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00:00Good evening, a new edition of Romania I love you begins.
00:13Today we return to the forests that should have been.
00:17We are behind short funds through large forestry programs.
00:21Romania has come to invest in forests that exist only on paper
00:25or in which half of the trees planted are missing from the ground.
00:29Abandoned by authorities, other Stejar forests in southern Romania
00:33have begun to dry up due to insect attacks that could have been prevented.
00:38But first we stop in Giurgiu.
00:40A forest planted by President Claus Iohannis and the Minister of the Environment
00:44has disappeared without a trace.
00:47In the midst of the climate crisis, Romania is among the countries
00:50with the smallest forest area in Europe.
00:53We see the effects with everyone.
00:55In 2008, the Parliament approved the Silvic Code,
00:58through which the authorities assumed that they would increase
01:01the forest area by 2 million hectares.
01:04They wrote in the law that it is a national priority
01:07to ensure the ecological balance at the local, national and even global level.
01:12The law is still in force today.
01:1416 years and 16 governments later, a report by the Country Court
01:18shows that the forest area has increased by only 1,000 hectares.
01:22What does the leadership of the Ministry say after almost two decades
01:25in which it assumed the position of 2 million hectares?
01:28I would like to explain what the Court of Auditors wrote there.
01:32The Court of Auditors refers to the fact that
01:35from this huge, unsustainable position
01:39and taken out of the mud,
01:43it has not been forested.
01:45While in the forests the step is taking place,
01:48year after year, entire plots are unharmed
01:51under the eyes of the authorities of the forest thieves
01:54and of the corrupt silviculture.
01:56And recently, in many counties,
01:58the forests that have escaped the illegal cuttings
02:01have begun to dry under the eyes of the authorities
02:04because of the damage.
02:06The researchers also admit it.
02:08Look, another one over there.
02:10Trees that have died.
02:12Yes, and look how much they have to plant.
02:15And it's dead.
02:17While the old forests are suffering,
02:19the authorities are praising themselves
02:21with millions of seedlings planted in all areas of the country.
02:24We want a forest.
02:26A forest as big as a country.
02:28This is what we have proposed and this is what we will do.
02:31It is a campaign
02:34that we have believed in from the beginning.
02:37December 2020, Bolintin Valley, Jurgiu County.
02:40Let's go and plant something.
02:43The President, along with the current Minister of the Environment
02:46and the former Rom Silva,
02:48successfully declares the campaign
02:50A Forest as Big as a Country.
02:52Today we will plant the last trees
02:54from the 50 million trees
02:56that we have proposed and managed to plant.
02:59We have a plan,
03:02we have a plot of 5,000 meters
03:04at the Bolintin-Silvic Hill.
03:06We plant it from scratch.
03:08What the officials do not say
03:10is that A Forest as Big as a Country
03:12was more of a marketing campaign
03:14and an image campaign
03:16for the forestry that Rom Silva
03:18is now forced to do by law, year after year.
03:21And 2020, the year of completion of the campaign,
03:24was also the year in which Rom Silva
03:26planted the fewest trees in the last 10 years.
03:29This is confirmed by a report
03:31from the National Institute of Statistics
03:33about the activities in silviculture.
03:35There is a tradition of naming the tree
03:37when you plant it.
03:39What name do you give this tree?
03:41And if you come back to see if it has roots.
03:44I will come back.
03:46I will vote for Romania tomorrow.
03:48The President did not return
03:50to the Romanian branch tomorrow.
03:52But we returned after 4 years
03:54to Bolintin Valley.
03:56There are only weeds here,
03:58in front of the place.
04:00Look at this.
04:02No trace of the branch,
04:04at least one,
04:06lost here, somewhere.
04:08There is no such thing.
04:10In less than 5 minutes,
04:12an employee of Silvic Hill
04:14is sent by superiors
04:16to report who came to film
04:18the Romanian branch tomorrow.
04:20We are from the show
04:22Romania, I love you.
04:24Let's see what happened
04:26with the weeds that were planted
04:28here 4 years ago.
04:30I understand that,
04:32but you talked to someone
04:34from the direction of Silvica Giurgiu.
04:36We had to talk?
04:38Yes.
04:40Why?
04:42Because it was normal.
04:44What is your argument?
04:46It's not my argument,
04:48it's the chiefs' argument.
04:50You have to tell them
04:52what you are doing.
04:54Ok, call him.
04:56A short conversation follows
04:58with the superiors,
05:00after which the employee of Silvic Hill leaves.
05:02Are you leaving?
05:04I'm going back,
05:06because there is no signal.
05:08Yes, yes, yes.
05:10He did not return.
05:12We go to the chief of Silvic Hill
05:14to find out what happened
05:16with the forest planted by the president
05:18and the minister of the environment.
05:20We are looking for you.
05:22Regarding the plantation
05:24that took place in the forest,
05:26where the president Claus Iohannis
05:28and the minister of the environment
05:30were, we were there,
05:32in front of the place.
05:34Please go, I have a speech
05:36at the level of the national director.
05:38Silvic Hill is responsible
05:40for the plantation there.
05:42Silvic Hill is the only one responsible.
05:44The chief of Silvic Hill
05:46did not want to give us
05:48any kind of information.
05:50We also reach the chief of Silvic Hill.
05:52This experiment was done
05:54with volunteers.
05:56We are glad that such experiments
05:58have personalities
06:00from the political world.
06:02So the president and the minister of the environment
06:04were some volunteers
06:06in an experiment.
06:08No, no, you misunderstood me.
06:10I explained to you that there was an action
06:12And it was an unsuccessful experiment?
06:14It was an unsuccessful experiment.
06:16Now, these are the experiments.
06:18They cannot succeed.
06:20We learned a lesson.
06:22We continue to follow.
06:24Do not believe that it is an isolated case.
06:26The experiment in which the presidents
06:28and the minister of the environment
06:30participated was carried out
06:32on a strip of land where,
06:34according to the law,
06:36trees should not be planted.
06:38The plot appears in the RomSilva documents
06:40just because the land is dedicated
06:42to the feeding of wild animals
06:44so that they do not leave the forest.
06:46Otherwise, in front of the place
06:48we also found food distributed for them.
06:50This is salt
06:52put even by the representatives
06:54of RomSilva for wild animals.
06:56And there
06:58you can see
07:00the feeding point
07:02for capybaras.
07:04So in no case here
07:06was a dedicated land
07:08for capybaras.
07:10It is a hunting line
07:12and an experiment was tried there.
07:14You cannot plant on a hunting line.
07:16Experiments can be carried out.
07:18Experiments can be carried out?
07:20Based on which law?
07:22Tell me a law that prohibits me
07:24from doing this experiment,
07:26because it does not exist.
07:28But how did the presidents,
07:30the minister of the environment
07:32and the greater RomSilva
07:34manage to plant trees
07:36for the presidents to be brought
07:38to an accessible area?
07:40And it really is.
07:42Here is the area where it was planted
07:44and there at no distance
07:46is the road that leads
07:48to the village of Malu Spart.
07:50The largest forest campaign
07:52in Romania.
07:5453 million sheep.
07:56A forest as a country.
07:58You participated with the presidents.
08:00I was Secretary of State.
08:02I remember that campaign.
08:04There is no tree there anymore.
08:06What do you mean?
08:08Not even a branch.
08:10It is empty.
08:12I believe that
08:14any forestry project
08:16must be evaluated
08:18at regular intervals
08:20to see
08:22to what extent
08:24that project
08:26is calamitous.
08:28Only in the four years
08:30that have elapsed
08:32no one has come
08:34to officially state
08:36so-called calamity.
08:38Just because anyone can verify
08:40in real time if what is planted
08:42on paper actually exists.
08:44Once the campaign
08:46A forest as a country
08:48the Ministry of the Environment
08:50launched in 2020
08:52a website dedicated to the campaign.
08:54Anyone could check the surfaces planted,
08:56the number of sheep
08:58and the exact coordinates
09:00except that the website
09:02has not been updated for four years.
09:04A report of the control body
09:06of the Prime Minister revealed
09:08that thousands of points on the map
09:10are not actual plantings
09:12as the website and the authorities
09:14have stated,
09:16but only some places where Rom Silva,
09:18the Ministry of the Environment
09:20and the Presidency
09:22had the intention to plant.
09:24So it is impossible to verify independently
09:26how many other places the experiment
09:28has baptized Rom Silva.
09:30The forest map
09:32is one of the projects
09:34that are being done?
09:36I don't want to
09:38talk about
09:40projects
09:42carried out
09:44in the past,
09:46but without a doubt
09:48the annual program
09:50of forestry
09:52is being done.
09:54In the forests of Stejardin,
09:56the centuries-old forests
09:58have begun to dry up
10:00under the eyes of the authorities
10:02who, instead of taking measures,
10:04are preparing to cut
10:06the explanation in a few moments.
10:10The centuries-old forests
10:12of Stejardin, south of Romania
10:14have begun to dry up.
10:16An ecological disaster,
10:18says a mayor from Giurgiu.
10:20The trees have been devoured
10:22by mice and other insects
10:24due to droughts and climate change.
10:26For more than two years,
10:28Rom Silva has been standing
10:30and looking at this phenomenon.
10:32Although he has a solution
10:34to save the forests.
10:36Instead of saving sick trees,
10:38the authorities are preparing to cut them.
10:40While the stejards planted by the minister
10:42and the president
10:44have disappeared without any explanation,
10:46the mature stejard forests
10:48in southern Romania have also begun to disappear.
10:50For a few years, thousands of hectares of trees
10:52have dried up under the eyes of the authorities.
10:56Look, we have one dry here,
10:58one there, here,
11:00another one here.
11:02So if we count from 20 trees,
11:04for sure 10 are in this stage.
11:06At least it is a good death.
11:08If it is not dead,
11:10it will be dead next year.
11:12We are in Călăraș County
11:14with researcher Flavius Bălăcenoiu
11:16from the National Research Institute
11:18in Silviculture.
11:20The stejard forests are attacked
11:22by Lymanthria dispar,
11:24that is, the deadly mite.
11:26They have an insatiable appetite.
11:28They eat from the leaves
11:30without having a certain amount
11:32where they would say,
11:34stop, I don't want it anymore.
11:36And we come to the phenomenon
11:38of drying in the table.
11:40The insect has been present in Romania
11:42for decades, but due to global warming
11:44and consecutive droughts,
11:46it has begun to spread uncontrollably
11:48In 2013, a mite infested
11:50150,000 hectares at the national level.
11:52In 2023, the area
11:54is more than double,
11:56over 340,000 hectares.
11:58From this total,
12:00the climate conditions make
12:02so that every year,
12:04on a few thousand hectares,
12:06the attack is so strong
12:08that the forests die,
12:10as it is in Călăraș.
12:12In such a situation,
12:14Rom Silva is obliged by law
12:16The authorities have not applied
12:18any kind of treatment.
12:20For example, here,
12:22how many years has the forest not been treated?
12:24They were 2 years old,
12:26in those 2 years it was not treated.
12:28And what do you expect for next year?
12:30We have no expectations.
12:32We move to Giurgiu,
12:34where the mayor Cătălin Corbea
12:36is desperate,
12:38after the pine forest
12:40around the locality began to die.
12:42Dry, dry, dry.
12:44It is the first time
12:46that I see completely deforested forests.
12:48I have been in these forests
12:50for 50 years.
12:52I have never seen
12:54completely deforested forests.
12:56That's why I'm telling you it's a disaster.
12:58The images you see
13:00were filmed by the mayor in June.
13:02There is no leaf in a forest
13:04that in that period
13:06should have been completely green.
13:08Everything is dry,
13:10only a little green leaf.
13:12The ants have eaten
13:14even the grass under the trees.
13:16The forest does not make its biological cycle.
13:18It will not reach maturity,
13:20it will not produce its shadow.
13:22Do you see any shadow?
13:24It may seem to you that this forest looks normal.
13:26But I tell you, it does not look normal.
13:28The forest at this moment
13:30should not have any light in it.
13:32The forests belong to the Silvicomana area,
13:34where in 4 years we have reached
13:36from 0 hectares infested by 1000
13:38to more than 5000,
13:403,700 hectares,
13:42the attack was strong and very strong.
13:44When was the last treatment done here?
13:48The last treatment
13:50in this forest was done
13:52in 2003.
13:54Cătălin Croitoru
13:56is the head of Silvicomana.
13:58I asked him why he does not treat the forest.
14:00A bid was organized
14:02for the acquisition of the substance.
14:04The bid was posted
14:06on the SICAP platform
14:08and there was no one
14:10with any offer.
14:12There was no homologated substance
14:14to be used.
14:16The head of Silvicomana says
14:18that in all Romania there is no homologated solution
14:20at this moment to fight a dangerous mite
14:22that makes its nest
14:24in the Stejar forests in the south of the country.
14:26The same things were confirmed
14:28in writing by the representatives of RomSilva
14:30and the same reason is invoked
14:32by RomSilva in the annual report
14:34from 2023.
14:36The substances used on the territory
14:38of the country in agriculture and silviculture
14:40must be authorized by the phytosanitary authority,
14:42the institution held by the Ministry of Agriculture.
14:44Romeo Soldai
14:46is the head of the authority.
14:48The specific of the mission
14:50carried out by the lady
14:52here is the following.
14:56I am following you.
14:58The institutions of the state
15:00sleep, they blame each other.
15:02Dear citizens,
15:04look, it's their fault.
15:06Now the question is also mine.
15:08We are extremely open.
15:10Whose fault is it in this case?
15:12I want to know.
15:14The head of the phytosanitary authority
15:16argues that the information presented
15:18by RomSilva is not correct
15:20and that both last year and this year
15:22there were not one, but two substances
15:24with which the forest could be treated.
15:26One of them is homologated
15:28and for the other one
15:30a request could be obtained.
15:32The head of the phytosanitary authority
15:34argues that either of the two substances
15:36could have been used by RomSilva
15:38if they made the necessary
15:40and timely measures.
15:42If when they came
15:44they thought that they caught
15:46the bad guys,
15:48they found the trap.
15:50Now, wait a minute,
15:52I think it's not their fault.
15:54I think it's RomSilva's fault.
15:56It has changed.
15:58I really want to find out.
16:00I want to find out.
16:02Those from the phytosanitary authority
16:04argue that last year
16:06the head of the phytosanitary authority
16:08asked for approval of a fixed treatment
16:10for the forest in which we filmed
16:12with the researcher Fladius Balacenoiud
16:14and that they were refused,
16:16not because there were no substances,
16:18but because they made the request too late
16:20and were going to apply the treatment
16:22in a period of the year when the bees were affected.
16:24The next treatment that could be done
16:26would be in spring.
16:28Did you come with a request
16:30to ask if a substance
16:32had been approved in the meantime?
16:34No, they didn't come.
16:36We go to RomSilva's office
16:38to ask for explanations.
16:40Do you know why the Silvica authority,
16:42Giorgio, told me that there is no
16:44phytosanitary approved product
16:46for combating defoliating insects?
16:48I can't tell you
16:50what my colleagues from Giorgio told me.
16:52Well, yes, but the answers
16:54are signed by you.
16:56Yes.
16:58RomSilva's boss changes the board.
17:00Suddenly, the problem is no longer
17:02that there are no approved insecticides,
17:04but that they tried to buy a product,
17:06but no one showed up at the bidding.
17:08What does this mean?
17:10It means that we are looking
17:12at these forests with dead trees,
17:14because...
17:16No, we are not looking at these forests with dead trees.
17:18Now, at the moment,
17:20following the defoliating attack,
17:22all the affected forests
17:24are covered with vegetation.
17:26Yes? Let me show you
17:28what a forest looks like,
17:30to tell me what else you can save here.
17:32Look, this is what a forest looks like
17:34in June.
17:36This is the autumn landscape,
17:38not June.
17:40The problem is that they are defoliating,
17:42they eat the leaves, that's why they look like this.
17:44But let's see in the spring
17:46how they will look like.
17:48Now there are also losses.
17:50Where did this insect attack?
17:52I can say that
17:54almost in the whole south of the country.
17:56From Oltenia
17:58to Tulcea,
18:00in each city
18:02there are some forests
18:04that have been completely defoliated in the last two years.
18:06The losses are, in fact, the trees that will be cut
18:08because Rom Silva did not intervene in time
18:10and organized the bidding
18:12on the last hundred meters,
18:14at which, even if someone showed up,
18:16the insecticide would have been delivered too late
18:18and could not be used anymore.
18:20Rom Silva could not fit
18:22into the windows in which he wanted to fall.
18:24You knew about the invasions
18:26with this insect
18:28two years ago.
18:30Why didn't you make this purchase
18:32earlier?
18:34The colleagues did all the procedures.
18:36Now that no agent has come,
18:38we cannot say
18:40that we are guilty.
18:42Do you have any idea why the bidding
18:44was not made in the autumn of 2023
18:46and was made in the spring of 2024?
18:50Now I cannot tell you
18:52what happened last year.
18:54Normally, Rom Silva and the National
18:56Phytosanitary Authority should collaborate,
18:58to monitor together
19:00the forests' pests
19:02and to find solutions for combating them.
19:04Especially now, when,
19:06according to the researchers,
19:08more and more new pests appear
19:10in the forests in Romania due to climate change.
19:12These mass multiplications
19:14are no longer made as they were
19:1670 years ago, they are much more common
19:18on much more designated areas.
19:20For some hunters,
19:22there are no treatments.
19:24This is the case of Corytuca arcoata,
19:26that is, the sting beetle.
19:28It has infested more than 265,000
19:30hectares of leaves.
19:32There we have leaves
19:34that are unattacked
19:36and unaffected.
19:38They are green.
19:40Compared to such a leaf
19:42that is
19:44completely discolored.
19:46It is documented on the territory
19:48of Romania since 2016.
19:50It spread all over the country.
19:52It started to pass from the forest area
19:54to the city area,
19:56urban parks and so on.
19:58And that's when
20:00it started to
20:02sting people, the human skin.
20:04There have been many cases
20:06of this type.
20:08Normally, the Phytosanitary Authority
20:10should at least be aware of its existence.
20:12For another insect,
20:14Corytuca arcoata.
20:16Ok.
20:18What is this?
20:20The head of the authority calls
20:22three subordinates to consult.
20:24They find out from us that the insect
20:26attacks the sting beetle.
20:28So this sting beetle also attacks the sting beetle?
20:30Now it comes.
20:32So the host plant
20:34is according to the source from the airport, right?
20:36Yes.
20:38And we have acer,
20:40so acer yartza.
20:42Acer yartza.
20:44It's a white acer yartza.
20:46Major.
20:48You see the infestation
20:50with Corytuca only at Acer Yartza.
20:52Well, it was so painful.
20:56There are problems.
20:58We don't know too many details
21:00about this bug, so to speak.
21:02What we can do
21:04is to monitor
21:06the evolution
21:08of the affected tree.
21:10The fact is that some forest owners
21:12have started to use
21:14the sting beetle as a method
21:16to legally cut larger amounts of wood.
21:18This month, in Suceava,
21:20the Forestry Guard suspects
21:22that a forest owner
21:24tried to intentionally infect
21:26the tree with an insect
21:28that is capable of drying the forest
21:30in just a few months.
21:32There is a direct interest
21:34of the owner to obtain
21:36a larger volume of wood
21:38Only an investigation
21:40conducted under the supervision
21:42of a prosecutor can tell us
21:44the exact nature of the offence
21:46and the fact that it was committed.
21:48Mihai Creuco, one of the most important
21:50investors in Moldovița's forest fund,
21:52owns the forested area.
21:54The forested area is managed
21:56by Silvic Privat Bucovina.
21:58On the day we went to film,
22:00the forest owner was there
22:02with the head of the company.
22:04He says that the sting beetles
22:06were found in the bark of the tree.
22:08I think that someone
22:10brought the wind
22:12and...
22:14They were found in the bark of the tree?
22:16Yes.
22:18The wind could not bring them
22:20to the bark of the tree?
22:22No, the bees were placed
22:24on the tree.
22:26Yes, we found one on the tree.
22:28The head of the forest guard
22:30in Suceava has another version.
22:32He says that his inspectors
22:34were very careful with the bark of the tree
22:36at the height of a man.
22:38We made a criminal hearing
22:40in this case for the intended destruction
22:42of the forest.
22:44These are images from the time of the inspection.
22:46Someone grew the bark of some healthy trees
22:48and put in bags with pheromones
22:50that attract the sting beetles.
22:52This way, the sting beetles
22:54are placed in special boxes
22:56in which the sting beetles
22:58stay locked and do not infest the forest.
23:00The bark was not put down.
23:02The sting beetles were put
23:04after the bark and glued.
23:06What does this mean?
23:08It means
23:10to do something bad
23:12to the owner.
23:14Do you think the owner
23:16could have done it himself?
23:18This is possible.
23:20The forest guard who oversees the area
23:22does not explain how the sting beetles
23:24got to the forest he guards.
23:26I do not know the truth,
23:28but I can tell you
23:30that during the inspection
23:32I did not see anything.
23:34What are the negative effects
23:36of this on the trees?
23:38It attracts insects.
23:40The insects enter the tree,
23:42eat it,
23:44break the sap
23:46and dry the tree.
23:48You said
23:50that you did not intentionally
23:52infest the forest
23:54to cut more trees.
23:56No.
23:58This is not possible.
24:00I would not do such a thing
24:02by breaking my head.
24:04After the break,
24:06we go to the forests planted
24:08from public funds.
24:10We find out about some of them
24:12that exist only on paper,
24:14about others that have dried up.
24:16Some of them were set on fire
24:18to cover poor quality work.
24:22To extend the forested area
24:24from Romania,
24:26the Ministry of Agriculture
24:28spent hundreds of millions of lei
24:30planting hundreds of forests
24:32on degraded land.
24:34On paper, they look good,
24:36but on the ground,
24:38many of these forests no longer exist.
24:40The trees have dried up,
24:42were wrongly planted
24:44and no one watched
24:46what was chosen
24:48from the investments made.
24:50In Teleorman,
24:5270 hectares were set on fire
24:54and many of the illegal cuttings
24:56had to be partially compensated
24:58with new plantings.
25:00The priorities for the forest
25:02had to be degraded land.
25:04In 2009, the Ministry of Environment
25:06started with money from the Fund
25:08a large foresting program
25:10dedicated to these forests.
25:12134 projects
25:14were approved and funded
25:16in the whole country.
25:18Only 43 were completed
25:20in the 15 years that passed.
25:22About the other 60,
25:24it is not known in what state they are.
25:26We are in the municipality of Colelia,
25:28in Ialomita.
25:30Ionel Profir is the deputy mayor of the locality.
25:32Until then, it had to be a forest
25:34and it is not.
25:36It didn't come out.
25:38That's what the company says.
25:40It came out, but it didn't come out
25:42because it wasn't maintained.
25:44The county has only 6% of the area
25:46covered with forest.
25:48Every hectare planted here
25:50The wind is so strong!
25:52Is it always like this?
25:54The wind is so strong?
25:56Exactly!
25:58In 2010, the county council received money
26:00from the Ministry of Environment
26:02to forest an area of 25 hectares
26:04on the municipal land.
26:06On one of the two forested lands,
26:0880% of the seedlings
26:10died in the first year of planting.
26:12The soil didn't help either.
26:14The soil didn't help either.
26:16The maintenance didn't help either.
26:18What did you think when they came to the county?
26:20I didn't think it was ok.
26:22I didn't think it was ok.
26:24I didn't think it was ok.
26:26I didn't think it was ok.
26:28You were totally unprepared.
26:30I didn't have anything to do.
26:32I asked them to do their job.
26:34I asked them to do their job.
26:36The contract includes money
26:38for the maintenance of the plantations
26:40for 5 years,
26:42but also funds for the surrounding
26:44of the forests with a fence
26:46for sheep and goats.
26:48For the protection of the plantation,
26:50we should find a fence here,
26:52but there is none.
26:54There is no fence here.
26:56And, of course,
26:58a fence with a fence.
27:00Why is there no fence?
27:02Why is there no fence?
27:04They didn't put it here
27:06for the first time.
27:08According to the technical project,
27:1062,000 seedlings,
27:1231,000 seedlings,
27:14are planted here.
27:16On the ground,
27:18we find another species,
27:20the sage.
27:22Sage seedlings are much cheaper
27:24than those of sage,
27:26sage or tea.
27:28What was planted here?
27:30Sage.
27:32Only sage.
27:34I don't know if the sage
27:36resists in this inundable area.
27:38That's what it says.
27:40I understand what it says.
27:42The forest is 70 hectares,
27:44with sage seedlings,
27:46with money received
27:48from the Fund for the Environment.
27:50Three years later,
27:52the Court of Auditors discovered
27:54that there is not even a seedling
27:56on the ground.
27:58We should have a forest of 73.14 hectares
28:00behind us.
28:02Ten hectares came,
28:04and everything was compromised.
28:06And now, what do we have
28:08behind us, instead of trees?
28:1013 years later,
28:12we returned to see
28:14how things were going.
28:16Since 2020,
28:18I have seen what you see.
28:20The new mayor is still
28:22trying to figure out
28:24what happened.
28:26The money has gone,
28:28the forest does not exist,
28:30and the time seems to be coming.
28:32There were more requests
28:34from AFME,
28:36with which the financing contract
28:38was terminated.
28:40The state, the land,
28:42stopped the work for a while.
28:44The payments were made,
28:46and more money was requested.
28:48What I can say is that
28:50at the moment,
28:52we have no prejudice against AFME.
28:54The financing contract was terminated
28:56because it was terminated
28:58during the execution period.
29:00We stay in TimiÈ™,
29:02and we go to the city of Zimbolia,
29:04where in 2011 the City Hall
29:06was in a state of chaos.
29:08The authorities were afraid
29:10that people would go out
29:12to picnic in the forest.
29:14It is possible that the foresters
29:16will be lost,
29:18that the Zimbolians
29:20will have the possibility
29:22to come to a picnic.
29:24The city is close.
29:26Caba Gabor is the deputy mayor
29:28of the city.
29:3013 years ago,
29:32when the contract was signed,
29:34this was supposed
29:36to be the land.
29:38And what do we have here now?
29:40In 2021,
29:42the City Hall planted
29:44new land,
29:46this time from its own money,
29:48on the land that was not
29:50taken by the AFME funds.
29:52Unfortunately,
29:54it was not taken again.
29:56The drought began to be
29:58quite big in our area.
30:00Last year, the technical project
30:02that had been at the base of the project
30:04since 2011,
30:06came to the conclusion
30:08that they had planted two times
30:10the seedlings in a soil
30:12unsuitable for the leafy species.
30:14It was probably a mistake
30:16of the project 12 years ago,
30:18that it is alkaline.
30:20But I think it was the same
30:22in 2011.
30:24How come that company
30:26didn't see this?
30:28I can't give you an answer.
30:30The Ministry of Environment
30:32doesn't even know today
30:34how many of the forestry projects
30:36financed for 15 years
30:38by the AFME fund
30:40are made only on paper
30:42and how many forests
30:44have actually grown.
30:46A report from 2023
30:48confirms this,
30:50according to which no institution
30:52allowed the authorities
30:54to verify and monitor
30:56what happened with the financed plantations.
30:58But it only represents
31:005% of the improvement
31:02that was made at the national level.
31:04From my point of view,
31:06it is not a systemic problem.
31:08I don't have this data at the moment.
31:12Dan Popescu
31:14is talking to us about the unsuccessful
31:16planting on the funds of the AFME fund.
31:18He has been in charge of forestry for 10 years
31:20and for a short period
31:22he was also Secretary of State
31:24in the Ministry of Environment.
31:26Later, there were small problems,
31:28big problems,
31:30financial problems,
31:32because they delayed the payments a lot
31:34and there were delays
31:36up to a year and a half,
31:38which led to a weakening
31:40of the companies
31:42that executed these
31:44functional planting projects
31:46in the forestry field.
31:48Some of them even went bankrupt.
31:50How many percent of the companies
31:52that worked on the AFME program
31:54went bankrupt?
31:56About 60%.
31:5840% went bankrupt.
32:00In the south of Romania,
32:02the target of degraded forestry
32:04is even higher.
32:06Here, the forests are few
32:08and the lack of trees
32:10combined with drought and wind
32:12affects people's lives.
32:14We are in Teleorman,
32:16very close to Alexandria.
32:18Look at all the dust
32:20that has risen because of the wind.
32:22This is the phenomenon.
32:24All the dust raised by the wind
32:26reaches the city.
32:28This is what those people breathe.
32:30In Teleorman, eight municipalities
32:32already had to have forests
32:34following another program of degraded forestry
32:36managed this time
32:38by the Forestry Banks.
32:40Fântânele, Teleorman County.
32:42On these hills,
32:44deforestation works
32:46worth half a million euros
32:48have been dismantled and paid.
32:50My dear friends, everything is empty.
32:52A big game.
32:54In 2012, on paper,
32:56deforestation was carried out
32:58on 10 hectares in 8 municipalities.
33:00We are talking about over 8 million lei
33:02earned by the same company.
33:04The government document
33:06in which we found the list
33:08opens with the sentence
33:10Find out where your money is invested.
33:12At Fântânele, on the terraces
33:14on the edge of the town,
33:16we had to find 84 hectares deforested.
33:18They are empty,
33:20although almost 2.5 million lei
33:22have been invested here.
33:24They planted,
33:26and after that, no problem.
33:28Nobody hit here, so they planted and that's it.
33:30They planted and then they didn't come
33:32here to take care?
33:34No, no, no, no, stay calm, that's what happened.
33:36They have to do some maintenance,
33:38not so much.
33:40The farmer says that the chickens
33:42caught fire shortly after planting
33:44and before anyone else
33:46knew how the money was spent.
33:48All these terraces caught fire.
33:50The first incident was here.
33:52The terraces, in those hens?
33:54Yes, yes, yes, here it was.
33:56There were hens and they were caught.
33:58About 80% were caught.
34:00And who set fire?
34:02What can I tell you, ma'am?
34:04Sources from the Forestry Guard
34:06have declared that they suspect
34:08a criminal hand, but no one
34:10managed to prove anything.
34:12The current mayor didn't even know
34:14that he had a forest.
34:16You don't have a forest here.
34:18And we wanted to see what happened
34:20in the meantime.
34:22I don't know how to answer you,
34:24because I don't know.
34:26I wasn't in the mayor's office.
34:28The same company planted
34:30in the neighboring town,
34:32at Izvoarele.
34:34Here, the government allocated 420,000 lei
34:36and almost everything was spent.
34:38The forest has many holes
34:40and where the trees grew,
34:42it was already starting to dry.
34:44I asked the mayor how well
34:46the company was prepared.
34:48It was a company from Vâlcea.
34:50I told them that they didn't have
34:52a place to sleep, so I put them
34:54in an inactivated garden,
34:56where they put 4 of them.
34:58They came with the sowing material,
35:00in the last stage.
35:02Do you understand what I mean?
35:04I mean, it was almost dry.
35:06Yes, the hens.
35:08I took the tank from the mayor's office
35:10and I helped them
35:12to give them water,
35:14to water.
35:16After they left,
35:18we watered the forest,
35:20so that it would dry.
35:22Coincidence?
35:24Here, too, a part of the forest burned.
35:26In the documents, the forest from Izvoarele
35:28appears as hay.
35:30It is not in the forest fund.
35:32Theoretically, it can be cut anyway.
35:34In all these years,
35:36the forest guard should have taken
35:38care of the forest fund,
35:40organized the bidding
35:42and spent the money.
35:44Why didn't you declare a forest fund
35:46after it grew?
35:48I didn't declare it.
35:50And the people from Silvic
35:52didn't come to see
35:54what is going on,
35:56to check something?
35:58No, no.
36:00No check.
36:02The company that took care
36:04of the forest in Teleorman
36:06still has hopes
36:08that at least a part of the money
36:10will be recovered.
36:12Yes, it is an extremely serious case.
36:14We can call it a theft,
36:16if you want to call it that.
36:18I think it is investigated
36:20and I hope it will be investigated
36:22by the bodies that do this.
36:24The forest guard can go
36:26and do these checks on the train
36:28to find out that the forest doesn't exist
36:30and answer those who should do it.
36:32From the state budget,
36:34let's look at the European funds.
36:36In the period 2007-2020,
36:38Romania had at its disposal
36:40over 350 million euros
36:42for the loss of forests
36:44and deforestation of agricultural land.
36:46The money was managed
36:48by the Ministry of Agriculture
36:50and the absorption was disastrous,
36:52under 20 million euros.
36:54Now other hundreds of millions
36:56are coming through PNRR,
36:58managed by the Ministry of Environment.
37:00At the beginning of the program
37:02the amount of money was
37:04325 million euros,
37:06because there were not enough applicants.
37:08We risk losing money again.
37:10Here we are on the largest
37:12forested area
37:14through PNRR.
37:16There are 591 hectares
37:18of which 464 hectares
37:20have been deforested.
37:22We are with Dan Popescu
37:24in the Sahara of Oltenia.
37:26The temperature at the moment
37:28at the level of the ground
37:30is 1.2 degrees.
37:36We are in a huge arid triangle
37:38of over 100 hectares
37:40located between Craiova, Calafat and Corabia.
37:42Degraded land as you can see with your eyes.
37:44I am not heading
37:46towards the sea shore,
37:48I am here on an agricultural field
37:50in Oltenia, more precisely in Dolj.
37:52Here the sand advances
37:54and eats from the fertile soils
37:56200 meters every year.
37:58Look, from here you can see
38:00the border between the fertile soil and the sand.
38:02It is the area in Romania
38:04with the greatest need for forests.
38:06We had to gather here 1,650 owners.
38:08It was an acid work,
38:10as I told you,
38:12an old Chinese work.
38:14First I identified, then I talked to them.
38:16As you can see, not all of them complained.
38:18If you see a logo here,
38:20this man did not have confidence.
38:22With an experience of over 14 years
38:24in forestry, Dan Popescu
38:26is one of the two greatest pedigrees
38:28that have been on the path of planting trees
38:30at the national level.
38:32The bureaucracy of the State
38:34and the distrust of the people
38:36who own the thousands of fragmented lands
38:38on which trees should be planted.
38:40After the program of AFM,
38:42which went very badly,
38:44and the program of AFIR,
38:46which also went badly,
38:48from one year and a half to three years
38:50and with many syncope,
38:52the world was less and was reticent
38:54People are reticent,
38:56although the amounts they receive
38:58are huge.
39:00The money covers the projection
39:02of the seedlings and their planting.
39:04Then come the subsidies.
39:06It's about 456 euros per hectare
39:08for 20 years,
39:10to which another 190 euros
39:12per year are added
39:14if the land has been removed
39:16from agricultural production
39:18and the land has been used
39:20for other purposes.
39:22The land has been removed
39:24from agricultural production
39:26to be planted in the forest.
39:28In addition, the benefits of the forest
39:30in an area like the Sahara
39:32can be seen with the naked eye.
39:34It's almost impossible to believe
39:36that there was sand before.
39:38Now, as you can see,
39:40it has already formed above.
39:42This is stabilized,
39:44and the soil is no longer visible.
39:46Here are leaves that have fallen
39:48for 20 years.
39:50This is already starting
39:52to make humus.
39:54We are in a forest planted
39:5616 years ago by Silvi,
39:58led by Dan Popescu.
40:00It is one of the examples
40:02of success financed by AFM.
40:04In 2008, here it looked
40:06exactly as it is seen.
40:08There was sand, sand.
40:10These are natural dunes
40:12that reach up to 18 meters.
40:14After two failed financial
40:16exercises, PNRR had to find
40:18all the issues.
40:20For example, since 2010,
40:22there was a law on foresting
40:24degraded agricultural land.
40:26This forced the authorities
40:28to inventory them.
40:30According to the accounts,
40:32the inventory was never made.
40:34We don't even know where those lands are,
40:36what level of degradation they have,
40:38what degradation is there.
40:40Can it be forested or not?
40:42No government has managed
40:44to do this in 30 years.
40:46If the Ministry of Environment
40:48together with the Ministry of Agriculture
40:50had to identify these lands,
40:52I would say that the Ministry of Environment
40:54could not identify them.
40:56It could possibly say,
40:58and I said this now in PNRR,
41:00give us a part of these lands
41:02that are degraded from agriculture
41:04and we will forest them,
41:06because we have funding.
41:08Romania should have a strategy
41:10for combating desertification.
41:12It is still being worked on.
41:14While the Ministry is working
41:16on inventories and strategies,
41:18at the Faculty of Geography,
41:20a researcher already has the inventory
41:22of degraded lands,
41:24after a study made with money
41:26from the European Commission.
41:28Do you know where the degraded lands
41:30are in Romania, after the study?
41:32Yes, we know where the degraded lands
41:34are and we know where
41:36most of them are,
41:38and other forms of degradation
41:40that don't necessarily have anything to do
41:42with the soil level,
41:44water and climate.
41:46The inventory was made
41:48together with international experts
41:50in 40 European states,
41:52and Remus Prăvălie was the coordinator.
41:54He also explains to us that the institutions
41:56do not communicate among themselves
41:58and thus many valuable studies
42:00that could be put into practice
42:02are in doubt.
42:04We come with certain findings
42:06and even report them to the government,
42:08but this does not mean that someone
42:10will come to a conclusion.
42:12Most of the time,
42:14these results do not have a practical conclusion.
42:16They remain on the table of the governors.
42:18They remain somewhere there.
42:20For years, a national program
42:22for forest waste was needed.
42:24We don't have it.
42:26Waste could be planted
42:28on the tens of thousands of hectares
42:30of degraded land of the State Agency,
42:32under the order of the Ministry of Agriculture.
42:34But...
42:36So you don't have land where you can...
42:38And how many times have you sat at the table
42:40with the State Agency, with the Ministry of Agriculture...
42:42Very often.
42:44Only last week we sat at the table three times.
42:46And where is the blockage?
42:48Why don't you come to a conclusion?
42:50The blockage is that there is no inventory.
42:52From what I understood,
42:54there is no concrete inventory.
42:56Because I need a professor to tell me
42:58that there is a table...
43:00Ask the people from the State Agency
43:02why they didn't make this inventory.
43:04Don't ask me, because I can't answer you.
43:06The money from the PNRR must be spent
43:08until 2026,
43:10otherwise we will lose them.
43:12The Ministry of Environment
43:14hopes that by then
43:1626,000 hectares will be in the forests.
43:18It's just the beginning.
43:20It would be a breath of fresh air
43:22in a country where climate change
43:24has begun to wreak havoc
43:26and the authorities often forget
43:28how instead of winning,
43:30we lose forests.
43:32Thank you for your message.
43:34More information can be found on www.stirileprotv.ro
43:36and on www.voio.ro
43:38That's all for today.
43:40All the best!