FSC welcomes Romania

Twenty years after FSC certification of the first forest management unit in Romania, the country now has national representation by FSC International. To celebrate this, all interested parties met on 31 October 2023 near Brasov, in the central part of the country and close to nature – a reminder that forests and their values is what brings us all together.

Romania is well known for its extensive forest cover and well-connected forest landscapes, where no patch is more than 1 km from an adjacent forest (Stancioiu et al., 2018). The Carpathian mountains in Romania still harbour large tracts of pristine and biodiverse forests, which boast thriving populations of wildlife in healthy ecosystems. In addition, large local communities have lived in these forests for centuries. Local people consider the forests part of their cultural identity, and their life is closely linked to locally-grown wood – from timber for their houses to raw materials for daily life to the use of large amounts of firewood.

Forest management is based on rigorous and consistent planning informed by principles that secure the provision of forest ecosystem services. National legislation that currently underpins forest management planning currently covers almost 70 per cent of the requirements of the FSC Forest Management Standard, which leaves relatively little that will need additional resources (Buliga and Nichiforel, 2018). This bodes well for future implementation. Almost half of the total forest area is state-owned, and 80 per cent of that is already FSC-certified and there are almost 900 chain of custody certificates issued in the country.
more at: https://fsc.org/en/newscentre/general-news/fsc-welcomes-romania