Introduction Into One of the Largest Conservation Initiatives in the History of Europe

Introduction into one of the Largest Conservation Initiatives in the History of Europe

Christoph Promberger Executive Director Fundatia Conservation Carpathia Brussels, 09.11.2018 The Romanian Carpathian Mountains are the wildest mountain range in Europe. Romania has the largest surfaces of High Nature Value (HNV) grasslands and wood pastures. Romania has the largest wetlands in Europe and is one of the countries with the highest biological diversity. Here we find the last unfragmented forests of central Europe There are more large carnivores than anywhere else in Europe, The last pristine forests of Europe Only a decade ago, Romania was home to about 65% of the EU’s virgin forests. Only the Fagaras Mountains cover 200,000 ha of wild land The only place in central Europe, where a series of new large scale National Parks could be established Romania has the potential to become the “greenest“ country of Europe and one of the global leaders in biodiversity conservation. In 2009, a group of 12 dedicated conservationist and philanthropists created Foundation Conservation CARPATHIA (FCC). The Project

FCC‘s vision is to create a world-class wilderness reserve in the Fagaras Mountains (Southern Romanian Carpathians), large enough to support significant numbers of large carnivores and to allow evolutionary processes to happen. The Project

FCC‘s mission is to contribute to the conservation and restoration of the natural Carpathian ecosystem, for the benefit of biodiversity and local communities, by acquiring, protecting and administrating forests and natural grasslands. The Project

Since then, FCC has raised a total of over 70 million Euro for this project; The Project

About 22,000 ha of forest and alpine grasslands have been purchased for full protection;

co-financed by The Project

Two hunting concessions have been leased for full wildlife protection – a total surface of 36,000 ha is now without any hunting; The Project

FCC has replanted over 600 ha of clear-felled areas with 1.6m saplings by restoring the original species composition of the forests

co-financed by The Project

Over 24,000 m of eroded tractor tracks have been restored and replanted

co-financed by Our Solution and our Request

The Fagaras Mountains National Park must be the first one in a series of new National Parks and will become the engine for the development of a functioning National Park system.

Protected areas shall become the engine for rural development – Romania promotes itself through National Parks for eco-tourism

Until 2050: 12% of the countries surface are National Parks 30% of the countries surface are protected areas 75% of each National Park are fully protected Thank You!