A new draft law to change the Forestry Code has passed the Senate, targeting the same „appropriations” from forests that have always been owned by the state. We have noticed several such initiatives lately which pose the same threat: plundering the national forestry fund.
As a reminder, in July an older legal initiative, to which we drew attention at the time, introduced a new form of ownership – forestry fund as a private property of the state – in the Forestry Code. This law moved the forestry fund from the public property of the state into its private property, in order to restore the property right. As we have previously shown, property fragmentation affects sustainable forest management and the illegal logging phenomenon is closely linked to the chaotic restitution process, caused by the lack of a unitary and coherent legal framework.
We are currently facing a new beginning. The Government's initiative paves the way for drafting a new Forestry Code, in the context of the reform plan assumed by Romania through PNRR. It is essential that the authorities consider the profound implications of this process. We are in a paradoxical situation in which the draft of the New Forestry Code has not reached the Parliament yet, but the current Forestry Code changes almost every month.
In this context, we want to emphasize WWF Romania's proposals again, focusing on the importance of adopting a new Forestry Code that properly includes the guidelines assumed by Romania through the National Strategy for Forests 2030.