Restore nature

Our main tree planting project is in the Carpathian mountains - Romania

Romania contains some of the largest tracts of old-growth forest left in Europe, and is home to wolves, brown bear, lynx and over a third of European plant species. Large-scale, uncontrolled logging has, however, decimated the landscape. Ecologists call it the biggest crisis of nature protection in Europe today, and yet there is still very little awareness that “Europe’s Amazon” is becoming increasingly fractured.

We are working to protect existing areas of ancient forest, to restore degraded land and to rebuild essential wildlife corridors. Our reforestation programme is regenerating previously forested areas through sensitive large-scale mixed-species tree planting (including fir, beech, spruce, rowan and sycamore), in areas adjacent to and buffering existing natural forests.

These are areas that have been brutally clear-cut, located at high altitudes closed to alpine areas and where natural regeneration has not occurred. In these kinds of areas, intervention helps to bring nature back much faster, enabling the restoration of complex ecosystems.

Our partner, Foundation Conservation Carpathia (FCC), has purchased thousands of hectares of land which will be included in a national park and Natura 2000 zone (protected by European law). Our contract gives us scope to plant millions of trees which will be maintained and safe-guarded for the future.

The plantations will evolve into closed forests (over the first ten years), during which time the trees will be monitored and maintained (for example some limited cutting of grass around saplings until they become established, and cutting back invasive plant species to stop them taking over in areas where they are not natural), but after the first years, there will be no more human interventions as regeneration will happen all by itself. Already, we have seen wildlife returning to the area, including lynx, red deer and a mother bear and her cubs who built their winter den near to one of our planting sites.

There are two planting seasons per year (Spring and Autumn). So far, we have planted 140,000 trees – please help us to reach our goal of 1 million trees by 2025!

Rewilding

Forests Without Frontiers is also working on an oak pasture rewilding project over 100 hectares on our Romanian partner’s land at Cobor Biodoversity Farm. Working alongside the local community, we have, to date, planted 100 native species of oak trees, over two planting phases. The initiative is aimed at the long-term regeneration and conservation of traditional grazing pastureland, increasing biodiversity alongside sustainable community land use.

The Transylvanian hills had and still have some of the most important high nature value grasslands of Europe. These are systems of wooded meadows shaped by ancient breeds of livestock and forming one of the richest ecosystems on the continent, with rare plants, birdlife and invertebrates.

Many of these grassland landscapes have been degraded due to decades of overgrazing and most of the ancient trees have been destroyed. At Cobor, not only are oak trees being replanted but hedges, green-fences, high-stem fruit trees and small ponds are being re-established, alongside rotational grazing systems for cattle and horses.

This ambitious restoration and conservation program has many challenges, but showcases a farming model with biodiversity conservation and the creation of beautiful landscapes at its core, creating a new living space for many rare and endangered species.