Romsilva:Over 2,000 hectares of state forests in Arges, Prahova, included in Virgin, Quasivirgin Forests National Catalogue

Over 2,000 hectares of state forests administered by Romsilva, in the counties of Arges and Prahova, were included in the National Catalogue of Virgin and Quasi-virgin Forests, the Romsilva National Administration of Forests (RNP-Romsilva) announced on Wednesday.

"Another 2,227.16 hectares of state forests administered by the National Administration of Forests - Romsilva were included in the National Catalogue of Virgin and Quasi-virgin Forests, following the project launched last year by the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests to identify new virgin and quasi-virgin forest areas and to draw up basic studies," a release of RNP-Romsilva sent to AGERPRES mentions.

Thus, 1,831.16 hectares of state-administered forests were identified by the Arges Forestry Directorate and another 396 hectares of state-administered forests by the Prahova Forestry Directorate, these forests fulfilling the criteria to be identified as virgin and quasi-virgin forests.

The said forests are administered by the Forestry Services of Aninoasa, Domnesti, Musatasti and Vidraru in Arges County and the Forestry Services of Azuga, Doftana and Sinaia in Prahova County.

Until this time, 60,911.87 hectares of forests were introduced in the National Catalogue of Virgin and Quasi-virgin Forests, of which 46,535.5 hectares, meaning 76.4 pct are forests that are the public property of the state, being administered by RNP-Romsilva.

"Through the introduction of these areas in the National Catalogue of Virgin and Quasi-virgin Forests, these valuable forests will benefit from strict protection. The process to identify and include forests in the National Catalogue of Virgin and Quasi-virgin Forests is a continuous one, with hundreds of thousands of forests in the public property of the state being analyzed," the Romsilva representatives say.

The Romsilva National Administration of Forests administers 3.13 million hectares of forests which are the public property of the state, nearly 48 pct of the country's forest coverage, and offer forestry services for nearly 1 million hectares of forests that are in other forms of ownership. 80 pct of the total of forests which are the public property of the state hold a forestry management certification at international standards.