© Michel Gunther / WWF
Romania has created its first National Catalogue of Priority Biodiversity Areas, covering more than 600,000 hectares. The new framework turns the EU’s strict-protection ambition into concrete national action, with more than 10% of Romania’s state forests managed by Romsilva now included.
At a time when progress towards the EU Biodiversity Strategy’s 10% strict-protection target remains uneven across Europe, Romania has taken a major step towards turning this ambition into an operational national commitment.
Romania has established the legal framework for strict protection and published its first National Catalogue of Priority Biodiversity Areas. The Catalogue covers more than 600,000 hectares, around 2.5% of Romania’s territory, including approximately 340,000 hectares of state-owned forests committed by the National Forest Administration – Romsilva.
Consequently, more than 10% of the state forests managed by Romsilva are included in a system where biodiversity conservation must take priority, consistent with the principles of the European Commission’s Guidelines on strictly protected areas. This roughly doubles the area of state forests managed under a biodiversity-oriented protection regime. Based on WWF’s preliminary assessment, it represents one of the most substantial commitments made by a public forest administration in comparable EU regions outside boreal Europe.
For WWF-Romania, this milestone is the result of almost seven years of strategic thinking, technical work, persistent advocacy and complex negotiations. The journey began with the innovative proposal to use Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan as a vehicle for translating the EU biodiversity ambition into national reform. It built on Romanian forestry knowledge and traditions and on experience gained through the transparent and participatory identification and management of High Conservation Value forests under FSC certification.
The result was made possible through cooperation between public authorities, Romsilva, researchers and civil society. It also demonstrates the systemic change WWF can help generate through long-term vision, sound technical solutions and constructive engagement.
This first stage reflects Romania’s difficult political and socioeconomic context, severe fiscal constraints and the absence of fully operational compensation mechanisms. Under these conditions, securing substantial new commitments beyond state-owned forests was not yet possible. Private and community landowners cannot be expected to bear alone the costs of restrictions imposed in the public interest.
Romania is also offering a broader lesson in terms of community lead conservation. Local communities have acted over generations as architects and custodians of many of the biodiversity-rich landscapes we value today. Traditional land uses and close-to-nature forest management have helped maintain living landscapes that are increasingly rare elsewhere.
Conservation must therefore distinguish between ecosystems requiring non-intervention and landscapes whose biodiversity depends on continued human stewardship. Meaningful participation, environmental and social safeguards, fair compensation and viable local livelihoods are essential to both.
Romania remains far from achieving the 10% national target, and the real test now lies in implementation, monitoring and completing a coherent and representative ecological network. WWF-Romania is already promoting the next steps, including using the future EU Multiannual Financial Framework and Romania’s National Restoration Plan to strengthen the framework for nature restoration and further protection, mobilize resources for fair compensation, and support a just transition for local communities.
This first Catalogue nevertheless sends a timely message across the CEE region and beyond: Europe’s biodiversity targets do not have to remain aspirations on paper. With persistence, cooperation, appropriate financing and respect for local communities, progress is possible - even under difficult conditions.
Further information:
• Read WWF-Romania’s full article
• Download WWF-Romania’s detailed technical position
