Roughly 5,000 trees cut down illegally in Romania’s Brașov County, minister says

Interim environment minister Diana Buzoianu said on Monday, August 10, that one of the largest areas of illegal tree cutting in Romania was in Brașov County. Roughly 5,000 trees were cut without proper authorizations in the area.

The minister said she will travel to the area in question and noted that several such locations were uncovered after checks carried out within the Forest Guard.

"Everyone was satisfied. The phenomenon of illegal logging seemed no longer to exist. That was the story that was being sold to me. This phenomenon continues to exist, and I am glad that the authorities are finally taking the necessary measures to increase the number of cases they discover,” the minister said, cited by News.ro.

In March, Diana Buzoianu stated that she was requesting periodic reports from the Forest Guard regarding the situation of illegal logging and that in December inspections had increased exponentially and the largest number of damages had been identified.

"In December, more damages and a larger quantity of illegally cut timber were identified. About 30% of the damages identified in the entire year 2025. So, from the moment we changed the leadership of the Forest Guard, both the number of inspections and the results in the field increased exponentially," environment minister Diana Buzoianu stated.

Romania has been plagued by illegal logging for decades. Earlier this year, inspectors found that employees of the forest authority Romsilva had clear-cut several hectares of the famous Hoia-Baciu forest near Cluj-Napoca.

(Photo source: Vladimir Zlotnik|Dreamstime.com)