Over 50 NGOs call on Bucharest city officials to increase fines for illegal deforestation

Over 50 civic and environmental organizations are calling on the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest to increase fines for illegal deforestation. At the moment, the fine for the illegal cutting of a tree is only RON 50 (EUR 10), or even RON 25 (EUR 5) if paid within 15 days.

The organizations have sent an open letter to the authorities, requesting that the draft resolution to increase fines for illegal deforestation in Bucharest be urgently included on the agenda of the next council meeting.

Activists have announced that they are preparing a protest in front of the City Hall during its next meeting to draw attention to the scale of the phenomenon and the lack of response from the administration.

“The current fine is not a credible deterrent against illegal cutting, but rather an invitation to vandalism. A consultation with a pulmonologist costs at least RON 250, equivalent to the cost of cutting down 10 trees. The drastic reduction of green spaces will lead to an increase in respiratory diseases, affecting both the current generation and our children,” the document states.

The IOR Park case, where thousands of citizens mobilized to stop the deforestation carried out by proxies of the current owners of the retroceded land, remains a telling example of how central and local authorities have failed to enforce the law, the organizations say.

“Bucharest has lost over 1,500 trees only in the retroceded area of IOR Park, which now looks like a bombing site. The situation is dramatic, citizens are suffering, and the authorities treat the issue with outrageous indifference. If firm measures are not taken now, Bucharest, already suffocated by dust and concrete, will become a place where it will be dangerous to live,” warns Cristian Șoimaru, president of the environmental organization GIC IOR–Titan.

Moreover, the NGOs say, even before massive deforestation, Bucharest already had only 0.88 trees per inhabitant, far below the European Union’s recommendation of 3 trees per inhabitant.

To stop the illegal cutting, environmentalists say that fines should be increased to RON 5,000 (EUR 1,000) per tree.

“Authorities must send a clear message that the law applies and green spaces can no longer be sacrificed for real estate schemes,” said Beniamin Gheorghiță, representative of the civic movement “Parcul IOR Dispare” (IOR Park Is Disappearing).

The organizations also warn about the risk that Romania may be sanctioned by the European Commission for non-compliance with environmental protection directives. A potential infringement procedure could result in millions of euros in penalties, paid from the public budget and, therefore, by citizens.