Între percepții și precepte în dialogul despre pădurile României [ Between perceptions and precepts in the dialogue on Romanian forests]

Abstract

It is largely acknowledged that reality is a social construction, the understandings of a specific phenomenon being based on the shared assumptions about the reality. Media and social networks present a puzzling and bleak image of the Romanian forestry field, which results in the fact that the general public has formed a distorted image about the precepts of forest management and their practical application. Romanian forestry system has faced important challenges after the change of the political system in 1989, reflected in the chaotic approach to forest restitution and in major governance failures to support responsible forest management. As a reaction, there is an increasing trend in presenting only sensational data (e.g. the controversial famous slogan of 3 hectares of forest disappearing each hour in Romania) and a danger that exaggerated media declarations could lead to overstated public reactions. In this context, we analyse some of the data provided in different reports and public declaration on the extent of forest area, the impact of deforestation and the annual harvesting rate compared to other European countries. The paper is intended to be a factual statement which presents and explains data and accessible information, many of them ignored by the general public. The messages sent by the environmental NGOs of protecting forest are obviously positive and we all agree that alarm signals not only increase interest on, but also responsibility towards the forest. Nevertheless, the messages must be founded on factual and accurate information. Forestry certainly means more than illegal logging, personal interests and lack of credibility. The forest is a renewable resource and its exploitation should not be exaggeratedly limited, but sustainably harvested. At the moment, in Romania the annual allowable cut (including legal and illegal estimations) is less than half of the forest annual growth. Efforts to assure natural and artificial forest regeneration are done in most of the areas. The efforts of foresters to implement responsible silvicultural measures are not properly communicated and reflected in the public dialogue on forestry. There is a need to provide clear and transparent messages and all stakeholders should be more opened to dialogue

Keywords

• Romanian forests
• perception