Cosava Virgin Forest – Romania

Romania still hosts to the biggest share of remaining virgin forests in Europe: more than 60% of Europe’s last wild forests grow there. Cosava Mica is a large ancient beech forest (> 700ha) which is one of the largest remains of Europe’s ancient beech forest cover. 5000 years ago most of Europe was a mainly a vast beech forest. Only a few spots today remember at Europe’s original forest… Not so long time ago Cosava was part or Europe’s largest wild beech forest, which covered most of eastern and southeastern Semenic mountain area. Today only Nera Springs reserve (5000 ha) and Cosava Mica (700 ha) are left. Nera Springs reserve is now part of the Semenic-Cheile Carasului National Park and will become a UNESCO World Heritage Site most likely in 2017. Cosava Mica forest (originally 1500 ha) was left unprotected because of Romsilva’s logging interests: Both the Semenic National Park and a Natura 2000 site made a curve around the most valuable virgin forest… Half of it have been cut down, now only 700 ha are left…

Nera Springs virgin forest is the largest virgin beech forest of the EU. Its a truly wild place, a sea of trees covering several ridges and valleys.

Romania’s ancient forests are vanishing rapidly due to (illegal) logging. Even in National Parks such as Domogled, Retezat, Semenic or Calimani National Park ancient forests are being logged. Roads and clearcuts are digging deeper and deeper into the wilderness.

Romania’s state forestry Romsilva is in charge of managing most of the national parks in Romania. But they are apparently mainly interested in exploitation: the vast majority of the parks rather appear as commercial forestry sites. On more than 50%$ of the parks surface forests are logged, including 6000 years old virgin forests. Only one national park is meeting the criteria by the international nature conservation organisation IUCN which require at least 75% of the park to be protected as non intervention zone.

Recently (2016) media reported that Romsilva wants to increase timber harvest even more and to shrink the nature zones of parks. Reports say that Romsilva refuses to accept national park management plans with too large nature zones. Romanian forest experts and journalists say that Romsilva acts like a „state within the state“…

Thanks to efforts by campaigning group Agent Green the Romanian Environmental Ministry announced in December 2015 that Cosava Mica becomes a forest reserve. Logging shall be banned for 10 years.

This is good news. Cosava Mica is larger than all virgin forest remains in Western Europe together. But it is not the only virgin forest under threat…