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Romania Forests
Over the centuries, the harvesting of trees for lumber
and fuel
and the relentless encroachment of agriculture greatly
diminished
the forestlands that originally had covered all but the
southeastern corner of the country. Nevertheless, in the
late
1980s, forests remained a valuable national resource,
occupying
almost 27 percent of the country's territory. Growing
primarily on
slopes too steep for cultivation, the most extensive
forests were
found in the Carpathians and the Transylvanian Alps.
Hardwoods such
as oak, beech, elm, ash, sycamore, maple, hornbeam, and
linden made
up 71 percent of total forest reserves, and conifers (fir,
spruce,
pine, and larch) accounted for the remaining 29 percent.
The
hardwood species predominated at elevations below 4,600
feet, while
conifers flourished at elevations up to 6,000 feet.
Forestry had a long tradition in Romania, and for
centuries
timber was one of the region's primary exports. After
World War II,
the industry shifted its focus from raw timber to
processed wood
products. Increasingly aware of the economic value of the
forests,
the government established a Council of Forestry in 1983
to
supervise afforestation projects and ensure preservation
of
existing woodlands. In 1985 afforestation work on a total
of 52,850
hectares was completed.
Data as of July 1989
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