Romanian Forestry Association: Illegal logging would be reduced with video cameras
The new SUMAL timber monitoring system will improve activity in this sector and reduce illegal logging, but transparency would increase even more if a video monitoring system of the three main timber transportation routes were added, Ciprian Musca, president of the Romanian Forestry Association (ASFOR), told AGERPRES in an interview.
Musca specified that every year the official statistics show that 250,000 - 300,000 cubic meters are cut illegally in Romania, but, unofficially, the quantity is much higher.
At the same time, ASFOR plans to carry out a project through which all wood products from the country's forests will be marked as Romanian wood, because Romania is the only country in Europe where the forests are still natural and the wood is of very good quality.
"Romanian forests are the only forests in Europe that have been managed for hundreds of years in a natural system," says Musca.
According to Musca, the Romanian forests have trees in various phases: from one year to 150, 180, 200, up to 300 years. "And there are rare items at 500 [years old]," he adds.
"Think that the secular forests of Slatioara (Suceava County, a forest on the UNESCO World Heritage List) were declared natural forests in 1908. Romania was among the first countries in Europe to declare a forest area as a natural forest" added Musca.
Source: Agerpres – 25.01.2021
