Acta Technica Corviniensis

ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – BULLETIN of ENGINEERINGareas have identified the top pressures andthreats to protected areas, during a workshoporganized by WWF Danube CarpathianProgramme. The workshop was aiming to assesprotected area management at the system level,using the Rapid Assessment and PrioritizationMethodology of Protected Area Management(RAPPAM) developed by WWF. For nationalparks the most important pressure and threatidentified is logging, followed by land usechange and hunting / poaching.Landuse change, logging, waste disposal andloss of traditions are the main threats identifiedfor nature parks. Even though loss of traditionsmight not seem a threat that should concernnature conservationists, it is important tounderstand that the loss of traditions is stronglylinked to traditional livelihoods more generally,involving agricultural practices that weresignificantly contributing to the maintenance ofthe biodiversity and valuable mosaic landscapesthroughout the Carpathians.Degree450400350300250200150100500117147Poaching1838793120190192Lan d use changeW a ste disposalLogg ingCumulative pressure607387Unco ntro lled to ur ismC onstr uctions7072103 98 84271608689GrazingInfrastru cture de velopmen HuntingPo llutionCumulative threat9511156675577Hydro tech nica l workLoss of traditions MiningSki resorts56 185 18Commercial fishingFig.11. The most significant threats and pressures tonational parks, 2006, RAPPAM workshopThese threats are worrying by themselves.Adding the unfavourable policy environmentand weak protected area policies, identifiedand acknowledged during the RAPPAMworkshop by protected area managers, do nothelp in planning for a hopeful future forprotected areas in Romania. As a new memberof the European Union (EU), Romania had toextend areas protected for their biodiversityvalues, increasing the surface of protected areasfrom about 8% of the national territoryrepresented by national parks, nature parks,biosphere reserves, nature reserves and naturalmonuments to about 19% with the proposedNatura 2000 sites. But no resources other thansome of the funds coming from the EuropeanUnion are planned to develop an efficientprotected area management system. Furthermore, the National Agency for Protected Areas,established after years of debates, in 2008 is nowon the edge of disappearing even before itstarted to work for the support of protected areamanagers.D egr ee4003503002502001501005008290Poach ing228148146 149140177L an d u se cha ng eWaste disposalLogg in gCumulative pressure100205Uncontrolled tourismC o ns tr uction s72150 1228285 89 79 74 81 83Grazi ngInfrastructure de velopm en H u ntin gPollutionCumulative threat1601121721567244H ydrotechnica l workL o ss of traditio ns Minin g4812Ski resorts4242C omm ercial fishingFig.12. The most significant threats and pressures tonature parks, 2006, RAPPAM workshopThe most important aspects for protected areamanagement and for wilderness protection andmanagement are, of course, related to financialand human resources. The Romaniangovernment is not allocating at present anyfunds for protected area management. Furthermore, protected area management teams arevery young and in need for training and capacitybuilding programmes, whereas there are nocoherent training programmes for protectedarea management.Therefore the question “how realistic is to planfor a European Yellowstone” is very legitimate.2008/ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS/Tome I 23