The government launched on Wednesday an 11 million euro EU-funded project for the count of Romania's brown bear population, the census being to receive funding through the Large Infrastructure Operational Program, announced Minister of European Investments and Projects Cristian Ghinea.
"We are tapping into European funds in an attempt to solve a problem that has been dragging on for many years. As you know, a bear hunting ban was imposed in 2016 due to the presumed risk of overhunting. Another assumption back then was that bear population estimates were not based on very reliable figures. At that time this was intended to be just a temporary decision, as a scientific census was supposed to follow, yet the next governments did nothing in this respect. Only today did we get to launch this project called 'Implementation of the national action plan for the conservation of Romania's brown bear population', an 11 million euro project for the count of the bear population, which is financed under the environment-dedicated Axis 4 of the Large Infrastructure Operational Program," Ghinea said.
He added that another investment line for the management of the bear population, apart from the one related to the census, is intended for the limitation of human - bear interactions by modern technology.
The project "Implementation of the national action plan for the conservation of Romania's brown bear population" is financed with 53.5 million lei through the Large Infrastructure Operational Program (POIM), and will be carried out by the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests as project leader, in partnership with the Kronstadt Local Public Forest Corporation in Brasov, the Romsilva National Forest Corporation and the 'Marin Dracea' National Institute for Forestry Research and Development.
The project is aimed at estimating Romania's brown bear population by scientific methods, with the general objective of maintaining in the long run the current state of conservation of the bear population and of its habitat, Agerpres informs.