The American journal uses the headline “Europe is sacrificing its centuries-old forests for energy” to illustrate how incorrect it is to designate burned wood as “green energy.”

To investigate the illegal exports of fire pellets, The New York Times dispatched a team to the Cheile Bicazului, a northeastern region in Romania, “in one of the oldest forests on the continent.” The company Ameco from Harghita county of Romania, which the American journal claims have documentation of the fact that it feeds its grinders from the protected forests of Romania.

The forests of Romania, which make up two-thirds of the EU’s virgin forests, were hiked through over four days by a reporter and a photographer. They observed clearcutting there and followed trucks from woods with delicate ecosystems. Romania’s environmental ministry did not respond to the NY Times journalist’s questions about these shipments, the proposed law change and the pellet industry in general.

Meantime, after the NY Times article was published, the Romanian Minister of the Environment accused The New York Times publication of fake news.

The Romanian Minister of the Environment states the alleged journalistic investigation of an environmental crime. This says that the loss of forest cover in the Cheile Bicazului-Hasmas National Park area in Romania is due to an extreme meteorological phenomenon, a storm, which affected the forests all over Romania, which only in the Cheile Bicazului, 87,000 cubic meters of trees were blown down by the wind, on approximately 1,200 hectares of forest.

We find it bizarre that the authors of this article completely excluded such accessible (but essential) information. Moreover, the questions that were sent to our Communications Department on September 5, near the end of the working day, did not address this specific case but only presented a general approach to the subject.

Romanian Ministry of the Environment

According to statistics from the Environmental Investigation Agency, most of Romania’s most extensive pellet plans have been supplied with whole logs from forests under protection. According to their estimation, nearly a third of the wood supplies to these enterprises came from protected regions.

Once you cut down these old trees, you degrade ecosystems that took centuries to form with little human intervention.

Dan-Catalin Turiga, a forest engineer who accompanied Times reporters

In Europe’s protected forests, logging is not prohibited, but governments must carry out environmental assessments to guarantee the area is being preserved. However, specialists claim that these analyses are uncommon. Last year, the European Court of Auditors raised the alarm on these supposedly protected forests, finding many of them in “bad or poor conservation status.”

The NY Times also outlines the pellet export routes from Romania, Poland, and Slovakia to various EU nations, particularly Italy, where burning wood is regarded as not affecting global warming because trees collect carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release it back into the atmosphere.

If the European Union no longer considers energy from burnt wood to be carbon-neutral, it would immediately throw many countries off track to hit renewable-energy targets. That would have major consequences for countries like Italy, the continent’s largest consumer of wood pellets. More than a third of its renewable energy comes from burning plant material. For years, the Italian government has offered tax deductions to encourage buying pellet stoves.

New York Times

The problem of illegal deforestation in Romania remains one of the most controversial topics. The government does nothing to combat illegal wood cutting. More and more foreign companies take wood from centuries-old Romanian forests and export it to various EU countries, Italy for pellets, Sweden for furniture, etc. Romania will wake up without forests, with a barren and lifeless wild environment. While other countries have untouched forests, Romania sacrifices its protected forests. For what? For UE’s ”green energy”? With the energy crisis at its highest point, this problem will get even worse.

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Private and governmental landowners with suitable afforestation plots are eligible for payments under a EUR 500 million programme funded entirely by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), which the European Commission has already authorized.

The EUR 500 mln scheme approved today will allow Romania to create new forested areas. These forests will help prevent erosion and flooding, clean the air and combat climate change. The measure will not only contribute to the objectives of the EU Green Pact but will also support the economic development of rural areas in Romania.

Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President

Afforestation is the process of establishing a forest in an area where there was previously no vegetation. At least 0.5 ha of compact forest bodies or 0.1 ha of forest strips encircling arable land to conserve it should be included in the plots of land devoted to the program.

Finally, afforestation must follow a project plan certified by the Romanian Forest Guard, which specifies the tree and shrub species to be planted, as well as the density of plants.

Despite how impressive this may appear, afforestation operations are useless unless the Romanian government takes action against illicit loggers. Despite all these investments from the European Union, the forests in Romania are cut down, and this is the main problem, not the lack of funds.

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In a Eurostat report, forests accounted for 38% of the European Union’s area in 2020. In five Member States, more than half of the territory was covered by forests: Finland (66%), Sweden (63%), Slovenia (61%), Estonia (54%) and Latvia (53%).

On the other hand, the lowest forested area in the EU in 2020 was in Malta (below 1%), the Netherlands (10%), Ireland (11%), Denmark (15%), Cyprus (19%), Hungary and Belgium ( both with 22%), France (27%) and Romania (29%).

What does illegal deforestation mean?

“Illegal deforestation” refers to criminal activity in the forestry sector that spans the entire supply chain, from harvest and transportation to processing and sale. Document fraud, corruption, and money laundering are examples of criminal offences that facilitate such activity.

Criminals take advantage of the lack of communication between law enforcement agencies both within and across borders. Because of this communication gap, criminals are able to avoid detection and export and sell illegally sourced timber into lucrative markets. Such sophisticated crimes, such as timber smuggling and the mixing of illegal and legal timber, can only be combated through multi-agency international cooperation and full supply chain traceability.

According to Interpol, criminals engaged in illegal logging and illicit timber trafficking endanger biodiversity and the livelihoods of those who rely on forest resources. Criminal land clearing, for example, can cause landslides and deny forest-dependent communities access to food, medicine, and fuel.

However, what is presented in this documentary is just the tip of the iceberg in Romania.

Due to the poorly made laws in Romania on this sector, the wood is stolen as much as possible, both by Romanians and foreigners. There is no public institution to deal with the issue of deforestation in Romania, and any illegal activity cannot be prosecuted due to ”various reasons”.

Here is what happened in September 2021, with a group of journalists investigating illegal logging in Romania:

Illegal deforestation in Romania

In September 2021, two journalists and an environmental activist were beaten while working on a project about the illicit wood trade in the woods of Suceava, Romania, where Ikea owns thousands of hectares of forests.

The filmmakers, Mihai Dragolea, Radu Mocanu, a cameraman and Tiberiu Bosutar, a former wood chipper turned activist, were beaten by 20 individuals who attacked them with sticks and axes because they were trying to film the illegal wood trade. The accident concluded with the two journalists and Tiberiu Bosutar badly wounded in the hospital and their equipment destroyed. The Romanian authorities weren’t helpful in this case; the assailants were released and placed under juridical control.

Romania has one of the richest forests in Europe and is home to one of the most extensive old-growth forests left in the world, which can represent a tempting source of wood for any furniture producer, such as Ikea.

IKEA Owns 49,000 hectares in Romania

The representatives of the Swedish giant, IKEA, claim that, in total, they own 49,000 hectares of forests in Romania, and it has its forest district. This case is applied to the Swedish company and many other foreign companies.

In Romania, the state-owned company, Romsilva, manages 3.14 million hectares, representing a percentage of 48 of the country’s total forest fund. Fifteen owners together own over 3.35 million hectares of forest in Romania, representing 51% of the total forest fund in the country. According to unofficial estimations, this scenario is getting more dramatic for Romania because it loses 3 hectares of forest an hour.

Unsustainable business model: IKEA

Alender Sammon, a former reporter at The New Republic, developed this matter in the article IKEA’s Race for the Lasts of Europe’s Old-Growth Forests.

He visited Romania and went to the forests in the region of Focsani, near a lower-elevation forest where Ikea owns some 5,000 hectares. He found out how this illegal operation affects Romanian forests. Visiting one of IKEA’s land properties, he saw how 80-100-year-old trees were cut down for IKEA’s profit, and in no case sick seedlings or logs.

On my last day in Romania, I stopped by Ikea’s store in Bucharest, curious if there would be any indication of the company’s investment in the local environment, any display of its sustainability pledges in a country where they might actually be visible. Armed with the Google translate app, I skulked around the showroom floor, finding beechwood dining sets, spruce particleboard, and more, but no mention of the furniture’s hometown heritage. In the lobby, a display read, WE USE WOOD RESPONSIBLY. I left empty-handed, with no intention to return

Alender Sammon, The New Republic

Alexander Sammon also added that Ikea makes it difficult to trace the provenance of its furniture. Often an Ikea box will claim a country of origin that indicates only the last link in the manufacturing chain: MADE IN VIETNAM, for example. Sometimes it will tell you even less: MADE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. 

Romania is still confronting illegal logging

In our previous articles on the subject, illegal logging has been highlighted. Illegal logging is a real problem in Romania, and the solutions are still in hand, despite the harm already done. Europe is urging Romania to save its primaeval forests. From this point of view, Romania still has 525,000 ha of virgin forests left and remains the wealthiest country in the European Union, except for the Scandinavian countries. The funny thing is that Greta Thunberg is no less Swedish than the furniture giant IKEA.

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This is the context where one of the stages of the off-road national rally was organized in Slanic Moldova, Bacau county. The pilot, Adrian Cernea, and the co-pilot, Alex Tache, were racing at the event with their off-road vehicle when they reached that river which they wanted to cross over.

Lots of other teams crossed that river before them during the same competition, but apparently the water flow suddenly increased and the car rolled over. The co-pilot managed to get off the vehicle and reach the shore, but the pilot couldn’t make it.

The organizers of the stage are now investigated for possible guilt after starting the stage despite the warning of the weather information service regarding the possibility for such events to occur. Reportedly, the pilots assumed the risks and wanted to compete at the rally anyway.

In a country where illegal logging happens in plain daylight and the authorities don’t mind that entire forests disappear every month, there is no wonder that the floods wreak havoc after heavy rains. Maybe such tragic events will succeed in sounding an alarm for what is really happening to the Romanian forests.

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Nobody can deny the fact that illegal logging does happen. I wouldn’t use the word deforestation, because deforestation defines another action. No one can deny the fact that in Romania there are thefts commited and there are illegal loggings. There are hundreds or even thousands files for such cases. (…) We have too many criminal files which are closed because the criminal actions are not documented.

Unless we find the connection between the forest ranger, the local mayor, the police officer and the politician who wants to hide the thefts, we’ll not have results.

Romanian Minister of Environment on Antena 3 TV station, January 11

According to the politician, the new department is to be established within the Romanian Anti-Mafia Prosecution Office, as the illegal logging actions involve organized crime – like structures.

Romania is famous for two contradictory things when it comes to forests: it has the most beautiful and the last primeval forests in the European Union, but also it has the fastest illegal deforestation rate in Europe.

The newly sworn-in Government intends to allocate EUR 650 million to the largest reforestation campaign in the history of the country over the following 4 years.

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One by one, world-wide famous public figures, organizations and journalists stood up for protecting the Romanian forests.

In December last year, Belgian publication MO – Mondiaal Nieuws dedicated a reportage to this persistent and yet unsolved problem of illegal logging in Romanian forests. The journalist said it clearly: „Efforts against global warming will be pointless if we cut down Romanian primeval forests”.

This year in March, Greta Thunberg sent a message to the Romanian people: Stand together against illegal logging! Later, in July, the European Commission warned Romania in the infringement package, to combat illegal logging.

Also this year, in August, WWF asked Romanian president not to promulgate the forestry code.

Along others, Prince Charles of Great Britain was featured in documentaries, some realized by the famous Romania lover traveler and presenter Charlie Ottley, such as Wild Carpathia, and asked Romanians to protect their heritage, including the primeval forests.

The reply from the Romanian Government came later, but it’s still better than never. Romanian designated PM presented a governing program which allots EUR 650 M to afforestation in the next 4 years. According to this plan, 220 million saplings will be planted up to 2024.

The efforts of the Romanian authorities are significant, yet significant are also the efforts of the illegal loggers. Romania loses 3 hectares of forest an hour, according to unofficial estimations, and this has to stop. So, unless the authorities also plan to drastically fight the illegal logging, the saplings would be planted almost in vain.

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“The draft amendment to the Forestry Code, adopted by the Romanian Parliament last week, does not solve the problem of combating illegal logging. It is not a real reform of the national forestry policies, and it contains elements that will hinder the resolution of the infringement procedure opened by the European Commission. That is why yesterday I sent an open letter to the President of Romania, Mr. Klaus Iohannis, asking him not to promulgate the law and to resend it to the Parliament“, stated WWF Romaniain a press release.

Among the amendments that will thwart the efforts to combat illegal logging, according to WWF Romania, is the establishment of the 10 cubic meters threshold to sanction as a forest crime the transport of wood materials that are not accompanied by specific transport documents but also the fact that it is viewed as a forestry crime any unlawful logging, but no reasonable threshold is set and “illegal logging” is not clearly defined.

WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) is one of the most important international organizations that carry out nature conservation projects in over 100 countries.

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Some of the amendments to the new Forestry Code, that will help combating illegal logging, refer to the following changes:

• the theft of trees will fall directly under criminal incidence, regardless of the damage;
• trucks carrying illegally cut trees may be confiscated;
• logging will be prohibited in the natural reservations;
• the funds intended for guarding forest areas under 30 ha will increase by over 30%.

The Minister of the Environment also said that the implementation of the new SUMAL (a project regarding a computer system for tracking wood materials in Romania.) is in its latest stage of development: “the acquisition of the monitoring system with satellite maps, the start of the scientific study to identify and protect 40,000 ha of virgin forests and strengthen the capacity of forest guards.”

Earlier this year, Romania announced it would implement the largest afforestation campaign in Europe, all these efforts being directed towards the preservation of nature and combating the illegal logging.

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The international press focused on Romania’s deforestation problems especially after the killing of a dedicated young forester, 37 years old, in Maramures, a county near Ukrainian border. His death sent the Romanian authorities and the whole world a strong message: stop illegal logging!

Belgian publication MO – Mondiaal Nieuws dedicated a reportage to this persistent and yet unsolved problem of illegal logging in Romanian forests. The journalist said it clearly: „Efforts against global warming will be pointless if we cut down Romanian primeval forests”.

Europe’s last primeval forests are turning into timber factories

This is in fact the title of the reportage and it covers the painful story of the Maramures forests, including illegal logging with the complicity of the local mayor who works hand in hand with the local authorities.

„In 2005, the Royal Dutch Natural History Association, with the support of the Romanian government, charted that 218,000 hectares of completely untouched primeval forest remained in Romania.

Half of this was lost through logging, after Romania became a member of the EU in 2007″ reveals the reportage, offering a painful lesson for all the governments which have succeeded in power from 2005.

Is there a solution for Romanian illegal logging?

In fact, there is one, presented in the reportage but also adopted by the Romanian Government in its early days in power: to include all the primeval forests in the National Catalogue of Virgin Forests.

The Romanian Minister of the Environment stated at the end of December 2019 that there were left only 100,000 ha of virgin forests in Romania after the illegal logging, out of which only 29,000 ha are included in the National Catalogue of Virgin Forests. His intention is to protect at least 29,000 ha more in the next 6 months and started by including 1,100 ha in the Catalogue in Deember. Too little? Maybe, but it’s a start.

Yes, illegal logging is a real problem in Romania and the solutions are still in hand, despite the harm already done. Yet, Romania has to react now before it’s too late; otherwise, one day it will have nothing left to defend anymore.

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