National forest fund up by 0.2 pct in 2020, volume of harvested wood, up by 4 pct

The National Forest Fund registered an increase of approximately 0.2% in 2020, compared to the previous year, while the volume of harvested wood increased by 4%, according to data published on National Institute of Statistics (INS). As of December 31, 2020, the forest fund area was 6,604,206 hectares (+11,976 hectares as compared to 2019), of which the forest area totaled 6,449,417 hectares. This year the latter registered an increase of approximately 0.3% compared to the previous year, namely an increase of 22,077 hectares. The forest area represents 97.7% of the national forest fund. According to official statistics, the 0.2% increase in the national forest fund is mainly due to the re-extension of forested pastures and the introduction into the forest fund of degraded lands and non-forested lands, set to be afforested by stipulations of the law (Law no. 133/2015 for the amendment and completion of Law No. 46/2008 - Forestry Code). According to INS data, the regenerated area increased last year by 3% and 730 hectares, respectively. The volume of harvested timber reached 19.652 million cubic meters, registering a jump of 748,400 hectares (+ 4%) compared to 2019, when it totaled 18.903 million cubic meters. The area covered with forest regeneration fellings was of 185,339 hectares in 2020, by 5,271 fewer hectares compared to 2019, of which the clear-cuts represent 2,773 hectares, down 745 hectares. In 2019, an area of 3,518 hectares with clear-cuts was recorded. At the level of 2020, the largest areas on which forest regeneration works were carried out were registered in the following development regions: North-East (28.8% of the total regenerated area), Center (16.6%), respectively North-West (13.6%). The hierarchy continues with the following regions: South-East (12.8%), South-Muntenia (10.3%), West (8.7%), South-West Oltenia (8%) and Bucharest-Ilfov (0.6% ).AGERPRES(RO - author: Mariana Nica, editor: Andreea Marinescu; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Maria Voican)