The emergency ordinance announced by Diana Buzoianu, to save green spaces, is not enough to stop deforestation in big cities, but it can be a first step towards firmer sanctioning of municipalities that do abusive work, claims the president of Eco Civica, Dan Trifu.
Diana Buzoianu sent for approval a draft GEO by which the cutting of trees becomes a crime if green spaces of more than one hectare are affected. She stated that the initiative “makes the destruction or cutting of trees, even in urban areas, even on private property, a crime if green spaces larger than one hectare are destroyed!”
“In short: what happened in the IOR park, if it is repeated in other parks, he should be punished with prison! Our cities still have too few green spaces. Let’s not leave them prey to the real estate mafia.” said the minister.
Changes desired by civic organizations
Dan Trifu, president of the Eco-Civic Association, told “Adevărul” that the initiative should be changed, because the limit of one hectare is very permissive for a city where every square meter is essential for the health of the inhabitants.
“Almost all the mayors of the city would be targeted by the current law. However, the problem is that, at the current moment, the developers and mayors have already made their ‘meanders’: they have cut down retroceded parks, arranged parking lots, modified street sections. We are, in fact, talking about a systematic destruction of green spaces, done exactly in the sense they wanted. From this point of view, the law comes too late.
We had discussions on this topic and presented a clear point of view of NGOs and civic activists, including the reaction group from the IOR Park. We are unhappy with the form of the ordinance because it establishes that it only becomes a crime if you cut at least one hectare of green space. Either the approach is wrong”says the environmental activist.
Considering the way in which the green space is distributed in the Capital, the criterion chosen is not the most suitable for the inner city.
“We said very clearly: you don’t have to refer to the surface, but to the amount of woody material, as stipulated by the Forestry Code. If you cut more than 5 cubic meters, it becomes a crime. It’s an already existing rule.
Sbut green areas that may have a large area but little vegetation, and vice versa. You can have a hectare with a high density of trees, yielding 50–100 cubic meters of wood. For such a quantity, the Forestry Code provides for up to six years in prison. Instead, according to the ordinance, if you don’t reach the one hectare threshold, you can only get away with a fine. It’s a clear contradiction”says Dan Trifu.
How did it end up in this scenario
The Ordinance should be amended to bring it into line with regulations on green spaces outside cities. As it stands, the difference in treatment remains significant. For example, the National Environmental Guard fined the town hall led by Robert Negoiță with 50,000 lei for unauthorized works in the IOR Park. In a stricter legislative framework, the person responsible for such interventions could face criminal charges, including imprisonment.
“There was no need for this ordinance if the article in the Forestry Code was clearly corrected. It was enough to explicitly state that, even in the urban environment, cutting more than 5 cubic meters of vegetation constitutes a crime. We have been saying the same thing for years and we are not being listened to. The result: parks destroyed, entire areas affected — IOR, Grozăvești, the north of the Capital. The ordinance was supposed to fix a loophole in the Forestry Code, but unfortunately it created another problem”says Dan Trifu.
The activity also explains what the legislative syncopations would be:
“We have to think that there are green areas that have less planting. But as a surface they have a hectare. So you could destroy a hectare without anything happening to you, or some fines that you can contest.
Because this urban vegetation is considered vegetation outside the forest fund, but subject to the rigors of the Forestry Code. This article was reintroduced, but it was still stupidly introduced by the Ministry of the Environment”.
The capital’s town halls already have dozens of lawsuits in court
In the meantime, the only solution is to take the abusive municipalities to court. Or stinging fines, the last example being in 2023, when Nicușor Dan announced a record fine of 35 million euros for the owners of the retroceded area in the Titan park (IOR).
“Those who have most affected the green spaces are the mayor of Sector 3 and the mayor of Sector 4. There are still processes related to the PUZs of sectors 6 and 4, as well as the PUZ of Sector 2, which, after so many years, is being re-judged in Ploiesti. There are extremely serious things that have happened and that can continue to happen as long as the approach is based on the surface and not on relevant urban indicators.
Regarding the future plans for Bucharest, there are still deforestation and cutting initiatives, including for minor projects, such as the development of sidewalks. For example, there are many lawsuits on the shores of lakes, but also situations related to sports bases that do not exceed one hectare, in which case the sanctions are, as a rule, contraventional.
There are other targeted areas, such as green spaces around apartment buildings. In general, the lands returned to these green spaces have areas under one hectare”concludes the specialist.
He also stated that the environmental activists will insist on the amendment of the GEO with the Ministry of the Environment.
