Environment minister joins other political leaders in signing memorandum on Bucharest Green Belt project

Environment minister Mircea Fechet and mountaineer and environmentalist Alex Găvan signed on Thursday, May 23, a memorandum of understanding on solutions to combat the worrying air pollution in Bucharest and create a much-needed Green Belt around the capital city. "One must support such an initiative because the forests around big cities are a balancing factor in society," the minister said.

Mircea Fechet thus joined other political leaders and decision-makers who previously signed the Memorandum for Clean Air, Health, and the Future. These include Nicolae Ciucă (PNL), Cătălin Drula (USR), Kelemen Hunor (UDMR), Dragoș Pîslaru and Ramona Strugariu (REPER), Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan, and Ilfov County Council president Hubert Thuma.

In fact, the initiators say that the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) has remained the only political force yet to support the project openly by signature, and invite prime minister Marcel Ciolacu to sign the document.

The memorandum is a pillar of the Together for the Green Belt/Împreună pentru Centura Verde civic platform initiated by Alex Găvan, high-altitude climber and conservationist, and Florin Stoican, president of the associations Kogayon and the Urban Nature Network. It includes the amendments to the new Forestry Code aimed at safeguarding the forests in Ilfov county, which passed the Senate in April and moved to final debates and a vote in the Chamber of Deputies. Protecting these forests would be the starting point for creating the Bucharest-Ilfov Green Belt.

"One must support such an initiative because the forests around big cities are a balancing factor in society. As the effects of climate change are increasingly felt, more forest means less pollution, but also a place for recreation absolutely necessary for the largest urban agglomeration in Romania. So, the social role of the forests around the big cities must take priority, and it is our duty to ensure that this actually happens," minister Mircea Fechet said after signing the memorandum.

In his turn, Alex Găvan commented: "Minister Fechet is not only a signatory of this memorandum, but accepted from the very beginning, as a deputy, to be among the initiators of the law we submitted in 2023 in the Parliament. After, a month ago, we pivoted on the new Forestry Code because we had reached a deadlock at the agriculture committee of the Chamber, he agreed to be among the authors of the amendments related to the Bucharest-Ilfov Green Belt."