Fourth National Report to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity
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2.4 Biodiversity in agriculture Plains and agro-ecosystems represent more than 12,000,000 hectares (almost 50% of the Romanian territory and 90% of the plain areas), with 9,300,000 hectares being arable land. The main plant species used in agriculture are wheat, barley, corn, sunflower, potatoes, oat, hemp, and flax. The main ecosystems of agricultural areas are: grassy lands used for cereals, vegetables, hemp, flax; orchards of apple, peach, plum, and apricot are mainly in hilly areas, frequently associated with meadows; hay meadows, also used as pastures; and associations of bushes and shrubs. The diversity of species related to agro-ecosystems comprises: 15 species of mammals; 20 species of birds; 15 species of reptiles; 3 species of amphibians; more than 6500 species of invertebrates; 640 species of plants (134 weeds species). Of these, 7 species are threatened and 12 are vulnerable. Four species of mammals, 4 species of birds, 10 species of reptiles and one specie of amphibian have limited areas in Europe. Meteorological records over more than 100 years show an obvious trend of desertification for some 3 million hectares in the East of the country, of which 2.8 million are agricultural land (representing about 20% of the total arable land). Agriculture land is distributed according to suitability classes as follows: very good (2.8%), good (24.6%), medium (20.8%), weak (24.4%), very weak (27.4%). The most degraded are pastures and hayfields with 46.6% of the area in the very weak class and vineyards and orchards with 36.7%. Soil degradation is affecting the quality of about 12 million hectares of agriculture land, of which 7.5 million are arable land. Water erosion affects 6.3 million hectares out of which 2.3 million are under soil erosion control measures. This type of erosion, together with land slides leads to soil losses estimated at 41.5 t/ hectares /year. Wind erosion affects o.4 million hectares and soil salinization 0.6 million hectares, mainly in the irrigated or drained areas. Soil deterioration and compaction is manifested on 6.5 million hectares of arable land. It is estimated that abandoned land accounts for 5-10% of the agriculture land. It affects local ecosystems, the landscapes and contribute to the degradation of about 123,000 hectares of arable land. Finally, drought affects 7.1 million hectares, including the 3.2 million hectares that were previously irrigated. With a great agro-biodiversity resources Romania has done limited study and / on-the ground measures for agro-biodiversity conservation. 2.6 5 Biodiversity in forests Today, a total of about 6,567,000 hectares of Romania (27.65% of the land area) is covered by forest. Of these, 6,161,000 hectares are actually wooded, the other 400,000 hectares being meadows, marshes and ponds. Most of the forests are situated in the Carpathian Mountains, at altitudes above 700 m (58.5%). The rest of forests are located in hills and plateaus between 150-700 m (32.7%) with only 8.8% located at altitudes below 150 m. Conifers comprise 30.3% of all Romanian wooded areas. Spruce (Picea) are the dominant coniferous species, represented at 22.5% of all tree species, followed by fir (Abies) at 5.1%. Deciduous trees are best represented by beech (Fagus), which are the dominant tree species in Romania at 30.4%, followed by oak (Quercus) trees at 19.3%. Various other hardwoods including maple (Acer), ash (Fraxinus), acacia (Robinia) and hornbeam (Carpinus) comprise 14.3% of Romania’s trees, and other softwoods including poplars (Populus) of European and American origin and indigenous species such as alder (Alnus) and willows (Salix) make up 5.7% of all tree species. There are 11 types of broad-leaved forests. Over 68% of forests are of natural type, corresponding to the potential vegetation type. This proportion was maintained relatively constant during the last 20-30 years, but presently there is a slight increase in the percentage of artificial forests. In order to preserve this valuable natural capital and to ensure a favorable conservation status for natural habitats of great natural and community importance, Romania has taken important steps, by implementing the legislative elements specific to the European Union, as well as of some programs and projects dedicated to preserve biodiversity. In Romania there are protected areas comprising of 79 scientific reservations, 13 national parks, with the largest one named Domogled–Valea Cernei, 190 natural monuments, 659 natural reservations, 13 natural parks and 3 biosphere reservations (Danube Delta, Retezat and Rodna). In the National Forestry Program (2001-2010) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development one of the goals focuses on the integration of representative forest ecosystems in the network of protected areas and the conservation of biodiversity in forested ecosystems. Romanian forests face a serious challenge in the immediate future as approximately 30% of standing forests are slated to be restituted to families of former land owners. These forests, which have been under state control for over 50 years, are virtually intact and provide crucial habitat required for large mammals, watershed protection, and substantial economic reserves if sustainable harvested. Current forecasts, modeled on initial restitution efforts that resulted in wide-scale deforestation, indicate that the future forest owners may denude up to 20% of forests restituted for immediate economic gain. Such an activity will result in forest fragmentation, which will disrupt genetic flow and habitat suitability throughout Romania’s forests. Deforestation will also contribute to global and local climate change, which in turn are disruptive to forestry and agriculture. Over 50% of the forests are preserved under a special management requirement, being included either as protective forests, for water protection, for land or soil protection, protection against climatic or industrial noxious factors, for recreation or biodiversity conservation. The proportion of forests included in protected areas increased constantly, reaching almost 700,000 hectares in 2005, of which over 200,000 strictly protected (included in special protection areas). The surface of protected areas with forests will increase in the future. In the management of forests in Romania, priority is given to (i) natural regeneration which promotes the best conservation of genetic diversity, and (ii) the use of local seeds for artificial regeneration. The basic principle applied in the management of forests in Romania is continuity, implying the maintenance or improvement of the goods and services offered by the forests. Logging and harvesting other forest products is quantified in a way that will not impact on long term the productive capacity and the protection of forests at the level of each management unit. The sustainable management of forests is included in legislation and in the Strategy for the sustainable development of forestry during 2000-2020 and is included in the technical requirements. The requirements of the sustainable use of forests are overall respected at national level, both by the administration of state-owned forests and by the private owners of forests. A variety of indicators are in use for forests, at different spatial scales:
The main priorities on forest ecosystems biodiversity conservation that need to be urgently approached by the foresters together with representatives of other institutions with responsibilities in biodiversity conservation and protected areas are the following:
Table 5 Significant and potential adverse environmental effect of forestry activities
The major problems in using natural resources in a sustainable way were generated by the high poverty level and unemployment in rural areas, the change in forest ownership, all these coupled with the lack of correlation between the existing institutional and legislative environment. For the forestry sector, the legislation requires the conservation of valuable habitats by including them in the national network of protected areas or in the category of forests with special functions. The legislation is also very strict regarding the change of forest land use. In case a forest area can change its destination, a similar area in size and quality must be reforested. The reduction of the degradation of forest areas is included in all management plans and is applied based on different measures: functional zonation of the forests, choice of treatments and technologies of exploitation, steep slope stabilization etc. The loss and degradation of forest habitats is extremely low, on small areas, caused either by natural disturbances or by human activities. The indicators used in forestry are: the area of forests degraded or destroyed by disturbances (fires, pest invasion, erosion, etc.), the area of forests affected by illegal logging, the area of forests receiving other destination etc. In some area, the forests are affected by invasive alien species. There is no strategy or coherent action plan focused on alien invasive species. Major problems are caused in the Danube Delta and floodplain by Amorpha fruticosa, Fraxinus pensylvanica, Fraxinus americana, clones of Euro-American poplars and Populus nigra hybrids. Besides alien species another high risk threat is represented by some allochtonous genotypes or even ecotypes. A series of measures were taken: identification of ecotypes and genotypes resistant to climated changes and other stressors, developing management technologies for forests that will consolidate their stability, prevention measures for disturbance factors associated to climate changes.
Romania’s freshwater animals originate from the Danube River drainage basin and are pre-glacial. Some relic species, which originate from the ancient Sarmatic Sea (crustaceans misidacea and cumacea, some polichaetes and limnocardiids mussels) can be found today in the Danube River, the Danube Delta and in Black Sea coastal lagoons. The Danube drainage basin virtually covers Romania’s entire land surface and comprises the richest ichthiofauna (fish diversity) of all other European rivers. The basin was less affected by glacial periods and receives many cold tributaries, which provide good habitat for some rheophilic (fast water loving) and psychrotermophilous (cold water loving) species including beluga sturgeon (Huso huso). While the majority of fish in the Danube are freshwater species, 23 fish species of marine origin also inhabit the Romanian sector of the Danube. In all, 108 species of fish are known from Romania’s coastal waters out of the 170 species reported in the Black Sea.
Table 7 Connection between human activities and coastal area problems
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