The project proposing to increase fines from 100 to 5,000 lei for illegal tree cutting, rejected by PNL and PSD councilors in the General Council

The project proposing to increase fines from 100 to 5,000 lei for illegal tree cutting for individuals was rejected by PNL and PSD councilors in the General Council. Bucharest has lost tens of hectares of green space in recent years, trees being illegally cut down by real estate developers, one of the reasons being the ridiculous fine between 50 and 100 lei for individuals, and if it is paid in 15 days, 25 lei remain for each cut tree The project was initiated by the mayor general Nicușor Dan at the proposal of Ana Ciceală, USR general adviser.

The project was rejected as it garnered only 17 votes in favor and 24 abstentions.

The project was supported by Ana Ciceală, who pointed out that currently the fine for the illegal cutting of a tree is 25 lei, the same as a pack of cigarettes.

“This project was on the agenda of the General Council before, it was rejected, then it was withdrawn several times. We are talking about the 100-fold increase in fines for the illegal cutting of trees, i.e. without approval from the Bucharest Municipality’s Environment Department, of trees on the territory of the Municipality of Bucharest. I remind you that since the Forestry Code was amended and the illegal cutting of trees was removed, so that they are no longer crimes, Bucharest has had to deal with the cutting of trees at the level of hundreds or even thousands, by private individuals, on their own land , and we know very well why. It’s about the real estate mafia that cuts to be able to build. When they reduce the green space in this way, they can say much more easily that it can be built there because there is no green space. It is about 49 trees in Grozăvești Park, 157 trees on Fabrica de Glucoză Street, hundreds of trees were deforested, burned and poisoned in IOR Park, 70 trees were illegally cut down at Circului Park. I think we need to increase the fines, so that it is no longer 25 lei, as much as a pack of cigarettes, for the illegal cutting of a tree in Bucharest”, explained Ana-Maria Ciceală.

No one spoke, but the project was voted down.

What does the rejected project provide for in the vote

According to the draft decision on the website of the Capital City Hall, art. is amended and supplemented. 2 and 4 of the Rules for the Protection of Green Spaces on the territory of the Municipality of Bucharest approved by Decision of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest no. 304/31.08.2009.

Thus, the following acts constitute a contravention and are sanctioned with a fine from 4,000 to 5,000 lei, for individuals and from 4,500 to 5,000 lei, for legal entities:

• Stripping tree trunks, striking foreign bodies on trunks/branches (including fixing signs and advertisements, drilling trees), pouring toxic or flammable substances on tree trunks, intervention of any kind on tree trunks, shrubs, roses, lianas, hedges ;
• Deforestation of any tree or shrub, without permits;
• Cutting branches of trees and shrubs (interventions in crowns/toilets) without permits;
• Transplantation of trees and shrubs without permits;
• Non-compliance with fire protection rules on green spaces;
• Total or partial destruction of urban furniture, decorative vessels, statues, monuments, buildings, kiosks, enclosures and artesian fountains;
• Damage to driveways, driveways, curbs, light poles, fire hydrants, electrical and irrigation networks, drains and manhole covers of utility networks in green spaces;
• Catching fauna specific to the ecosystem of parks and gardens;
• Throwing packaging, papers, bottles, household waste, cigarettes, animal corpses and any other waste on green spaces, alleys, fountains, lakes, pools.

Now, the fines range from:

• 50 lei and 100 lei for individuals;
• 1,000 to 5,000 lei for legal entities;

In addition, fines for breaking and damaging flowers in the perimeter of green spaces reach: between 200-500 lei for individuals and 1,000 and 4,000 lei for legal entities. Now they are between 100 and 200 lei for individuals and between 1,000 and 2,500 lei for legal entities.

At the same time, fines from 4,000 to 5,000 lei are proposed for individuals and from 4,500 to 5,000 lei for legal entities for the following acts:

• Deforestation and cutting (removals, reductions) of any protected tree or shrub, without permits;
• Damage to green spaces by carrying out construction works, building infrastructure and transport or any other arrangements in their perimeter, including the concreting of unplanted alveoli in the alignment, without complying with the legal provisions and those in the specialist opinion;
• Failure to install information boards by the administrators of public parks and gardens;
• Failure to arrange bicycle tracks by administrators, where the surface and infrastructure of parks and public gardens allows;
• Failure to comply with the obligation to plant in compensation for legally deforested trees.

Now, the fines are between 300 and 1,000 lei for individuals and 2,500 and 5,000 lei for legal entities.

HotNews.ro wrote since last year that Bucharest lost dozens of hectares of green space in 2022 due to bad legislation, the fines for illegal tree cutting being symbolic, from 25 lei for each tree cut without a permit. Until 2020 the act was considered a crime, but it was outlawed and chaos ensued. Although we have reported this problem for almost 1 year, the Parliament and the Government have not changed the law, and the practice continues.

USR General Counsel, Ana Ciceală, initiated in August 2022 a draft decision to increase the fines, but it remained blocked.