Protect Biodiversity in Romania

We just published our 2021 Annual Report. We hope you enjoy the report!  

Please see this link for our October 2022 Field Report. 

FACT

• Climate change is taking its toll, this October was the warmest month ever in Europe, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), after a summer of record temperatures.

OUR IMPACT

• 26,900 ha of forest under permanent protection, safeguarded for future generations
• 96,500 ha protected for wildlife, with no sport or trophy hunting
• 1,819 ha bought and restored (clear-cuts, alpine pastures, spruce monocultures)
• 3,507,432 trees planted in clear-cuts, riparian galleries and restoration areas of spruce monocultures
• 200 locals which make a living from the CARPATHIA project
• 2,200 students and teachers involved in environmental education projects
• 20+  local producers are part of the Food Hub
• 2500 participants attended Fargaras Fest, a 3-day festival in the Carpathian Mountains (see more below) 

NEWS FROM THE FIELD

Forest conservation and Wildlife Management October 2022

We were able to purchase an additional 2.9 ha of forests, safeguarding them for future generations to face the years to come. Not much, but a piece of virgin forest, which is invaluable.

Our colleagues continue to install electric fences around the villages to prevent human-wildlife conflicts.

Our rapid intervention teams patrol almost every night to prevent wildlife from getting too close to the villages. This year we have seen a significant decrease in human-wildlife conflicts, but we have also had favorable conditions with abundant beech nuts.

Ecological restoration October 2022

We have cultivated and prepared over 150,000 saplings from our nurseries for planting in the restoration sites in the Fagaras Mountains: fir, spruce, sycamore, beech, juniper, elm, rowan.

We have restored 700 m of forest floor in the Groapele restoration site. 

We started the autumn planting season in five areas: Groapele, Dobroneagu, Basa, Zanoguta, Valea Dâmbovitei.

75 seasonal workers, five rangers and a subcontractor company are up in the Fagaras Mountains, ‘creating’ new forests. Public funding and individual donations make this possible. 

We have continued the activity of eradicating invasive alien plant species (IAS): Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane) in the Dâmbovitei Valley. This year's invasive alien plant species eradication activities have been largely successful – we have managed to greatly reduce their presence in the targeted area.

External specialists continued to monitor changes in the diversity and abundance of terrestrial arthropods in the project area.

Wildlife conservation & Monitoring October 2022

From this autumn, the bison have a new (third) starting point in the Fagaras Mountains – in Nucsoara, Arges County. The first three bison arrived from Slovakia, Germany and Sweden.

We have installed camera traps for monitoring the red deer rut, an impressive sight that red deer use to signal the start of the mating season. In addition, our rangers spent a lot of time monitoring red deer directly. 

Our colleagues continue to collect biological samples for the new bear DNA study. Our second study covers an area of 120,000 hectares in the Fagaras, Piatra Craiului, Iezer-Papusa and Leaota Mountains.

We keep monitoring golden eagles in the Fagaras Mountains – we have now collected further information on the distribution of their potential prey: capercaillie and marmots.

We managed to monitor chamois (species of goat-antelope native to mountains in Europe) across all our concessions. Despite our non-hunting policy, our results indicate only a slow increase in population. Chamois recovery from very low population levels (after significant overhunting) takes a lot of time, so we need to be patient. We estimate that the Iezer-Papusa mountains are home 50-60 chamois.

Conservation Enterprise Programs October 2022

Gastronomy: is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. FCC's Local Gastronomic Points (LGP) bring local tastes to guests, but also income to local entrepreneurs. Opposite to official restaurants, which require significant investments and paperwork, LGPs are an option for entrepreneurial families who want to offer local food to guests in their living room without a huge amount of bureaucracy. We have launched a new free consultancy programme to help residents get their LGP authorisation. The project is carried out in partnership with the Arges Veterinary Health Department.  The program runs from October 2022 to March 2023 and will support entrepreneurs with free technical support in the process of authorising a LGP.

Major Partnership Achievements 

Germany’s largest national park in now supporting FCC. We are happy and excited to announce that we have signed a cooperation partnership with the Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald (Bavarian Forest National Park) in Germany. The partnership will run for five years and aims to transfer knowledge between the German and Romanian organizations in species research and monitoring projects, large carnivore management, development of educational programs, creation of economic mechanisms for communities, tourism programs, training, and communication.

We supported many more events, activities and collaborated with numerous organizations in October, please read more about them here. 

Overall goals of Foundation Conservaion Carpathia

•Creating the largest forested National Park in Europe.
•Annual restoration of the original ecosystem of over 100 ha of clear-cuts.
•Protecting wildlife across a total of 96,500 ha.
•Sustainable development of local communities.
•Environmental education projects.

You are always welcome to reach out if you have any questions or updates for us! We would love to hear from you! 

Many thanks,
Silke Knebel
Foundation Conservation Carpathia (FCC)
s.knebel@carpathia.org

Links:

• Field Report October 2022
• Foundation Conservation Carpathia's Annual Report 2021
• Journey With Purpose

Please see this link for the most recent newsletter: 

https://www.carpathia.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Field-report-July-August-2022.pdf  

Our Impact

• 26,900 ha of forest under permanent protection, safeguarded for future generations
• 96,500 ha protected for wildlife, with no sport or trophy hunting
• 1,819 ha bought and restored (clear-cuts, alpine pastures, spruce monocultures)
• 3,507,432 trees planted in clear-cuts, riparian galleries and restoration areas of spruce monocultures
• 200 locals which make a living from the CARPATHIA project
• 2,200 students and teachers involved in environmental education projects
• 20+  local producers are part of the Food Hub
• 2500 participants attended Fargaras Fest, a 3-day festival in the Carpathian Mountains (see more below) 

NEWS FROM THE FIELD

Forest conservation and management July & August 2022

In July and August, we were able to purchase an additional 1.2 ha of forests for protection.

Ecological restoration July & August 2022

The ongoing work in our tree nurseries and greenhouses was intensive as we prepared the next generation of forests. Weeding and watering are the most important tasks. July and August were exceptionally dry, so we had to water the plants regularly to avoid them from dying due to lack of water. 

Elm seeds are germinating in one of our tree nurseries. This year’s seeds are unfortunately not as high quality as we would have liked. Despite this, we are attempting to grow a new generation of elm trees for the forests we hope to restore.

We have continued the activity of eradicating invasive alien plant species (IAS): Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane), Conyza canadensis (Canadian horseweed) and Impatiens parviflora (small balsam). We selected 28 sample areas in which we took fixed-point photographs accompanied by botanical surveys to monitor the evolution of invasive alien plant species following their removal in Cumpana, Vâlsanului, Otic, Doamnei, Dâmboviteiand DragoslovenilorValleys. 

30 plots across Zanoguta, Basaand Valea Lungaareas were monitored for the impact of the restoration activities on degraded habitats.

Volunteer employees from Zentiva helped with weeding around 16,000 mountain ash saplings, which will grow in strength until autumn when we will plant them higher up in the mountains. Mountain ash is an important species for biodiversity and its round red fruits are a vital source of food for the birds during winter.

Wildlife conservation July & August 2022

36 bison are now roaming freely in the Fagaras Mountains (as a result of our reintroduction program) accompanied by six healthy calves –one from last October and five from this year. See video here: https://www.facebook.com/ConservationCarpathia/videos/581923766719223 of the last three calves discovered while monitoring the herd. The bison were also featured in ecent video documentaries such as this one made by our partner, Mossy Earth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3o2tuN4rlQ

We have started repeating our brown bear census using genetic methods over 120,000 ha. By the end of August, we have already collected 267 genetic samples from scat and hair specimens. Our target is to collect 900 samples. We look forward to comparing the current results to the ones obtained in the first study in 2017-2018. 

Conservation Enterprise Programs July & August 2022

The PREMS International School in Romania were curious about the life on a biodiversity farm so they visited our Cobor Biodiversity Farm which is managed and run by Foundation Conservation Carpathia and hundreds of local volunteers. To learn more about Cobor, please visit their website: https://cobor-farm.ro/. 

Fruits of the Fagaras Mountains, a local food hub from local producers, are available for anyone that appreciates good food and good deeds. The local food hub is part of Foundation Conservation Carpathia's Conservation Enterprise Program which has seen tremendous success in the last few years. 

September and October are the last two months you can still book a bucket list experience in one of our wildlife hides. https://travelcarpathia.com/ to learn more about traveling to Carpathia. Simon Alan Reeve, a British author, journalist, adventurer, documentary filmmaker and television presenter visited FCC's project in Romania. You can learn more here: https://www.facebook.com/100044146550674/posts/pfbid02bqVQh9HtE8279hCLZNTVkfM1Tv7KNtzaSD9GxyxLpteTWLnENxvpxhp1zQALgMWkl/

Major Events to Celebrate in Carpathia from July & August 2022

Fagaras Fest is an annual festival in the Carpathian Mountains. This year it was held from August 5-7, 2022 in Avrig, Sibiu county. Fagaras Fest helps people from all around Romania to connect, support, and understand more about the importance of the Carpathian Mountains. People participated in hikes, guided tours, a film evening to watch a new documentary film, see photo exhibitions, exoerience an adventure competition and hear local music. Through the partnership with the Romanian Post, 600 postcards were sent all overt he country from Fagaras Fest. Overall 2500 participants attended, 24 local producers and artisans came out, and 68 volunteers helped create a memorable 3-day experience for 2500 people. 

Overall goals of Foundation Conservaion Carpathia

•Creating the largest forested National Park in Europe.
•Annual restoration of the original ecosystem of over 100 ha of clear-cuts.
•Protecting wildlife across a total of 96,500 ha.
•Sustainable development of local communities.
•Environmental education projects.

 You are always welcome to reach out if you have any questions or updates for us! We would love to hear from you! 

Many thanks,

Silke Knebel

Foundation Conservation Carpathia (FCC)

s.knebel@carpathia.org