THE SOUND USE OF WOOD AND OTHER FOREST RESOURCES IN ROMANIA GHEORGHE DUMITRIU GHEORGHE PARNUTA IOVU BIRIS GHEORGHE FLORIAN BORLEA

“The whole history and civilization of the Romanian people has been continuously connected to the forest covering the main part of the land area”

THE RECENT EVOLUTION OF THE FOREST AREA IN ROMANIA Year/ Forest area (million ha)

THE EVOLUTION OF THE FOREST AREA IN ROMANIA Forest area decreased with 0,76 million hectares over the last century

THE FOREST OWNERSHIP IN ROMANIA The forest land restitution process is ongoing Total successfully returned to the ex-owners forest area : approx ha At the end of this process, the private forest area will be % of the total forest area in Romania

ALLOWABLE CUT AND WOOD HARVEST ( Source BUD, 2000; * NFA 2003) PeriodTotal allowable cut (million m3)The wood harvest (million m3) ,5 1991*1915,3 1993*1513,6 1994*14,512,9 1995*14,413,8 1996*14,614,8 1997*14,814,5 1998*15,212,6 1999*15,513,7 2000*15,814,2 2001*1713,4 2002*16

THE WOOD INDUSTRY The privatization of the wood industry started in % of the wood industry will be private in 2003

THE USE OF WOOD FOR INDUSTRIAL PURPOSES ( % of total harvested wood/year-source Bud 2000, *ASFOR) Year *2002* * 3549,152,1 60,371,

THE STRUCTURE OF WOOD PRODUCTION IN WOOD PROCESSING (125 wood processing companies analysed-MIC, 2000). Type of products Lumber Solid parquet 3-layers parquet Garden furniture Small furniture Windows/doors Semi-products Wooden houses Packages Other Number of companies %

TRADITIONAL NON WOOD FOREST PRODUCTS The annual value of NFP in Romania is 50 million $ Important for poverty alleviation in rural areas National Forest Administration is the market leader Private sector has grown slightly (except mushrooms)

BIODIVERSITY AND FOREST PROTECTED AREAS Romania owns very important biodiversity resources “Forest naturalness”- The most valuable and important characteristic of the Romanian forest Important biodiversity projects ongoing: GEF/WB, Phare CBC, PIN MATRA/IUCN, WWW, LIFE-Natura

CARBON SEQUESTRATION Appropriate legislative framework (law of bad lands afforestation) Large areas suitable for afforestation could provide important benefits to the forestry sector Afforestation of Bad Lands, a potential economic solution for the landowners and managers

FOREST POLICY AND STRATEGY To ensure sustainable management of forest resources Integration of logging and wood processing with sustainable forest management Promoting high added-value development for the forestry sector Economic development & improvement of the environment

CONCLUSIONS Highly valuable forest resources in Romania Long-tradition in sustainable management The revenue coming from the sector could be improved Wood promotion campaign non-existent Capital investment in the sector is necessary Private forestry - a challenge for the sector

THE FORESTERS’ APPROACH The Wood has always represented much more than a simple resource.

A FORESTER’S PERSPECTIVE FOR THE HUMAN-FOREST RELATION From using the wood, to living with the wood From the sound use of wood to the sound living with the wood

SOUND USE OF WOOD IN THE FUTURE ? Forest Management versus wood industry: from conflict to cooperation- a long term strategy