Acta Technica Corviniensis

ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – BULLETIN of ENGINEERINGIf we add the new protected areas, designated asfuture Natura 2000 sites, i.e, if we add theFagaras Mountain SCI, the Frumoasa SPA, Strei-Hateg SCI, Parang SCI and the Tarcu SCI theextended “Yellowstone” comes into shape,covering almost one million hectars of the mostvaluable areas of the Carpathians.These proposed “European Yellowstone”protected area would not only protect therepresentative landscapes and the rich forestand alpine biodiversity, but would also includemany of the un-protected old-growth forests ofRomania.The Carpathian Ecological Network project,through a further analysis of the main transportinfrastructure that is already developed in theregion, demonstrates that the SouthernCarpathian Protected Area Complex or theSouth-Western Protected Area Complex are notyet fragmented by major infrastructuredevelopment.PRESSURES AND THREATS THAT HAVE TO BEADDRESSED TO ALLOW EFFICIENT PROTECTEDAREA MANAGEMENT IN EUROPE’S LARGESTPROTECTED AREALooking to the maps it is obvious that a criticalfirst step is already done for most of the areasthat would form Europe’s largest protected area:19 national and nature parks and future Natura2000 sites are designated officially by theRomanian and Serbian government.However, an important question is still open:how realistic is to plan for a Europe’s largestprotected area in the Southern Carpathians?The brief analysis of the socio-economic contextpresented above, shows that the entireCarpathians are under significant developmentpressure that will be most likely present in thefuture, so the threats will not diminish, but mostlikely increase.In 2001 a group of Romanian and foreignspecialists trying to design an ecologicalnetwork for large carnivores as a tool to secureone of Europe’s most representative and healthypopulations of brown bears (Ursus arctos),wolves (Canis lupus) and lynx (Lynx lynx), hasidentified the following threats to wildernessareas and large areas that include natural forestsand other ecosystems needed by these keystonespecies:1. Land privatisation and encroachment, asmore than 40% of the Carpathian forestshave been fragmented through landrestitution and un-sustainable managementafter 1990;2. Changes in forestry, in the close to naturemanagement before 1990 to a managementthat looks more to the economic benefits,determined by the pressure of the newlydeveloped market economy;3. Changes in agricultural practices, mostlyland abandonment4. Hunting and poaching5. Stream valley deterioration, with anincreasing pressure from hydropowerdevelopment in the mountain areas – anincreasing threat now, with the newcommitments of Romania as a member ofthe European Union to reduce the use offossil fuels6. Very intense development of new transportinfrastructure and associated pollution alongthe heavily used roadsAs these threats are very relevant for the area ofthe potential “European Yellowstone”, eventhough the areas are already included inprotected areas, a brief analysis of the majorthreats is presented below.Direct threatsUnsustainable logging: The Carpathianforests, particularly the old-growth forestsand the forest in the lowlands such asfloodplain forest are being cleared at analarming rate. In order to get a short-termgain from the forest, exacerbated by theongoing processes of land restitution, manyforest owners or illegal loggers are reducingthe quantity and quality of the forest in theCarpathians. Illegal logging has become aprofitable business and is common in theCarpathians partly due to very poor forestgovernance systems.Habitat destruction from changing landuse: The Carpathians are rich in a diverse setof habitats based on the limited populationpressure and the less intensive naturalresource management systems such asagriculture. The persistence of low intensity,traditional agricultural practices in theCarpathians makes the region the lastbastion of many semi-natural grasslands thathave vanished from most of Europe. Withincreasing intensification of agriculture and2008/ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS/Tome I 21