Link to Forbes article (in Romanian)

About 6 hectares of forest disappear every hour from Romania — through cuttings with and without permission from the Romanian government. For every tree legally cut, another has been felled illegally – and this has gone on for nearly a decade.

Annually, 20 million cubic meters of wood are lost without a trace from Romania’s forests (including private ones). This translates into a damage of over 5 billion lei (0.6% of Romania’s GDP), not to mention the social and ecological consequences in the midst of the climate crisis.

Through the “Blestem de bine” (rough translation: “we are good with curses”) campaign, Greenpeace Romania aims to put pressure on the Ministry of Water and Forests for the urgent modernization of SUMAL (Wooden Material Tracking System), which represents the 21st century technological solution for the automatic and incorruptible surveillance of Romania’s forests.

Almost 50,000 people have signed a petition to this effect. The petition is HERE.

“Unfortunately, all the work of Greenpeace Romania in recent years to protect the centuries-old forests was not supported and doubled by the involvement of the authorities, instead we encountered an outrageous lack of competence and responsibility. The good curse that we are launching today is another way of mobilizing Romanians, be they superstitious or not, to defend the forest and ask the authorities to immediately implement a surveillance system that works correctly and transparently. We can all do our part to stop illegal logging: whether we have magical powers, report a suspicious wood shipment to the police, or find a free Sunday evening to come to the March for Forests, on November 3” say Greenpeace Romania representatives.