EU-funded FLEG II Program has completed in February 2017. Learn more about the Program and its results, read the final reports, or contact us.
ADA-funded FLEG II Program has completed in December 2017. Learn more about the Program and its results, read the final reports, or contact us.
With help from the government and FLEG II, Moldova is moving towards sustainable forest use
- The Hîrtop community of Cimișlia distirct in the southern Moldova is an example of how to start managing forest and pastruland resources. In the photo, Vladimir Medoni (left) is the mayor of the village, and Mihai Plamadeala (right) is the Cadastre officer in the community. Photo by Ion Talmcai (ICAS), 2014
- From about 670 ha of forests owned and managed by the community of Boghenii-Noi, more than half is of natural origin. Local people do realize that forests are extremely important for their life, so they actively participate in their day-to-day management. Photo by Aurel Lozan, 2015.
Agency Moldsilva, the central public authority for forestry and hunting in the Republic of Moldova, and its subdivision, Forest Research and Management Institute, cooperate with local communities towards improving the use of forest and pasture in a combined form. FLEG provides assistance to such initiatives and supports building sustainable partnerships at local level.
Moldova is a mosaic landscape country. More than 2/3 of its territory is agricultural crop fields. The remaining forest and pasture land patches are an important resource for local population. About 25% (or 100 thousand ha) of all forest resources of Moldova are held by communities. There, according to a FLEG Illegal Logging study from 2011, forest associated illegalities are most frequent. They heavily affect the forest management, according to another FLEG Revenue Losses study from 2015, undertaken by Ecological Society Biotica.
Solutions to this problem and opportunities for sustainable forest use were discussed at a workshop organized on February 26, 2016, by Moldsilva with support from FLEG. The event brought together local stakeholders (mainly local public authorities) and various initiatives and projects (as EU-funded ENPI FLEG and Clima East, World Bank, UNDP and IFAD). The synergy between international projects and local stakeholders has already contributed to providing circa 21300 ha of community forestlands with forest management plans (FMP), of which about 7500 ha with direct support from ENPI FLEG. Also, as part of FLEG in the country, the National Centre for Forestry Consultancy (NCFC) provides assistance to all interested in the sustainable management of forests: in particular, communities who are interested in improving forest management.
Quick facts
- The value of the goods and services that Moldovan forest ecosystems provide was about $68.84 million in 2014, according to a FLEG Forest Ecosystems Services study;
- In comparison, the loss from illegal activities in forests is huge; for example, revenue loss only from unsustainable game management was roughly estimated at $1,6 million in 2014, according to another FLEG study
“Communities can benefit from the use of owned forest and pastoral resources. For example, we calculated that the revenue from the use of circa 100 thousand ha of community forestlands is around 45 million MDL (=2.25 million USD) a year”, said Dumitru Galupa, director of the Forest and Management Institute.
Moldova has some excellent examples of the rational use of forest and pastoral resources in the country, such as Hîrtop village community, which is even visited by local public administrations from Odessa district of neighbouring Ukraine for replication; or community of Boghenii-Noi (which is a collection of 5 small villages), which applies specific and highly-professional treatments in their forest stands.
“Local communities can benefit from forest and pastures only if these resources are managed sustainably; this sustainability needs to be ensured, especially when changes in environment (e.g. climate change, droughts, floods) are so visible and Moldova is so vulnerable to such phenomena”, said Aurel Lozan, FLEG II Country Coordinator in Moldova.
For contact: Aurel Lozan