Alina Oprea • 12 April, 2023 at 10:57 AM
The Conservation Carpathia Foundation started the ecological restoration of Mount Doboneagu, this spring, with more than 130,000 saplings to be planted in this area. At the same time, the foundation team will return with additions to the area where it was planted in the previous stages. The Dobroneagu area has an area of 200 ha, and the forest has disappeared from here both as a result of the cuttings from 2008-2010, when 40 ha were affected, but also as a result of a windfall on February 6, 2020, which affected 160 ha.
The process of ecological reconstruction of the area began in the spring of 2022, with spruce, beech, fir, plain, and sedge saplings being planted on 55 ha of the area affected by the windfall, and in the autumn over 32 ha of the illegally cut area were restored.
The objective of the Conservation Carpathia Foundation is to restore the forest with native species, specific to the area and altitude level.
The ecological reconstruction site laid out for this spring in the Dobroneagu area is located at an altitude of 1450 and 1700 m, and this spring it will be planted at a height of over 1500 meters, which is why the plantings will be made with spruce saplings, a suitable species of this type of height and area. At the same time, the foundation team checks the plantation in the lower area, where it was reforested last year, and completes it with beech saplings.
"It is very important that the forest ecosystems in the Vâilsan Valley basin become fully functional again, i.e. similar to the natural forests that existed here, that is why we try to copy as faithfully as possible what nature created here in the course of evolution, the species composition is a key element in this sense. This spring we will plant 40 ha with spruce, make additions to previously planted areas and try something new. As an experiment, in addition to the traditional planting of seedlings, we are trying to test the direct sowing with jir seeds, and in hard-to-reach areas, the drone will be used", explains Mihai Zotta, director of conservation at the Conservation Carpathia Foundation.
Saplings of native natural species come from the nurseries of the Conservation Carpathia Foundation or are purchased from specialized producers.
On average, each season, more than 40 workers work on this ecological reconstruction site for 3-4 weeks.
The preservation of forests is critical in the context of climate change, and their restoration is more than necessary. The forest has an essential role in capturing carbon dioxide, protecting against pollution, especially in areas near cities, in maintaining the hydrological basin. This is a habitat for thousands of species and is essential for life.
The Conservation Carpathia Foundation is working on 5 other ecological reconstruction sites, with more than 240,000 saplings to be planted this spring.
From 2013 to the present, the Conservation Carpathia Foundation has planted 3.7 million saplings and restored an area of 1,906 ha of forest.
Within the project "Creation of a wild nature area in the south of the Carpathian Mountains, Romania" - LIFE18 NAT/RO/001082, the Conservation Carpathia Foundation restores the areas affected by illegal cutting and natural disasters, with the financial support granted by the European Commission.