Planting trees is not easy at the best of times – but this spring in Romania the weather proved more challenging than usual with heavy snowfall in the mountains at the beginning of April. FWF founder Nicoleta Carpineanu was out in the Fagaras Mountains to reconnect with our partners at Foundation Conservation Carpathia (FCC) and see the ongoing work.
Although planting was paused in the Dobroneagu Valley, where we first planted trees three years ago, we were still able to visit the area and see that previously planted saplings are doing well. After the weather improved, the team was able to carry on, with the help of several donkeys that were used to transport the saplings to the higher ground. The trees were a mix of native species, as usual, with lots of spruce on higher ground, along with beech and sycamore.
We are delighted that we were able to plant a further 20,000 trees this spring, thanks to your support and despite the difficulties faced.
“This was the hardest planting season to date, the team had to go very high in extreme weather conditions”
Each trip to the area is a reminder of just what hard work reforestation is. It’s not just a case of popping a sapling in the ground! There’s a lot of time and effort that goes into growing the saplings, the hard physical work of tree planting and the continued work of looking after and maintaining the young trees.
Natural refrigerator
Prior to planting, the baby trees are transported from a local nursery and stored in 'natural refrigerators', basically storage areas built out of snow or ice and soil to keep them in optimal health. Once they have been planted, grass around the trees has to be trimmed to allow the trees to thrive as they establish and the trees are regularly monitored to replace any that don’t make it.
Unlike many tree planting projects, we work hard to ensure that trees survive and are replaced and, crucially, they are planted for conservation purposes – so they will not to be cut down in years to come.
We’re grateful for the hard work of everyone involved in every stage of the process.
Do continue to support us and help bring the forests back to life!