements. At present,
the Code does not explicitly regulate the planting of private forests that are part of the national
forest fund. Regeneration of cut forests is the responsibility of the owner.

Sustainability in landscaping and forest management in Romania

In Romania, although the first forest management regulations date back to the eighteenth century,
a practical forest-setting activity has grown markedly since the second half of the last century.

With the transition to the integral and unitary arrangement of the national forestry fund, the
technical planning instructions, along with the principle of continuity, introduced the principle of
raising the productivity of forests. The official instructions stipulate the obligation that, by means
of the measures envisaged, they should ensure the permanent satisfaction of the wood needs and
forestry products of the ever-growing request of the society.

1. The general protection regime. National Forest Fund

The national forestry fund is represented by the forests, the lands for forestation, those that serve
the needs of culture, production or forestry management, ponds, alluvial and non-productive lands,
included in the forestry arrangements irrespective of the nature of the property right. This is a
national proper and is implicitly subject to the forestry regime.

As mentioned above, the National Forest Fund amounts to 6.4 million ha, representing 26.7% of
the country`s territory.

The distribution of forests on geomorphological areas of Romania is uneven: 59.5% in the

mountain area, 29.8% in the hilly area, 10.7% in the plain area as you can see in the next chart.

Distribution of forest in Romania

10.70%
29.80%
59.50%

Mountain area Hilly area Plain area

Chart 1 – Distribution of forest in Romania

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At present, the lowest level of afforestation is in the Romanian Plain and the southern half of
Dobrogea, that is in the lowest part of the country. Of the 6.4 million hectares, the forests occupy
6.3 million hectares, the rest of the 0.1 million hectares, being destined for the needs of culture,
production and forestry.

Another structure divided the National Forestry Fund in 6 million of hectares which are in the state
property and 400 thousand hectares of private property.

Starting from the premise that the forestry fund is the object of the national interest, the Forest
Code prohibits the reduction of the forests covered, and the Strategy for Forestry foresees the
continuous growth of the forest areas from 26% to 32 – 34% in 2025. The Forestry Code and the
Forestry Strategy propose extending the network of national natural parks as well as establishing
new reserves of natural forests. Additionally, recommendations are made to stimulate natural
regeneration, conserve genetic resources, create complex structures of wooded areas, including
intensifying intensive treatments.

Now, the characteristics of forests are influenced by the way of use, the form of ownership, relief,
soil, climate, vegetation, fauna, etc.

2. Forest Ownership Regime

Regarding the public property forest fund, it is important to mention that its administration is
carried out by the National Forestry Registry, which operates based on economic management and
financial autonomy, it exercises public service tasks with the forestry aspect. The management of
the public property forest fund is carried out in accordance with the forestry arrangements that
form the basis of the forest cadaster. Forestry arrangements are prepared for ten years for each
forest detour to ensure a rational forest development.

The National Forestry Directorate is responsible for the application of the legal regulations in the
forest areas it administers and the police and other authorities (prefects, county councilors) have
the obligation to support the forest fund security action. Interestingly, the fires are regulated in
legislation separate from the forestry arrangements.

In public forests, grazing is forbidden, except for demarcated areas where grazing is allowed after
a prior request to local authorities and beekeeping is free of charge.

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3. Private Forestry Fund Regime

The private property forest fund is managed by private owners or associates in accordance with
the forestry regime and the environmental protection rules.

The way of management of the private forestry fund is determined by the forestry arrangements,
without affecting the right of ownership, and the expenses related to the replacement of the forestry
arrangements for the private forest are borne from the state budget.

The forest owner is bound to respect the forest arrangements, ensure its permanence, and he is
responsible for the regeneration of forests after cutting, and this goal may require the help of the
authorities. Otherwise, the authorities may act in their place, ordering them to pay the costs.

As for tree marking and grazing, the legal provisions are identical to those in state forests. Failure
to do so constitutes an offense or a contravention.

With the restitution of former owners' forests, Romania can retain part of the land involved which
is of national interest (forests with national or biodiversity interest). Up to now, only 5% of the
forests have become private for the adoption of land law in 1991 and amended by Law 167/1997.
The obligation to comply with the forestry regime in all forest areas, the seriousness of the imposed
sanctions, have not proved to be sufficient to guarantee proper management of these areas, nor to
prevent illegal cuts. If the new law allows land to be recovered in a much wider manner than
before, there will be public forest areas interwoven with private forest areas belonging to different
owners. This suggests the idea of a forest management in agreement between owners and state
administration.

Forestry monitoring

The functioning of the forest monitoring system in Romania (forest health surveillance) falls
within the sphere of major concern, at European and world level, of forestry conservation and
conservation.

The purpose of the forest monitoring activity is to continuously provide information on the state
of vegetation and forest soils, the effects of pollution on forests, to elaborate and substantiate the
measures for the management, recovery and prevention of the negative states in the forests of
Romania.

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The main objectives pursued by the functioning of the forest monitoring system are, on the one
hand, the recording of information on the spatial and temporal evolution of forests on a national
scale and, on the other hand, the identification of the main causes of forest damage and the
highlighting of the tasks and critical levels on the condition of trigger negative factors. Achieving
these goals requires a methodological approach through supervisory systems at different levels of
intensity and representativeness.

The National Permanent Survey Network, systematically located in all forests of the country, has
a density of 4x4 km (a survey at 1600 ha) and is intended for the annual recording of forest health
status by measuring certain parameters in permanent sample areas.

Types of injury tracked in polls can be divided into the following categories and subcategories:

- physiological injuries due to complex, difficult to determine causes: a) defoliation; b)

discoloration;

- easily identifiable physical injuries: a) hunting and large domestic animals; b) insects; c)
mushrooms; d) abiotic agents (wind, snow, frost, hail, etc.); e) anthropic agents (chisels, shells,
resins) - exploitative damage; f) other injuries.

Forestry strategy in Romania

In Romania, forestry is a basic branch of the national economy, due to the importance of forests
for environmental protection and maintaining ecological balance, and on the other hand, the role
of the forest in ensuring the continuity of the wood resources needed by the processing industry
wood and other uses.

By group of species, the softwoods have a weight of 30.7%, with priority being given to spruce
(1.4 million ha), followed by fir (0.3 million ha), for deciduous forests the share is 69.3%, the
beech being species with the largest area (1.9 million hectares), walled with oak (1.1 million ha).

In the forest species composition, significant changes have occurred over time, mainly by
increasing the area occupied by softwood, which primarily affected the beech and oak joints.

The average annual forest growth is 4099m3 / ha / year. It is considered that this growth is below
the favorable natural conditions in our country due to the following main causes:

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1) the existence of 700 ha of oak and low-productive beech forests;

2) the existence of more than 600 thousand ha of beech trees that have exceeded the exploitation
age due to inaccessibility;

3) affecting the growth of forests located in polluted areas around industrial centers on an area of
about 150 thousand hectares;

4) practicing grazing in forests, with highly destabilizing effects.

Another factor that caused disturbances in ensuring efficient forest management was the low
accessibility of forests. Only 65% of the surface of the forest fund can be considered accessible,
the density of the forest roads, amounting to about 39,200 km, representing only 6,1 km / ha, from
this point of view, among the last countries in Europe, with similar relief. There are almost 2.2
million ha of forest inaccessible in the forest fund where wood harvesting and tree regeneration
works cannot be carried out.

After 1990, important transformations and changes took place, and we can remember them as
more important:

a) the occurrence of private property on forests, with a share of about 5% of the total area of the
national forest fund, and in these forests, there are serious deviations from the forestry regime, a
large part of them being cut or deflated, regardless of age;

b) the volume of timber approved annually for harvest was gradually diminished, being aligned,
starting with 1994 at the level of the forestry arrangements;

c) Despite the phytosanitary measures undertaken, premature drying phenomena have been
frequent, the species more affected by oaks and fir trees;

d) take over the forestry and forestry network in forestry management, considering that these
means are determined for the basic forestry activities;

The total volume of wood is estimated to be over 1300 million m3. Approximately 60% of the
forests are in the Carpathian region, 30% in the Carpathian Hills and 10% in the plain. Until 1989,
there was a tendency for overexploitation of forests, and the reduced network of forest roads and
their uneven distribution led to significant imbalances through cutting concentrations in accessible

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areas. The economic importance of the forest sector in Romania is considering the potential or,
certainly, much higher than the existing data suggest.

Under the extent of the forests, Romania, with about 6.4 million ha, ranks second among the
Central and Eastern European countries, after Poland. Under the 215 m3 / ha of wood volume, it
occupies the fourth place among the continent's land. National exports of wood and wood products
were estimated at US $ 859 million in 1997, about 10% of total domestic exports. On the other
hand, according to statistical data, the contribution of the forest sector - including the exploitation
and processing of wood - to the gross domestic product (GDP) is 4-5%. Official data shows that
in 1997 the number of employees in the forest sector accounted for less than 5% of the total of 9.5
million people employed in the whole economy. Public investment in the forestry sector has been
insignificant in recent years. For example, in 1998, only US $ 5 million - less than 1% of the total
government budget (for investments and annual expenditure) - were allocated to the forestry
sector, including for industry.

The main strategic objectives of forestry are the development and sustainable management of
forests, the enhancement, diversification and valorization of the national forestry fund, restoration
of the ecological balance in the affected geographic areas, opening to the market economy,
cooperation with national and international profile.

The forest strategy analyzes and proposes measures for the improvement of the economic levers
in the activities in the field, mainly through the superior valorization of the by-products of the
forest, the increase of the financial resources for investments and the development through the
progressive transition to the adoption of prices for the wood on the foot, like those practiced on
the international market.

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Development of forestry road
Density of the roads in the forest - 32 thousand km forest roads and 9 thousand km public industrial
- is 6.4. This density varies from one area to another. For forests considered relatively accessible
(about 4 million ha), the density is about 9m / ha. In this case, the acoustic density of forest roads
is reduced to the needs of normal exploitation; according to the estimates of the specialized
institutes, the minimum density for a sustainable / efficient forest management is 12m / ha.

The situation is also aggravated by the fact that in the last years, due to torrential rains, 7000 km
of existing forest roads have been decommissioned. That is why it is imperative to create the
conditions for a sustainable forest management by harmonizing the network of forest roads at
national level.

Wood Industry

Wood is the raw material found in a variety of products both in the mechanical wood processing
sector and in the chemical industry. Furniture is the most important wooden product in our country.
It has an important market through its relatively constant external partners. The difficult
macroeconomic conditions in the past have made many companies in the woodworking sector go
through a period of crisis. The equipment and technologies used are outdated and public and
private enterprises suffer from lack of capital / credit. Thus, they cannot operate efficiently and at
a quality level comparable to that of the international market. Many of the timber factories use
low-technology technologies, resulting in uncontrolled consumption of raw materials and
pollution. In recent years, many small and medium-sized furniture manufacturers have emerged,
who for the time being adopted an integrated production system, starting with logs cutting and
timber processing, a system that proved to be more efficient from the point of view economic
development of this period. However, they are confronted with the lack of adequate organizational
/ managerial capacities. State-owned (very large) state-owned enterprises are less attractive to new
investors.

In the exploitation of wood, there are 31 commercial enterprises with majority state capital and
over 400 private economic agents. Their working capacity has gradually increased, and they now
operate about 40% of the wood. Industrial production (for example, furniture, pulp and paper) is
achieved in about 165 joint venture companies as well as about 12,000 private companies,
emerging in the last 4-5 years and with relatively low production capacities.

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Ecological and socio-economics function of forests

Among the non-wood products, specific to the forestry fund, by law, are considered: the hunting
within this fund; fish in mountain waters, farmland, ponds and ponds in the forest fund; berries,
edible mushrooms from spontaneous flora, medicinal and aromatic plants; resin and the like.
Regarding the protective aspects, it is worth mentioning that the Forestry Code stipulates that all
forests in our country - regardless of their division by functional groups, perform protective
functions, including social protection.

Among the economic and social aspects with special implications for the sustainable management
of the forests, it is worth noting:

1) increasing the volume of investments in forestry with a priority focus on: accessibility of forests,
ecological reconstruction of damaged forest ecosystems, correction of torrents, afforestation of
degraded lands outside forestry, creation of forest protection curtains, etc.;

2) promoting market relations, especially by liberalizing the price of wood. Although the auction
system has become generalized in the use of wood, the starting prices are still monitored by the
finance bodies, with all the negative implications for forest management;

3) the contribution that forestry and the forestry sector can bring to the proper use of labor force
in rural areas. The possibilities in this direction will increase in relation to the increase of the wood
production, as well as the increase of the management mode as the protection role of the forests
increases;

4) the need to change the attitude of the population towards the forest. Such a change is also
required in the case of private owners, who consider the forest as an immediate source of income,
disregarding the environmental functions of it, as well as the obligation towards future generations;

5) regarding the privatization of forestry, it is worth mentioning that some related activities are
considered through the Strategy, such as: the production of forestry material, Christmas trees, a
consumption trout, wicker impurities, etc. The effects of applying the Land Fund Act in the
forestry sector have given rise to circumspection in connection with the privatization of other forest
areas. As has been shown, however, the Code and Strategy encourages actions to afforest lands
outside the forests, and that afforestation does not affect the ownership of the landlords.

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Importance of forests
Forests provide the habitat for flora and fauna (biodiversity), offer products such as fruits,
medicinal plants, etc., recreational opportunities (ecotourism), protect against floods by regulating
water streams, filter the waters of polluting agents, act as a sorbent of the dioxide carbon and as a
regional climate regulator. All these constitute the economic fusions of the forest because they
contribute directly or indirectly to human well-being. In general, the value of direct use (wood)
dominates land use decisions, the other values being neglected. This symmetry in knowledge of
the values largely explains massive deforestation, and the analysis of this asymmetry can suggest
the policy tools needed to improve forest management.

One of the approaches underlying the forest exploitation decisions is the cost - benefit analysis.
Based on this method, the exploitation decisions of a forest must respect the principle according
to which the net benefits of conserving it. The concept of forest conservation can have two
dimensions: a) conservation, equivalent to non-use of the resource, and b) sustainable conservation
that allows certain uses of the forest.

Although the notions are quite ambiguous, accepting the lack of precise differentiation criteria, the
cost - benefit method applied in the exploitation of forests is:

BENEXPL- COSTEXPL> BENCONS - COSTCONS

Where: BENEXPL - the benefits of exploitation; COSTEXPL - operating costs; BENCONS - the
conservation efforts; COSTCONS - Costs of conservation.

Or: BENEXPL - COSTEXPL - NET BENCONS> 0

In other words, it is not enough that the net benefits of exploiting the resource are positive; account
must also be taken of the net benefits of forest conservation which have been abandoned by the
decision to exploit it.

The concept of total economic value provides a comprehensive framework on which the forests
can be assessed. As we have shown before, the total economic value includes values of use, option
and nonexistence. Values for direct use include wood and other forest products, ecotourism.
Indirect usage values refer to ecological functions: protection against floods, wind, mining circuit
insurance, carbon dioxide absorption, etc. The value of existence refers to the intrinsic value of the
forest, biodiversity, culture.
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Uses of forest`s flora and fauna

Forests are the habitat of a wide variety of species, and they are, at the same time, the source of
genetic material for many laboratory experiments. There are currently no estimates of consent to
pay for the genetic material provided by forests, and the information needs for such estimates are
enormous.

Attributing a value for the pharmaceutical use of plant species is another difficult task of the
economic evaluation process. In this case, the calculations based on market value of the marmalade
do not represent a good estimate of the value of the plant used to produce it. Necessary is the price
that drug manufacturers agree to pay for the material, plus a measure of net consumer earnings
resulting from the use of natural drugs compared to artificial drugs. Indirect forest use values are
determined by its ecological functions.

The assessment of the importance of the circuit of nuts (including calcium, magnesium, potassium,
nitrogen) involves two aspects: a) deforestation leads to the release of nutrients in the aquatic
system; b) nutrient leakage greatly reduces the productive capacity of the land that has been
afforested (forest soil is low in nutrients, this explains why degraded land requires additional
fertilizers).

Coke of carbon dioxide and greenhouse effect - in the photosynthesis process, growing forests fix
carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Once grown, forests no longer accumulate the carbon in the
atmosphere. It is said that the mature forests are in an (equilibrium) state of carbon balance. "
Deforestation contributes to the greenhouse effect, being an important factor leading to global
warming. The CO2 fixation value of the forests, determined on the basis of global warming
estimates, suggests that this equates to $ 13 per ton of CO. Given the uncertainty surrounding the
speed, expansion and physical impact of global warming, these estimates should be seen carefully.

The largest amount of CO2 is released in the first five years after the deforestation. Studies [12]
showed that, on average, deforestation of one hectare of land per year emitted 100 tons of CO2
into the atmosphere. At about $ 13 / tons, forest deforestation causes $ 1300 / ha of damage.

There are several ways to internalize the values of forest products and services that are not
marketed on the market, referring to the introduction of strict environmental protection standards,
tax reform, the promotion of trade in organic services, the introduction of "pollution permits".

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REFERENCES

• Raducanu Viorica, Muscalu S., Badileanu Marina, “Evaluarea capitalului natural”,

Institutul de Economie a Industriei, sectorul “Economia resurselor naturale. Politici
energetice, Bucuresti,2003
• ”Cartea Padurarului” – Regia Nationala a Padurilor, Bucuresti, 1999.
• “Cartea Padurarului” – Regia Nationala a Padurilor, Bucuresti, 1999
• Bishop J.T. , “ The Economics of Non-timber Forest Benefits, IIED, 2002
• Revista”Dreptul” - “ Perspective, revista dezvoltarii durabile”, anVI, nr. 32, septembrie –
octombrie 2000
• Codul Silvic – Legea nr. 26/ 24 aprilie 1996, publicata in Monitorul Oficial nr. 93/8 mai
1996
• Bishop J.T., “The Economics of Non- timber Forest Benefits, IIED, 2000
• Dixon J., Scura L., “Economic Analysis of Environmental Impacts: An Economic
Valuation Guide”, Earthcan Publications Ltd, London, 2001

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