Forest conditions and management under rapid legislation change in Romania

Abstract

This paper evaluates the effects of post-communist economic transition on forest resources in Romania. Using data from 1993 and 2003, our research describes a sample of forested landscape units based on seven environmental attributes. These attributes were then compared to four technical attributes associated with forest management planning. The comparative analysis revealed that many forest stand attributes were significantly affected between 1993 and 2003, potentially by the forest ownership change, while most of the forest management attributes were not. Our results suggest that a dramatic change in forestry legislation does not necessarily result in a dramatic change in the descriptive characteristics of forest resources in that jurisdiction but, rather, in the structure of the forest.Key words: economic transition, Eastern Europe, forestry, policy, non-parametric statistics RÉSUMÉCet article évalue les effets de la transition économique post-communiste sur les ressources forestières de la Roumanie. À partir des données de 1993 et de 2003, nos recherches décrivent un échantillon des unités du paysage forestier selon sept caractéristiques environnementales. Ces caractéristiques ont été comparées par la suite à quatre caractéristiques techniques associées à la planification de l'aménagement forestier. L'analyse comparative a révélé que plusieurs caractéris-tiques des peuplements forestiers ont été modifiées de façon significative entre 1993 et 2003, probablement par suite du changement de tenure, tandis que la plupart des caractéristiques d'aménagement forestier ne l'ont pas été. Nos résultats suggèrent qu'un changement drastique de la législation forestière n'entraîne pas nécessairement un changement radical des caractéristiques descriptives des ressources forestières dans le cas de cette juridiction, mais plutôt dans la structure de la forêt.

The Romanian forestry sector: privatisation facts

“…These studies show that 4 factors explain increased logging rates after the implementation of forest restitution laws. First, the economic recession provided an incentive for the new owners to immediately clear-cut their forests for short-term returns (Strimbu et al 2005;Ioras and Abrudan 2006). Second, Romania's forest restitution was a slow and complex process, with many new owners fearing that their property rights were not permanent (Sikor et al 2009), which also led to rapid deforestation.…”

“…Second, Romania's forest restitution was a slow and complex process, with many new owners fearing that their property rights were not permanent (Sikor et al 2009), which also led to rapid deforestation. Third, the postsocialist period in Romania was characterized by weak institutions and law enforcement, which resulted in increased illegal logging (Strimbu et al 2005;Ioja et al 2010). Fourth, new forest owners often lacked capacity and knowledge for sustainable forest management and nature conservation, which triggered an unintended degradation of the forest resources (Knorn et al 2012b).…”

“…The scale of these studies varies from national (Strimbu et al 2005;Abrudan et al 2009;Dutca and Abrudan 2010;Ioja et al 2010), to mountain range (Olofsson et al 2011;Griffiths et al 2012Griffiths et al , 2013aGriffiths et al , 2013bGriffiths et al , 2013cVanonckelen et al 2015) to local (Kuemmerle et al 2008b;Mü ller et al 2009;Knorn et al 2012aKnorn et al , 2012bMü ller et al 2013), with a clear dominance of local studies. These studies show that 4 factors explain increased logging rates after the implementation of forest restitution laws.…”

Policy analysis of a government-sanctioned management plan for a community-owned forest in Romania

“…For decades, the central government has required sustained-yield management to achieve a regulated (or normal) forest (i.e., equal area in every age class up to and through the rotation age (Davis et al, 2001;Helms, 1998)) that can provide biological sustainability and community stability. Even though the structure and function of Romania's forest resources have changed as Romania has moved toward a mixed market economy (Strimbu et al, 2005), most of these forests are still required by law to follow a strict sustained-yield doctrine.…”

Using the Landsat data archive to assess long-term regional forest dynamics assessment in Eastern Europe, 1985-2012

“…The legal framework of forest management changed due to land privatization, reduction of state control, and changes in forest use regulations (Lazdinis et al, 2004;Strimbu et al, 2005;Torniainen et al, 2006;Vanwambeke et al, 2012). In terms of economics, price liberalization, modification of forest consumer network and processing infrastructure had significant effects coupled with the expansion of the European Union expansion, changes in markets, and the recent global economic crisis (Kuemmerle et al, 2009;Wendland et al, 2011;Olofsson et al, 2011).…”