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The importance of green spaces in urban areas is a concept more and more discussed and included in the political agenda. Investments in green infrastructure can change the perception of residents, visitors or future investors about the attractiveness of a city. However, such investments are not easy to be achieved. Besides the human and financial capital necessary for the physical realization of the investments, an essential aspect is the perception of the inhabitants or visitors about the possible alternatives to combine the recreation facilities with the forest-specific natural landscapes. The object of this study is represented by the forest surrounding the Suceava citadel, named Șipote Dendrological Park. The area is a public owned forest and currently has recreational and soil protection functions assigned. In this context, the main purpose of the research is to identify the perception of the local community regarding alternatives of transforming this urban forest into a forest park. The specific objective of the research are: 1) the identification of community’s preferences for alternative strategies involving cutting of different sizes of forest to create recreational facilities; 2) the identification of preferences regarding the recreational facilities desired in an urban forest; 3) the identification of the willingness to pay for the investments nedeed to create a forest park. To assess the value of ecosystem services that are preferred by the local community we have used the contingent valuation method that helps identify consumers’ preferences over a range of alternatives. The method was based on the creation of three credible scenarios to test the alternatives for setting up different recreational facilities in the urban forest. The scenarios are identified based on a list of recreational facilities which imply interventions in cutting the forest as: S1-no forest cuts, S2-a cut of less than 30% of the forest area and S3-a cut of more than 30% of the forest area. In total, 305 questionnaires have been applied to identify citizens’ preferences which assures a confidence interval of 5.6%. The results show that the local community wants to retain the recreational function offered by the presence of the forest and desires in addition investments involving the creation of facilities for outdoor activities. Most of the surveyed participants are in favour of the second scenario and will like to have investments in cycling trails, kids’ playgrounds, fountains and an artificial lake. Nevertheless, the majority of the respondents are not willing to pay an entrance fee to compensate the value of additional facilities.

Forest restitution was a common process for former communist countries in Eastern Europe. The way this process was conducted in Romania, corroborated with inadequate legislation and lack of enforcement mechanisms, constituted the reason for improper forest management in many regions. The study is assessing, in a comparative manner, the effects of forest management in state and private forests over the structure of the growing stock and over the wood production sustainability. The private forests were managed without a forest management plan while the forests owned by state were managed according to forest management plans prescriptions. It was found that, in the case of private forests, the growing stock structure against age classes, analysed in respect to forest composition and density, was seriously affected by the anthropogenic interventions directed by no management rule. The simulations of the growing stock evolution revealed that in the case of private forests, the optimization of current growing stock will be possible after more than 180 years. In the scenario when their management would have been ruled according to the provisions of a forest management plan, the growing stock optimization would have been possible in about 120 years. In addition, the analysis of the economic efficiency of the practiced forest management in the private forests shows that the net yearly income per hectare is less than 13% from the income that could have been achieved if the forests would have been managed according to the original forest management plan.

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

Using an inter-disciplinary methodology, the paper aims to assess structural changes of the private forests restituted to their owners in early ‘90 in Romania (under the Law 18/1991), and to further estimate the economic rent resulted due to alternative management activities. The study area consists of restituted, private forests (799 ha) in Forest District Vama (North of the Romanian Eastern Carpathians). The forest structure dynamics was assessed by comparing initial forest structural characteristics at restitution (1990), according to the forest management plan, with the structural characteristics derived from aerial images recorded in 2004. The harvested volume (of period 1990-2004), at compartment level, was considered the percentage of clear cut/overharvested stands (estimated by photointerpretation) applied to the standing volume of 1990. The economic rent was calculated by comparing the economic value of the harvested timber under five management hypothesis: (i) respecting the provisions in the management plan of 1990, (ii) extracting a volume corresponding to the annual increment, (iii-v) extracting the entire volume in 1994, 2004 or 2014, respectively. The provisions of the initial forest management plan (1990) were not economically viable for owners under a harvesting rate of 1.4 m3 year-1 ha-1, the used alternative being a minimum of 23 m3 year-1 ha-1 harvested between 1990 and 2004. In Romania, between 1994 and 2014, the timber price significantly increased in comparison with the capitalization rate. Under these circumstances, the harvesting of forests immediately after restitution conducted to a total economic loss of about 9 million USD (present value - 2014), compared with the alternative - maintaining the forest resources 20 years further. It is concluded that in Romania, the mismanagement of private forests restituted in ‘90s (Law 18/1991) resulted in direct economic losses for forest owners, of similar importance as the ecological consequences.

Professor Radu Leontie Cenușă, Professor Emeritus of the University Ștefan cel Mare Suceava, creator of the forestry school, dean of the Faculty of Forestry Suceava, and distinguished researcher was an emblematic figure of Romanian forestry. With a vast intellectual reach, Professor Cenușă actively supported the idea of re-establishing the higher forestry school in Bucovina where he was an exceptional teacher, with an amazing ability to transmit knowledge and inspire disciples. The professor’s optimistic spirit was evident in his project to revive the scientific journal “Bucovina Forestiera”. From 1977 he climbed the hierarchical steps within the research group of the Câmpulung Moldovenesc Institute of Forestry Research and Development. From 1993 he worked within the Faculty of Forestry Suceava where he was dean during 2004-2008. His scientific activity was recognized through numerous national and international awards, such as the “Leopold Pfeil” Award of the Freiherr von Stein Foundation, Hamburg (1984), the “Traian Săvulescu” Award of the Romanian Academy (1990) and the “Progresul Silvic” Award (1992). He was a man of vision and alchemist of hope fighting until the last moment for his moral ideals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure of the forest sector as part of the national economy where the production and marketing of forest products take place provides essential information for formulating strategies for the sustainable management of forest resources. The present study aims to contribute to the clarification of some aspects regarding the structural attributes of the demand of logs for industrial use. To meet the objectives of this study, we proceeded to analyse the available data from 2013-2019 with the help of specific tools such the Herfindahl-Hirshman index (IHH), the concentration rate C5, the degree of market concentration and the Pareto index. A few key ideas can be summarized according to this study: i) Productivity is lower than the national average, but growing almost 50% more than in 2014; ii) The increasing evolution of the number of companies (+21%) suggests a tendency towards fragmentation and deconcentration, especially in the forestry segment, where the increase in the number of companies (+31% number of companies) did not follow the same pace as the increase in turnover; iii) Forestry sector in which micro-enterprises predominate (84%), about 10% of the sector's turnover is achieved through subcontracting, which shows an adaptation reaction to the uncertainties and risks of the sector by transferring commercial risks downstream; iv) For comparison, during the crisis period of 2013, 5% of the national turnover on the total economy was made by over 110 thousand companies that did not have any employees; v) The top 20% of logging firms account for 70% of the segment's turnover, while the top 20% of wood sawing and planning firms account for 89% of the segment's turnover; vi)Among all segments of the forestry sector, logging is the segment with the weakest degree of concentration - which negatively affects the possibility of innovation precisely in this sector where investment and innovation are needed due to the new protection/ecological requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis of the role played by the forest certification process in the identification and the management of forest ecosystem services provided by High Conservation Value Forests (HCVFs). Data were collected from thirteen publicly available HCVFs reports which cover a total area of 117,507 ha. The process of HCVFs identification resulted in mapping 28,882 ha of forests providing high conservation values. The qualitative content analysis of the reports focused on the data sources used in the process of HCVFs identification: (i) forest management plans; (ii) management plans of the protected areas; (iii) other databases; (iv) stakeholder consultations and (iv) staff involvement. The results of the analysis showed that 80% of the area identified with HCVFs is the result of the integration of information from forest management plans. This is mainly the case for regulating forest ecosystem services (water protection, soil erosion, and air quality) and for forests located in strictly protected areas. The process of HCVFs identification also helps in the harmonization process between Natura 2000 management plans and forest management plans, especially by mapping the presence of rare and endangered species and habitats. One important added value of the HCVFs process is the identification of cultural ecosystem services by using the stakeholder consultation process and the involvement of technical staff. The additional services identified in the certification process can provide examples for the governmental design of payment schemes targeting forest owners providing ecosystem services beyond the legal limit imposed by the forest management plans. The analysis concludes that the forest management planning procedures provide a sound framework for addressing the forest ecosystem services, and that the certification process adds supplementary management measures as well as the requirement to monitor the provision of ecosystem services [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Romania's forest policy is based on a long tradition in establishing and implementing the principles of sustainable management of forestry resources, based on a sound scientific and technical foundation. This resulted in a rigorous forestry regime, designed to operate efficiently under the conditions of state ownership over all forests. Over the past 30 years, Romania has gone through a period of transition towards a market economy with major institutional changes that took place in the forest sector through the restitution of forests and the privatisation of the administration, logging and forest industry sector. In this context, the regulatory system did not have the expected efficiency, which is reflected in a clear social tension, involving all stakeholders interested in and affected by the management of forests: private owners, public and private forest administration, logging and wood processing companies, environmental protection organisations, civil society, etc. The paper presents the process of elaborating a vision for sustainable forest management that would underlie a new public forest policy, in accordance with the international strategic documents and with the current challenges faced by the Romanian forest sector. The dialogue platform used in the elaboration of the vision has been coordinated by a university, precisely to ensure a unitary methodological approach to involve relevant experts and stakeholders in the process. The development of the vision used a stepwise participatory process based on the activity of a core group of experts followed by an extension of the group of experts, a public consultation process and a public debate. The result of the process is materialised in a set of eight sustainable forest management principles and four good governance principles. The implementation of the principles requires the identification, through an efficient and constructive communication between all stakeholders, of specific directions of action that have to be integrated in a new regulatory system that needs to be clear, easily monitored and effective in terms of practical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bundle of forest landowners' rights largely varies from one jurisdiction to another. On a global scale, the diversity of forest management regime and property rights systems is such that finding comprehensive and standardised approaches for governance analysis purposes is a challenging task. This paper explores the use of the Property Rights Index for Forestry (PRIF) as an analytical tool based on five rights domains (access, withdrawal, management, exclusion, and alienation) to assess how regulatory frameworks impact the owners' forest property rights. We show that PRIF is a reliable index for various governance arrangements, considering its ability to score forest owners' freedom to decide in case studies that range from the Amazon area (Brazil), Misiones province (Argentina) and Quebec (Canada) to community-managed Nepalese and Mexican forests. PRIF scores obtained in these diverse governance arrangements confirm that the governance of forests held by entities other than the state is driven by two factors: the owner's ability to exclude the public from the use of his/her own resource and the owner's freedom to decide on the forest management goals. These factors explained 66.44% of the variance in our sample and should be considered as the main potential drivers while implementing any new international or national policy. Despite having a few limitations, the PRIF is a promising governance indicator and has been proven to perform well for various socioeconomic and legal contexts., (© 2023. The Author(s).)