Romanian Protected Areas on the verge of collapse

Romania's protected area system, which harbors many of Europe's most outstanding natural treasures, is on the verge of collapse. Salaries of many rangers and other staff have not been paid for months; telephone and internet connections are being cut as operational funds disappear. At risk are years of investment in building the country's system of protected area management not to mention the outstanding natural treasures that they protect.

European and global treasures

Romania is home to over half the European populations of bears, wolves and other large carnivores as well as the continent’s greatest remaining areas of natural forest outside of Russia and Scandinavia. It also contains the lion’s share of the globally important Carpathian Mountains and Danube Delta ecoregions.

This tremendous natural capital is of national and even European and global significance, and provides a host of ecosystem benefits, including food and fiber, growing opportunities for tourism and recreation as well as e.g. flood protection and carbon sequestration.

The Romanian Government has committed itself to ensuring the effective protection of these values both as a member of the European Union as well as through its signature of a number of international agreements, from the Convention on Biological Diversity to the Carpathian Convention.

The protection afforded by the Romanian protected area network is impressive, at least on paper. Some 20% of Romanian territory is covered by one form of protected area or another, ranging from relatively strictly protected areas such as national parks to areas with less restrictions such as nature parks and biosphere reserves.¹

Romania's protected area system goes back to the early 20th century. The first nature reserves were established in the 1920’s, followed by Retezat as the country's first national park in 1935. But few if any measures were taken for the management of protected areas in Romania until the mid 1990s, when the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), the global financing instrument for the Convention on Biological Diversity among other conventions, supported the establishment of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Administration.

In 1999-2000, with GEF support, the first national and nature park administrations were established and management plans developed and partly implemented for Retezat National Park, Piatra Craiului National Park as well as Vanatori Neamt Nature Park. GEF support continued and some financial resources were allocated from the National Forest Administration and other institutions, permitting the establishment of management teams for most of the national and nature parks by 2006.

Back to "paper parks"?

Significant support for protection activities has been financed through EU and various governmental and private funds, including the Dutch MATRA programme. An ongoing WWF programme supported by the MAVA Foundation has been providing significant training and support for protected area professionals in Romania and other parts of the Carpathian Mountains. 

According to the Romanian legislation, Protected Area management can be subcontracted to institutions, companies or organisations that have the interest and resources to support active management and implementation of management plans. Based on this legislation, in 2005 the Ministry of Environment subcontracted the National Forest Administration to manage most of the nation’s national and nature parks, including flagship areas such as Retezat, Rodna and Piatra Craiului National Parks.

The National Forest Administration provided funding to Protected Area administrations allowing for the management teams to function at a minimal capacity and carry out some management activities. Although the support provided was limited, it nevertheless was critically important for at least the basic functioning of the protected areas.

This system worked, however imperfectly, until 2009 when the National Forest Administration began facing major financial difficulties. As a result, many PA staff have not received salaries for months or are receiving salaries with very significant delays; office costs are not covered, leading to situations where PA staff have no access to telephone or internet service, and have major problems meeting basic costs.

Situation critical

The situation is now critical. Many of the PA staff are planning to leave or have left already, and there are no possibilities to hire new people. The work of the previous years to build an effective protected area system in Romania is quickly unravelling. Lost will be not only what capacity has been put in place to protect natural resources, but also that has begun finally working with local communities and various stakeholders to derive sustainable benefits from the areas, e.g. through development of tourism and recreation.

Indeed, the weakness of Romania's protected area system is proving a liability not only for the future of the country's natural treasures but also local development. Lack of management capacity, habitat inventories and management plans for protected areas in many cases are frustrating local development plans. Many of the areas in Romania that have been designated as part of the EU's Natura 2000 network of specially protected sites often cover very large areas of 150,000-250,000 ha, including numerous communities and their administrative land.

Although the Ministry of Environment has overall responsibility for protected areas, including Natura 2000 sites, there is very limited capacity within the Ministry to coordinate and support protected area management. The previous government planned for and issued a governmental decision for the establishment of a National Agency for Protected Areas, with dedicated staff for PA related issues. The present government decided not to establish the agency, citing the financial crisis.

Unfortunately, even those funds that are available for nature protection are not being effectively used. Over €250 million in EU regional development funds have been allocated for Natura 2000 and Protected Areas. But bureaucratic restrictions imposed largely by Romanian authorities have made it difficult if not impossible for institutions and organizations to access this support.

Need for government action

WWF and other organisations are calling on the Romanian Government to take immediate measures to address the current crisis in the country's protected area management and finally establish a long-term basis for managing and safeguarding the country's tremendous natural wealth. Immediate measures must be taken to establish a sustainable financing system for protected area management, including the establishment of a national agency capable of overseeing and ensuring proper management of the areas.


Contact:
Erika Stanciu, Head of Protected Areas Programme, WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme


Notes:

1. Some 1.7 million ha or ca 8% of Romanian territory are covered by national protected areas, including 13 national parks (IUCN category II), including the well-known Retezat and Piatra Craiului National Parks; 14 nature parks (IUCN category V); the globally protected Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve; and over 900 smaller reserves (IUCN category Ia, III and IV). These areas largely overlap with the 17.84% of Romania's territory that is protected according to EU legislation as part of the Natura 2000 network of specially protected sites, with 108 areas designated according to the EU Birds Directive and 273 according to the EU Habitats Directive.