Senate expert committees greenlight Bucharest Green Belt amendments to new Forestry Code

Amendments to the new Forestry Code bill that aim to protect the forests of Ilfov county against commercial logging got the green light from expert committees of the Senate. Safeguarding these forests would be the starting point for creating the Bucharest-Ilfov Green Belt as a solution to the worrying pollution levels in the Romanian capital. With only 16% wooded area, Ilfov is considered an "area with a deficit of forest vegetation."

The Green Belt legislative project was initially submitted to the Parliament a year ago, on April 12, 2023, in the form of a draft law, but got stuck in debates at the Chamber of Deputies after being unanimously voted by the Senate. Thus, as the new Forestry Code began its legislative process this month, the initiators of the Together for the Green Belt/Împreună pentru Centura Verde civic platform decided to also submit their initial legislation's text as amendments to the new Code.

Backed by the Environment Ministry and some MPs from across the political spectrum, including USR, PNL, PSD, REPER, and UDMR, the proposed Green Belt amendments received a unanimous vote from the Senate's joint environment and forest committees on Tuesday, April 23.

The same happened for other equally essential amendments supported by the Together for the Green Belt civic platform. These promote free and unrestricted access to the forest for recreation and the protection and conservation of the so-called remarkable trees (old trees with multiple social-ecological functions) from the National Forestry Fund.

Next, the Forestry Code legislation will go to the Senate plenary before moving forward to the Chamber of Deputies for final debates and vote.

"Forests around cities mean much more than timber or the value of wood in money. Infinitely more. The forest means oxygen. It means life. The forest means health, including mental health. It means therapy and healing for a society increasingly alienated by the loss of connection and the abandonment of people forming it. The forest is togetherness. The forest is love," said Alex Găvan, founder of the Together for the Green Belt civic platform.

In the context of the 2024 super-electoral year in Romania, the initiators also note that air quality and the creation of green belts in peri-urban areas must not be absent from the program of "any serious political party and any serious candidate" and, at the same time, from the "personal assessment that each responsible voter makes."