*[Enwl-eng] URGENT: Last chance to save forests
ENWLine
This petition was launched on our YouMove platform by Euronatur and Agent Green. We think you might be interested in it.
Hi,
While forest guards are in lockdown, forest thieves are not. Europe’s last old-growth forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. The wood mafia in Romania continues logging while the government does little to stop them. During the lockdown, wood transport was bigger than in the same period last year. And this in spite of the fact that the European Commission launched an infringement procedure against Romania on this very issue. [*]
More than 120,000 people signed the petition to immediately stop the illegal logging. Our partners are meeting the Romanian Minister of Environment, Water and Forests tomorrow to deliver the petition and demand instant action. The more people behind this, the more Romania's government will realise that this is an issue that people care about. Will you share the petition with your friends to put as much pressure as possible? It’s the last chance!
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Thank you!
David, Marta (Warsaw), Olga (Bologna), Jörg (Lübeck) and the entire WeMove Europe team
[*] https://www.clientearth.org/press/eu-announces-legal-action-against-romania-for-illegal-logging-of-europes-last-natural-forests/
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Below
our email from last year, explaining the
situation:
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The Romanian government allows the devastation of Europe’s largest untouched forests in national parks and ‘Natura 2000’ areas - to sell the wood to timber corporations. But now the eyes of Europe are on Romania, as it holds the EU presidency. Let’s use this moment and say the logging must stop now! |
Hi,
Old-growth forests are in danger! Vast areas are being logged right now in Romania - against EU law - all this while its government holds the EU presidency. We must act now if we don’t want to lose Europe’s green lungs.
Until the end of June, the presidency of the EU is being held by Romania. In the coming weeks, the eyes of Europe will be still on the Romanian government. We have a chance to demand from the Romanian PM to immediately stop the devastation!
Logging in Romania is out of control — wonderful, untouched forests in national parks, Natura 2000 sites, buffer zones of UNESCO World Heritage sites are all being logged and lost, both legally and illegally, often with the full permission and support of the Romanian government. [1]
But we can stop it. During the EU presidency, the Romanian government wants to make the best possible impression on the European and international public. If we publicise this tragedy all over Europe, the Romanian Prime Minister will have to listen. We will deliver the petition to the Romanian authorities and, in order to make more noise, also to the European Commission and the European Parliament.
The pressure must come from different countries to show the Romanian Prime Minister that forests belong to everyone. By signing this petition, you will contribute to persuading the Romanian authorities to stop the logging.
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The forests under threat grow in the Carpathian Mountains, Europe’s third longest mountain range. Mixed mountain forests of beech and spruce, and at higher altitudes, coniferous mountain forests with black pines and Alpine meadows - they are home to the EU’s largest and healthiest populations of brown bears, wolves, lynx, chamois, and red deer.
The threat comes mainly from Romania’s state-funded forestry company, Romsilva, which prioritises logging over conservation and is given full consent by authorities in Bucharest. Biofuels and timber industry are driving the logging. International companies benefit from its scale. [2]
We have shown numerous times that we can mobilise to protect natural treasures all over Europe and that saving forests is our priority. We fought for the Kresna gorge in Bulgaria and we massively supported the successful action to save the Białowieża forest in Poland. [3] So let’s do it again and save the green lungs of Europe. Sign now!
Thank you!
Marta (Warsaw), Olga (Bologna), Jörg (Lübeck)
and the entire WeMove Europe team
PS: Our generation has the responsibility to save nature for future generations. Romanian forests are carbon reserves, gene banks, scientific laboratories, oxygen factories and home for numerous threatened species, some found nowhere else on earth. Sign and save the forests!
References:
[1]
https://wilderness-society.org/logging-in-romanian-virgin-forest-continues/
https://www.saveparadiseforests.eu/de/video-3/
[2]
https://www.saveparadiseforests.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/EuroNatur_AG_briefer_web.pdf
[3]
https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/Save-the-Kresna-Gorge
https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/justice-forest-defenders
You Move Europe is an online action platform dedicated to help making Europe a more democratic, environmentally and socially just place. You Move Europe puts power in your hands. If you have an idea to make Europe a better place, You Move Europe helps you make it a reality. Petitions on this platform are started and run by civil society groups and members of the public. WeMove Europe hosts these petitions and they are in line with our values but they are not necessarily endorsed by WeMove Europe.
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