The Romanian branch of the environmental NGO World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has succeeded in adding another 900 hectares of virgin forests in the counties of Prahova, Iași, and Suceava to Romania's Catalog of Virgin and Quasi-Virgin Forests, the only instrument that ensures their strict protection. 

Romania has initiated the process of protecting 10% of its terrestrial and marine natural habitats, in line with the objective set in the European Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. Consequently, the country will have approximately 700,000 hectares of forests that will be strictly protected and excluded from commercial logging. Currently, only 3% of forests fall into this category. 

So far, the Romanian branch WWF has analyzed over 600,000 hectares of forests and identified approximately 66,000 hectares of virgin and quasi-virgin forests. For these areas already included in the Catalog, no further forestry activities can be proposed or carried out, and forest administrations will implement a non-intervention management approach. 

WWF also maintains the first website dedicated to virgin forests in Romania, which serves as a hub containing news about the identification process, an interactive map, educational digital publications, historical data, and answers to the most pressing questions in the field.

WWF, a Swiss-based international NGO founded in 1961, has had a major role in bringing the concept of virgin/quasi-virgin forests to the public's attention and highlighting the need for their strict protection. 

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Laurentiu Nica | Dreamstime.com)