Romania was criticised at Copenhagen summit for not taking seriously protected natural areas

Joi, 10 decembrie 2009, 13:38 English | Top News

Romania was criticised at the climate summit in Copenhagen after UN experts reached the conclusion that Romania is the single EU member that did not treat seriously the protected areas issue, Radio Romania announces. Romania's problem was explained in a report and the United Nations' critics were accompanied by critics coming from international environmental organisations.

The report’s conclusion is that, in Romania, some areas are protected only on paper, without an actual long-term plan in this sense. Romania was accused that it does not allocate a serious budget for the conservation of the protected areas, but also that there is no national authority for managing these areas or a budget for their conservation.

The Copenhagen report comes after the European Union sued Romania in September, at the European Court of Justice, for the same problem. If Romania loses the trial, Romania could lose tens of millions of euros aimed for the environmental conservation.

In Romania, the surface of the protected natural areas represent a little above 5% of the country's surface. Over half of the reservations have their own administration structures.