National parks and protected areas
Romania has different types of protected areas, including fourteen national parks, where nature lovers will find their happiness.
The Semenic-Gorges National Park at Caraș, south-east of Timișoara, is suitable for hiking in its vast beech forests, gorges and caves.
The Retezat Mountains National Park is the first and largest national park in Romania. It is located in the central-western part of the country, in the Carpathians. It offers a unique setting, with more than 60 peaks and more than 80 glacial lakes. A treasure of biodiversity, it is home to one of the last primary forests in Europe. It has more than 1,190 species of flora and a varied fauna, such as wolves, brown bears, boreal lynx and otters.
The Rodna National Park in the north of the country also belongs to the Carpathian massif. The visitor will discover breathtaking landscapes, glacial valleys, but also forests and pastures, fragile ecosystems associated with a high biodiversity.
The national park Călimani, in the Eastern Carpathians, is located on the borders of three historical provinces: Bukovina, Transylvania and Moldova. The volcanic massif of Călimani has a great biodiversity and varied relief. The park is punctuated by picturesque sites, anthropomorphic rocks and lakes that offer unique panoramas to visitors on foot or on horseback.
The Piatra Craiului National Park is located in the Carpathians, 30 km from Brașov. Its name means "prince's stone". One of the peculiarities of the park is linked to its geology. The massif is indeed dominated by limestone. It is home to more than 700 caves and is also a training ground for many mountaineers. There are also endemic species of flora. The fauna includes bears, wolves and lynx.
The Mountains National Park Măcin, located in the south-east of the country, includes part of the Măcin Mountains and a mosaic of ecosystems: steppes, mixed forests of Balkan type, associated with a great biodiversity. The park is home to many species of birds, including the ortolan bunting, turtle dove, saker falcon, sparrow hawk, and ferocious buzzard, one of the largest harriers in Europe.
The Jiu Parade National Park in the Southern Carpathians, in the south of the country, is reputed to be one of the most spectacular in Romania. It is home to exceptional forest environments: coniferous and juniper forests at high altitudes, then in the lower levels of magnificent ash forests. The landscapes of the Jiu River Parade bring their share of pictorial landscapes with its rocks and waterfalls. There are also several species of flowers including orchids. The park is also home to a varied fauna with amphibians, reptiles and many birds, including the golden eagle.
The Domogled-Cerna Valley National Park, also located in the Southern Carpathians, is characterized by its mountainous reliefs and ecosystems, and the great variety of its flora and fauna, specific to the Carpathians.
The Buila-Vânturarița National Park in the former province of Wallachia is located in the Căpătânii massif of the Southern Carpathians. It is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and varied forest massifs in the country, with exceptional biodiversity and rare species. It is also home to caves, habitats for six species of bats. Remarkable species include yews, junipers, martagon lilies and various orchids. In terms of fauna, there is the entire ecological pyramid of species.
The Cozia National Park, in the historical region of Wallachia, in the Southern Carpathians, is famous for the picturesque landscapes of the Olt River Parade, a tributary of the Danube. These preserved ecosystems are home to exceptional biodiversity. There are large predators (wolf, lynx, bear), but also herbivores (chamois, deer).
The Buila-Vânturarița National Park in the Southern Carpathians is located in the historic Wallachia region. It contains forest areas, caves and lakes.
The Nera-Beușnița Gorge National Park is located in the southwest of the country, in the historic Banat region. Away from the major tourist routes, this park is a haven of peace. The visitor will discover landscapes still little affected by man. The park is home to sumptuous landscapes, such as the "Devil's Lake" - the only karstic lake in the country - or beautiful waterfalls, rivers, gorges and forests. It is an ideal place for hiking, climbing and potholing.
The National Park of the Bicaz Gorge-Hășmaș in north-eastern Romania, east of the Eastern Carpathians, is home to beautiful reliefs, consisting of creeks, canyons, moraines, but also beautiful valleys and forest massifs. The fauna is characteristic of the Carpathians (bears, wolves, lynx, crested newt, golden eagle), associated with vast forest massifs (mixed forests, conifers, oak, beech and ash forests). Among the floristic diversity are edelweiss and yellow gentians.
The national park Ceahlău is located in the historical region of Moldova, in the northeast of the country. There are beautiful mountain landscapes, waterfalls and one of the largest lakes in the country, created by the Bicaz dam. It is home to beautiful forests of beech, hornbeam and fir trees, and also to large predators such as bears. With more than two thirds of the country's floristic diversity, it is considered a true "natural laboratory", frequented by universities, but also by many tourists, who concentrate around the picturesque sites (rocks with astonishing shapes, Durau monastery).
The Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, recognized by UNESCO, protects most of the Danube Delta between Romania and Ukraine. It includes the lagoons called limans. This unique ecosystem is home to more than 1,500 plant species and an extremely diverse fauna (birds, freshwater fish, insects). It is also home to a large number of sedentary and migratory birds.
A fragile and threatened resource: the forest
Romania has 3% of primary forests on its territory, which constitutes two thirds of the virgin forests in the European Union (excluding Scandinavia). These intact forests, which are not exploited by man, are incredible reservoirs of biodiversity, but also carbon sinks. They are classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites and included in Natura 2000 areas. Yet despite these protective statuses, they are endangered. 80 million cubic metres have been illegally cut down in ten years. This trafficking is sometimes also tainted with human blood (murder of a game warden) and reveals a whole system of corruption (allocation and management of plots, etc.). But men are on the watch. Thus the NGO Agent Green has set up a clever system called "tree screening". This device, placed at the top of the trees, sends a signal as soon as it perceives vibrations linked to chainsaws. Equipped with a solar panel, it is connected to a telephone that automatically transmits the call to the Forest Office. In addition, NGOs have filed a complaint with the European Commission against the country's government for destroying this age-old heritage.
Waste management: a major challenge
The issue of waste is another very sensitive one in Romania, with multiple health and ecological impacts. Waste channels are deficient in the majority of the country and there are still open dumps where waste is incinerated, in defiance of all regulations and the protection of the population. Selective collection is almost non-existent, recycling rates are low and the situation can be critical in Bucharest, where waste is sometimes abandoned along the roads. The low cost of waste treatment in Romania has led to a large number of imports from Western European countries, a phenomenon accentuated by China's ban on the import of certain types of waste. Once again, a wind of corruption is blowing through what has become a real traffic. Tires, medical waste and other illegal products end up in the incinerators of the country's cement factories. There are few border controls and Romania is becoming the dustbin of Western Europe. In addition, the health and ecological situation near landfills is problematic. In 2018 the country was condemned by the European Court of Justice for the non-closure of 68 landfills.
Air and water pollution
In addition to the toxic emanations from cement plants, Romania, and mainly the cities, suffer from poor air quality, linked to vehicle emissions - from the old Western European diesel fleet - but also from other types of fossil combustion (industry, heating and thermal power plants). Water treatment is also insufficient and contributes to environmental contamination. The waters of the Danube and its delta carry a whole range of pollutants into the Black Sea. Civil society is making its voice heard, and in 2020 it has organised events such as Fridays for the Future (Fridays for the Future). Events held in Bucharest aimed to raise awareness not only of the climate cause but also of air pollution. Beyond that, NGOs are proposing solutions, such as the development of bicycle lanes, the introduction of electric buses, green spaces, etc. The aim is to promote the use of renewable energy sources and to promote the use of renewable energy.
Industrial liabilities
Romania bears on its territory the traces of several ecological disasters, linked to its industrial history. Geamana is perhaps the symbol of this. All that remains of this small village in the north-east of the country is the church bell tower, which barely protrudes from a lake of muddy waste. The commissioning of one of the largest copper mines in Europe, in 1985, led the regime in power at the time to sacrifice this village to install the extraction residues, mixed with chemicals and lime, to which is added, in rainy weather, water loaded with heavy metals. The level of the lake continues to rise, forcing the remaining inhabitants to move their houses again. More recently, the Baia Mare accident in 2000 caused tons of cyanide and heavy metals to be spilled into the surrounding rivers. The pollution will spread to Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Ukraine with dramatic consequences for biodiversity. Note, however: a gold mine project at Roșia Motana, Transylvania, which was to be operated by a Canadian company, is no longer supported by Bucharest today. The project would have had many environmental and health impacts, including deforestation and expropriation.
