Pădurile virgine în inima Europei. Importanța, situația curentă și viitorul pădurilor virgine ale României

The report „Virgin forests at the heart of Europe“ by Rainer Luick, Albert Reif, Erika Schneider, Manfred Grossmann & Ecaterina Fodor (2021) is a comprehensive analysis of the importance, situation and future of virgin and old-growth forests in Romania. The authors emphasize their great sympathy with the country and address on many aspects the importance of the remaining virgin forests in the Romanian Carpathians for the European natural heritage. The widespread extensive powerlessness and the lack of interest of state institutions to protect virgin and old forests are also meticulously portrayed. The investigations on a profound corruption and a criminal mixture in the forestry and timber sector that has developed in the interplay of politics, administration and corporate actors is shocking. Knowing about the large-scale loggings in protected areas, the study also picks out as a central theme and question why the EU institutions have shown very few reactions for many years. The authors demand that it must be a pan-European concern to protect the last coherent virgin forests in the more central parts of Europe. This is also formulated as a key element in the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy 2030. Romania will be a litmus test as to whether this will succeed.