The National Commission of Poplars and Willows National Administration ROMSILVA Magheru Blvd 31 1 Tel: +40 21 3129222 Fax: +40 21 2129741 Email: [email protected]

Issues on poplars and willows in Romania prepared by Mihai FILAT

Researcher Forest Research and Management Institute Romania

The purpose of this material is to present a few details regarding the culture of poplars and willows in Romania and also some issues on the national policy in the field.

Statistics Here we have some relevant statistics

- total forest area in Romania is of 6.367.000 ha and represents 26.7% of the total surface of the country

- the area with poplars and willows is of 156.386 ha and represents 2.5% o f the forest area in Romania. This area is located mainly in Danube Valley, Danube Delta and the main Valleys of the interior rivers.

· the poplar area is of 113.556 ha out of which - natural forests 60.732 ha - planted forests 52.824 ha · the willow forests area is of 42.830 ha out of which - natural forests 18.557 ha - planted forests 24.273 ha

- the annual volume of poplar and willow mass is of about 550.000 m3 and represent about 6% of the total wood mass in the country. Out of this volume, 300.000 m3 are for industrialisation as logs and cellulose wood and 200.000 m3 for the needs of the rural fa rms/housekeeping.

- Romania does not import poplar and willow wood, but the volume of the wood annually exported is of around 7.000 m3, mainly in the following countries:

· Bulgaria · Hungary · Greece ·

Background In the last 15 years, the dryings of the poplars and willows caused the decrease of the total poplar and willow area. This phenomenon was produced by the changes in the stational conditions on the interior rivers valleys but especially in the dammed areas from the Danube Valley and Danube Delta. The stational conditions have recorded changes due to the hydrotechnical works undertaken in the area.

Research objectives In our researches, we are concerned about testing productive c1ones, more resistant to adversities and 1ess influenced by the change in the stational conditions. We have got a collection of over 80 poplar clones and a network with 14 experimental areas set up in Danube Delta and Va 11ey. fu the mean lime, our work envisages the sustainable preservation and management of the natural forests from the watershed on the Danube and also the preservation "in situ" of the native genetic poplar resources.

27 native poplar populations are identified pheonotypical evaluated and preserved "in situ" and cover a total surface of 208.5 ha. Out of these, there are 18 populations of Populus alba and 9 of Populus nigra.

Within the national forest monitoring network, we monitor the health of the poplars and willows and evaluate the level of unleaving of the tree wreath. It has been noticed that the dynamic of the trees dryings have been strongly influenced by the dynamic of the ground water and also by the duration and level of the floods followed by long period of drought.

We also research the negative effects of the insects and diseases to the tree health. On small areas, the dryings were encouraged by the repeated unleaving provoked by Lymantria dispar. The bacterial cancer caused by Xanthomonas populi affected with infections especially the Poplar 'Robusta' plantations, but the poplar rusts, which is a serious problem in the Western Europe, caused only weak and rare infections.

Actual difficulties We would intend to approach some other research topics but we have to point out the following issues: -the level of the public financing is not sufficient and the private funding is very low; - we have a low number of researchers and the funds allocated to purchasing equipment afe insufficient; - we face the lack of a coherent continuous training programme of the researchers; - we do not manage to take benefits of the opportunities of training and specialisations of our experts abroad and also of integration in the international networks; - we face a lo w level of management performance; - we lack coherent programmes (on long term especially) of the authorities responsible with the fulfilment of the priority objectives.

In order to reduce these difficulties, we are interested in developing the international cooperation with the UE states, mainly in the enlargement of the cooperation regarding the agroforestry field, the use of the Salicaceae species far fitoremediation of the polluted areas and the seques tration of the atmospheric CO2. We trust in the positive results of this cooperation as in Romania, there is a special interest in the in general and in the poplar culture in particular. In the mean time, our beneficiaries, partners and financing institutions have a positive perception on the quality of our researches.