Europe's fight with illegal logging: Romania on the frontline

Liviu Pop, is a recent victim of a war that pretty much no one seems to know about.

When we think of illegal logging, we tend to think of the Amazon or maybe southeast Asia, but perhaps not eastern Europe. But Romania contains almost half of Europe's remaining old growth and primeval forest, a vital ecosystem housing bears, wolves, lynx and wildcats.

Boreal Forest in Romania (photo: Wikimedia)

Rangers paying the price:

But it is under threat. The threat comes from illegal loggers who will resort to extreme violence to protect their shady business. The wood they take, ends up around Europe in paper, furniture and the like. Greenpeace Romania estimate that 3 hectares of forest cover is lost every hour in the country from degradation and illegal logging, as well as permitted work.

Pop was a Forest Ranger in the Maramures district of northern Romania, and last week while on duty, he disappeared from contact with his colleagues. Increasingly worried about his whereabouts, his body was found last Wednesday evening in a forest gorge. He had been shot with a hunting rifle - which may have been his own weapon.

A little more than a month earlier, Raducu Garciaia, a Ranger in the Pascani forest district in the northeast of the country, was found near his car with fatal injuries, possibly from an axe. Gabriel Paun, the head of environmental group Agent Green, has been attacked by forestry gangs on several occasions. One time, around four years ago, Paun was attacked in Retezat National Park, and suffered broken ribs and hand, and a cracked skull. His attackers have only just gone to trial.

Romsilva, the state owned forestry company, say they have counted 16 attacks this year alone. Silviu Geana, the head of the Silva Trade Union Federation, says that Rangers are unable to defend themselves, and six Rangers have dies in recent years.

In September 2019, NGO's including Agent Green, ClientEarth and EuroNatr, filed a complaint with the European Commission against the Romanian government for illegal logging practices, which they say contravene EU laws on nature conservation. The government says it has boosted the fight against such logging, with better inspection and monitoring introduced, although the EU say big challenges remain ahead.

The scale of Romania's forests:
There is no reliable inventory of the unique areas of wilderness and forest in Romania; and there is no adequate systems in place to protect such areas either. A 2005 survey by Dutch scientists did complete an inventory and mapping exercise, but it seems it contained many errors and omissions.

More was done in 2016 with a new government catalogue was created, with criteria for identifying virgin and quasi-virgin forest. Numerous studies have been handed in by Agent Green, Greenpeace and WWF, but only a few of them have been accepted - leading to complaints that the authorities are stalling, and that the government is under pressure from logging companies to ensure such areas are not designated.

These old forests used to be locally managed for firewood, crafts and housebuilding; but years of state backed lax regulation and corruption led to this being eroded. The giveaway was when factory processing of timber was far outstripping the legal timber cutting quotas. Locals started to sell their forest stakes to the big buyers, perhaps under pressure, and the old forests were becoming more easily broken up.

Environmental fight back?
Environmentalists have started to fight back, by trying to expose the unsustainability of the practices going on. There is now a Forest Inspector website, that makes transportation data available, and people can now report shipments they suspect might be illegal. 

But the corruption still largely remains, and there is a fear of reprisals for anyone thinking about speaking out.

In September 2017, a truck leaving the Fagaras mountains was stopped by activists. A subsequent investigation found that over-cutting in the area has been at a staggering 4,100 percent!

The World Heritage Commission recently recognised 24,000 hectares of beech forests as having "outstanding universal value." But activists have identified logging in buffer zones of several World Heritage areas, such as in Domogled National Park and Sinca Woods.

Sarmisegetuza Regia (photo: Wikimedia)

Sarmisegetuza Regia is the site of the ancient Dacian capital, and contains a ruined citadel over 2,000 years old - known as 'Romania's Macchu Pichu'. Nature and culture are bound together here - and at times quite literally - as the roots from trees surrounding the fortress help bind and stabilise the soil. Yet the government approved the cutting down of 100 trees, and the big logging tractors sent in to do the job caused irreparable damage. Once drone footage showed that many of these trees were well away from tourist trails (one key defence had been to remove dying trees for health and safety purposes), and this started to cause a stir among the Romanian public.

While much attention has been given to the horrific destruction going on in the Amazon's forests over the last few decades, the end result still seems to be largely unchanged - acre after acre of forest continues to disappear. But if the action has moved to our own (relative) back door - perhaps the activists of Europe will be joined by the rest of the public, and can make some noise and force some changes? To do that, there needs to be awareness - so spread the word please.......

Research:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50094830 
https://theecologist.org/2018/mar/07/protecting-romanias-primeval-forests 

Losing the conker fight?

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUNC) has been doing the research to update its Red List for endangered species, which gives us a picture of biodiversity health.

The research brought together over 150 experts from across Europe to contribute to the project, which was funded by organisations like the European Council, British Entomological Society and National Parks & Wildlife Service Ireland, as well as individual nations like Luxembourg, Switzerland and Netherlands.

One of the headlines of the 2019 update in the UK, published this month, is that the iconic horse chestnut tree is now one of many species on the vulnerable list, as moths and disease take their toll.

Horse Chestnut (photo: Wikipedia)

The IUCN have assessed 454 native tree species across Europe to gauge them for a risk of extinction, and found that 42% of them face being lost completely (rated as - Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered). The rate is at 58% for endemic species - that is, species that are only found in a specific area; 15% of endemic species (66) are at the Critically Endangered end of the list.

As well as our beloved conker tree, around three-quarters of the 170 or so members of the family that includes Rowan (Sorbus), are assessed as being threatened, and especially Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia) and Crimean Rowan (Sorbus tauricola).

Going back to the conker (Aesculus hippocastanum); listed as being Vulnerable, it has suffered at the hands (or mouths) of the leaf-miner moth. This is an invasive species found in isolated and mountainous parts of Europe like the Balkans. The moth has added to the existing pressure of logging, forest fires and tourism pressure.

"Trees are essential for life on Earth and European trees in all their diversity are a source of food and shelter for countless animal species such as birds and squirrels, and play a key economic role," says Craig Hilton-Taylor, the head of the IUCN Red List Unit.

What's to blame?
There are a wide range of threats and reasons that are causing the danger to these trees (and other species), which include some, or all, of the following;

• Pest and disease
• Competition from invasive species
• Deforestation - and unsustainable logging practices
• Climate change
• Agricultural practices

Dr Steven Bachman, at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, says, "The results reveal a disturbingly high level of extinction risk that requires urgent and effective conservation action at all levels."

What else is at risk?
The new research has also found that almost half of European shrub species are in trouble, as are a fifth of terrestrial molluscs (snails etc.) and bryophytes (things like mosses and liverworts). Mike Seddon, the Chief Executive for Forestry England, says that the climate crisis is posing a real threat to our woodlands. "Our efforts to have resilient forests include planting a greater variety of trees, including native species only grown in the UK."

Terrestrial molluscs play a key role in soil regeneration, and are seen as a good indicator of soil health. They also provide a vital source of food for birds and mammals. 90% of native European  mollusc species are also endemic, so it is worrying that 22% of the 2,469 species are at risk.

"The impact of human-led activities is resulting in population declines and a heightened risk of extinction of important species across Europe. This report has shown how dire the situation is for many overlooked, undervalued species that form the backbone of Europe's ecosystems and contribute to a healthy planet. We need to mitigate human impact on our ecosystems and prioritise the protection of these species."

Luc Bas - Director of IUCN European Regional Office

Research:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49838650 
https://www.iucn.org/news/species/201909/over-half-europes-endemic-trees-face-extinction 

How eating meat impacts on the tropics

A study by the University of Edinburgh and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, has estimated that one quarter of the world's tropical land could disappear by the end of this century, unless meat and dairy consumption falls.

They say that around 9% of the earth's natural land (95% of which is in the tropics) will be gone in the next 80 years. They have studied the impact of consumption trends on biodiverse regions (i.e. those with lots of bird, mammal, amphibian and plant species), and found that a rapid increase in the amount of meat and dairy consumed has led to rapid land clearing in the tropics.

Meat production has a much higher land and water use rate, and higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, than anything else. As income starts to increase across the globe, those in developing nations are starting to replace their traditional starch-heavy roots and pulse based diets, with more meat, milk and refined sugars.

Basically, this type of trend will always occur when living standards improve. And that is not all that surprising. Livestock are crucial in the developing world; for small-scale farmers, cows and other ruminants offer a flexible option, as they convert relatively low-quality proteins (like grass), into high-quality proteins (like meat and milk). They are vital for those farming in marginal agricultural areas, that are unsuitable for most crops, as they provide a food resource when times are hard, and can also be sold for valuable cash (for medicine, schooling etc.) at other times.

The Edinburgh study says that replacing meat with a plant based diet could see the demand for new grazing land drop by 11% globally. They also point to industrial feed systems, as part of the problem, as they also add to the environmental degradation due to things like fertilisers. This goes along with the IPCC report that highlighted plant based diets as being an essential part of climate change mitigation.

Lead author, Dr Roslyn Henry, said, "Reducing meat and dairy consumption will have positive effects on greenhouse gas emissions and human health. It will also help biodiversity, which must be conserved to ensure the world's growing population is fed. Changing our diets will lead to a more sustainable future and complement food security goals, while addressing global food inequality."

It is anticipated that at current levels of consumption, by 2050 certain meats may be eaten at a rate 90% higher than in 2010 (World Resources Institute)! The global population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050 - and that is 3 billion more of us than there were in 2010! So turning away from animal derived products could certainly help bridge the sustainability gap in terms of mitigating for food, land and GHG emissions.

Not all agree so wholeheartedly. Chris Barrett, an Agricultural Economist at Cornell University, thinks that pushing for a plant based diet, "are aspirations not components of a viable food security strategy." This is part of a belief that it is only really realistic to expect any sort of pressure to decrease meat consumption in already developed nations, where additional concerns around excessive meat eating can be linked to health conditions.

(Photo: CSIRO Science Image)

The particular issues with beef:
While beef production may have become more efficient over the years, there is still ever more forest being cut down to make way for pasture. And while many people will say that they will eat more plants and a bit less meat, consumption of meat is still on the rise.

Beef has particular links to climate change for several reasons;

• Production: 
• Ruminants emit more methane (their 'burps' are properly called enteric fermentation) than other livestock 
• It is also emitted from their manure
• You also get nitrous oxide from some of the fertilisers used on cattle crops.
• Also - CO2 is also released from the forests cut down to make way for the pastures - cutting trees released that stored carbon straight into the atmosphere.
• Emissions:
• The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reported in 2013 that animal based agriculture is responsible for 14.5% of all human based emissions 
• Beef makes up 41% of that!
• They said that beef demand could grow by as much as 88% by 2050, from 2010 levels.
• And such an increase in demand would require an estimated 400m hectares of additional pasture (that's bigger than India)!
• More resource intensive: 
• Cows have lower growth and reproductive rates than pigs and poultry, so therefore require more feed per unit of meat produced.
• They also require up to 20 times more land, and produce 20 times more emissions than plant based protein production.

So, reducing the amount of beef consumed in developed countries to an average of 50 calories per day (equivalent to 1.5 burgers a week) would eliminate that need for agricultural expansion - even in a world with 10 billion people on it.

Strides are being made to improve how we produce beef;

• Improvements to feed quality and veterinarian care
• Developing breeds that convert feed to meat / milk more efficiently
• Use of rotational grazing - boosts soil health and increases production - and reduces GHG emissions
• There are also now feed additives that can reduce the amount of those 'cow burps'

So - no one is asking, or telling, you to cut out meat entirely. But if you are in a position to think about how your diet can affect the rest of the world - consider cutting back a bit.

Go vegetarian / vegan a couple of days a week - and maybe cut beef down to once a week, or once a fortnight. If every family in the developed world could do this - we could make a difference.

Research:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190812102853.htm
https://www.ed.ac.uk/news/2019/diet-change-needed-to-save-vast-areas-of-tropics
http://theconversation.com/five-ways-the-meat-on-your-plate-is-killing-the-planet-76128
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263290290_The_impact_of_meat_consumption_on_the_tropics_Reply_to_Machovina_and_Feeley
https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/04/6-pressing-questions-about-beef-and-climate-change-answered
https://www.ecowatch.com/beef-and-climate-change-2634244134.html