WWF included other 900 hectares of virgin forests from the Prahova, Iasi and Suceava counties into the Virgin and Quasi-Virgin Forests Catalogue in Romania, the only instrument that provides strict protection for them. The process continues, although at a slow pace, and the National Catalogue currently contains more than 73,000 hectares of forests.
They represent over 1% of the total forest-covered area in Romania. Our country has also started the process by which it will protect 10% of its natural terrestrial and marine habitats, according to the target set in the European Strategy for Biodiversity 2030. Thus, Romania will have approximately 700,000 hectares of forests that will be strictly protected and excluded from commercial logging. At the moment, only 3% of its forests fall into this category.
Historically, WWF is the one that brought the virgin/quasi-virgin forests concept into public attention, as well as the need for their strict protection . So far, we have evaluated over 600,000 ha of forests and identified around 66,000 ha of virgin and semi-virgin forests. For these areas, which are already included into the Catalogue, it will no longer be possible to propose and/or execute forestry works and the forestry administrations will implement a non-intervention management.
WWF also owns the first website dedicated to virgin forests in Romania, which acts as a hub that includes news about the identification process, an interactive map, educational digital publications, historical data and answers to the most pressing questions on the subject.