Văcărești-focused organization expands mission, becomes Bucharest Natural Park Association

After ten years of protecting urban biodiversity, the Văcărești Natural Park Association has officially become the Bucharest Natural Park Association (APNB), reflecting its expanded mission to safeguard and promote nature across the entire capital city. The rebranding signals a strategic shift from focusing on a single park to building a city-wide network of natural areas, aiming to improve quality of life, public health, and urban resilience through ecological solutions.

Founded in 2014, the organization was instrumental in the transformation of the abandoned Văcărești Delta into Romania’s first urban natural park. With its 183 hectares and rich biodiversity, Vacărești Natural Park became a symbol of how cities can reconnect with nature.

Since then, the association has led more than two dozen major projects, mobilized over 5,000 volunteers and 150 urban rangers, and hosted educational events that reached over 10,000 participants and three million indirect beneficiaries. Its efforts have included planting 11,000 trees and forming strategic partnerships with public institutions, NGOs, and private companies.

Now, the association is advancing a broader vision through its “Rewilding Bucharest” program, targeting five ecologically valuable urban areas - Petricani Meadow, Băneasa Forest, Saulei Valley, the Dâmbovița River floodplain, and the reedbeds of Dobroești - for conservation and ecological restoration. Backed by the Environmental Platform for Bucharest, the initiative focuses on cleaning, protecting, and rewilding these spaces to create a connected green infrastructure across the city.

Moreover, the association is also pioneering nature-based solutions in neglected urban spaces. In 2023, it created an experimental urban meadow near Văcărești, followed by similar wildflower meadows along the Dâmbovița River and in Tineretului Park. These ecological reconstructions are designed to attract pollinators, clean air and soil, and transform derelict lots into thriving green corridors with environmental and social benefits.

In partnership with Bucharest City Hall, district authorities, water management agencies, and other stakeholders, APNB is working to secure legal protection for these natural areas while promoting sustainable public access and education.

As part of its new identity, the association unveiled a butterfly as its visual symbol - representing both the fragility of urban nature and the transformation of the city’s green-blue spaces into a living, interconnected network, its representatives said.

“The new identity reflects the evolution of our work in recent years. We are already active in several natural areas across Bucharest. Through this change, we are officially taking on an expanded role and continuing our initiatives to protect, conserve, and promote urban nature,” said executive director Dan Bărbulescu.