Romania illegal logging: Authorities censor scientific report that shows volume of wood cut each year

The Romanian authorities have censored the most important conclusion of a 10-year research project carried out by a team of specialists, which shows the real dimension of the illegal logging phenomenon in Romania. Moreover, the authorities discontinued the research project, local publication Recorder.ro reported.

The report showed that the volume of wood that is cut each year from Romania’s forests amounts to 38 million cubic meters, which is more than double the amount exploited legally and reflected in official statistics (some 18 million cubic meters, according to the National Statistics Institute). This means that about 20 million cubic meters of wood are cut illegally each year, Recorder.ro concluded. Considering an average price of EUR 50 per cubic meter of wood, this results in a total value of EUR 1 billion per year for the wood exploited illegally from Romania’s forests.