By Călin Dejeu (CCSG Member)
A forested stream valley. Credit: Călin Dejeu
One decade ago, the last remaining intact forest landscape in the temperate parts of the European Union (EU) was spread across the Retezat, Țarcu, Cernei and Vâlcan Mountains, covering an area amounting to 97.926 ha. While most of this region was designated as Natura 2000 sites (IUCN Protected Areas Category IV), other sections of this forest ecosystem remained outside protected areas. This highly fragmented landscape made effective conservation management difficult.
Retezat National Park, Romania’s first national park, was home to large portions of this intact forest. The significance of Retezat NP and the forest it harbored was recognized in 2008 when the park was awarded a European Diploma of Protected Areas.
In recent years, the intact forest landscape has faced grave threats, its gradual disappearance being acknowledged even from the level of the European Parliament in 2016. Most concerning is the fact that forests within Retezat National Park have been unspared. This North-East portion of the forest represents most of the upper watershed of the last ecologically complete and relatively undisturbed river in the Romanian Carpathians, the Râul Alb River. In this large virgin forest (in which the PIN-MATRA project identified 8 virgin forest polygons) nature was largely free of human development or disturbance.
However, in 2013 and 2014, a tractor path used for logging was cut up to the treeline. Illegal logging in the Râul Alb valley is a serious concern, especially since the vast majority of river valleys in the Romanian Carpathians have long been converted to human uses.
A winter scene of the valley of Râul Alb. Credit: Călin Dejeu
The tractor path, besides being a wilderness conservation issue, also represents a connectivity conservation issue. Disturbances to the environment must be assessed in relation to the degree of human development present in the area. In a virgin forest covering a pristine valley of a national park, a tractor path, as small as it is, represents a significant disturbance. Just as river longitudinal connectivity is not limited to fish movement, but includes the free flow of sediments and all aquatic organisms, the connectivity of terrestrial habitats is not limited to passages over major roads, often designed for large mammals. Standard forest roads, or even these informal roads described as tractor paths, compromise the integrity of the soil. Construction of roads and paths fragment microbial populations forming belowground. Given the shallow soil of the coniferous forest in the Râul Alb valley, this impact is especially strong.
As for the logging sustained by this tractor path, its impact can be seen in the way the primary and old-growth forest on the valley was fragmented by 2019, at page 66 of PRIMOFARO – the Inventory of Potential Primary and Old-Growth Forest Areas in Romania. Based on this research, it has become clear that old growth forests in the region are shrinking and fragmenting, largely due to the access for logging provided by this tractor path.
International involvement is needed to protect the forest of the Râul Alb valley. On April 13, 2021, I filed a complaint to the Bern Convention Secretariat. On April 28, the Secretariat deemed the complaint admissible. The Bern Convention Secretariat will contact the national authorities of Romania for a response ahead of the next Bureau meeting on 15-16 September where this complaint will be discussed.
Learn more:
Find detailed information on illegal logging, hosted on the blog of the NGO ”Asociația Declic,” a group which supports this cause (article in Romanian):
About the Author: Călin Dejeu
I have been intensely involved in nature conservation since 2013, mostly in river conservation, initiating informal, yet successful campaigns to save rivers like Râul Alb, Nera, Bistra, Jiu etc., against hydropower projects. Since rivers depend on the forests, I have to get involved against the illegal logging that is now ravaging the Romanian Carpathians. I am also trying to promote the importance of ecological connectivity in Romania. https://www.romaniacurata.ro/bio/calin-dejeu/
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Contact the author: ncldejeu@yahoo.co.uk
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