Romanian court restores 2,500 hectares of forest to state ownership after final ruling

More than 2,500 hectares of forest land have been returned to the Romanian state’s public ownership following court action initiated by the National Forest Administration - Romsilva and the Finance Ministry. The land, located in Covasna County, was recovered after a years-long legal battle over property titles first reconstituted in 2002.

Romsilva said in a statement that 2,571 hectares of forest had been restored to state ownership after judicial proceedings concluded in favor of the authorities.

“For this area, the property right was reconstituted in 2002 in favor of the Ojdula Forestry Association. Following the discovery in state archives of documents showing that the 2,571 hectares of forest had been expropriated with fair and prior compensation, and were not abusively confiscated by the state in 1948, the Finance Ministry’s lawyers initiated court proceedings in 2018 to annul the property titles. Lawyers from the National Forest Administration - Romsilva joined this legal action,” reads the statement.

On September 17, 2024, the Târgu Secuiesc Court ruled to cancel the property titles, possession reports, and related land registry entries issued to Ojdula Forestry Association. The decision was appealed, but the Covasna Tribunal rejected the appeal on February 19, 2026, upholding the lower court’s ruling as final.

Authorities said the legal action enabled the state to recover the 2,571 hectares of forest land nearly 25 years after the ownership rights were first restored.

Romsilva added that in recent years it has pursued sustained court actions to maintain or recover significant areas of forest land, as part of broader efforts to protect Romania’s state forest heritage.

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