The Senate adopted the amendments for the Bucharest-Ilfov Green Belt, during the vote for the New Forestry Code

The Senate adopted, on Monday, in the joint vote for the New Forestry Code, with 87 votes for, one vote against and three abstentions, the amendments to protect the forests of Ilfov, the cornerstone of the future Bucharest-Ilfov Green Belt. The Ministry of the Environment officially supports the approach, along with parliamentarians from across the political spectrum, according to a press release from the “Together for the Green Belt” Civic Platform.

Previously, last week, after four rounds of debates, the committees met for the environment and
for forests of the Senate voted for these amendments unanimously.

“Today, the Senate really listened to the legitimate needs of civil society and acted accordingly, in the only assumed and ethical way in which it could have done it. I bow with gratitude. Also, in 2024, air quality and the creation of green belts in peri-urban areas cannot be missing from the program and priorities of any serious party and any serious candidate in the upcoming elections and, at the same time, cannot be missing from the personal assessment that and every responsible voter does it”stated Alex Găvan, founder of the Civic Platform Together for the Green Belt.

READ too Bucharest will have a Green Belt, formed by the forests of Ilfov, which will help us breathe cleaner air

Submitted by MPs Diana Buzoianu (USR) and Oana Cambera (REPER), the amendments were assumed as authors by several MPs: the current Minister of the Environment, Mircea Fechet (PNL MP), the former Minister of the Environment Tanczos Barna (UDMR senator) , the President of the Senate, Nicolae Ciucă (President and Senator PNL), Kelemen Hunor (President and Deputy UDMR), the Minister of Justice, Alina Gorghiu (Vice-President and Senator PNL), Aurel Oprinoiu (President of the Commission for the Environment, Senator USR), Lucian Mazilu (President Commission for Waters, Forests, Fishing and Hunting, PSD Senator), Virgil Popescu (Chairman of the Environment and Ecological Balance Commission, PNL Deputy, former Minister of Energy), Robert Cazanciuc (PSD Senator, former Minister of Justice), Cristian Țâgarlaș ( the president of the Legal Commission, PNL senator), Brian Cristian (USR deputy), Laura Moagher (PSD senator), Dragoș Popescu (REPER senator), Sebastian Cernic (USR senator), Andrei Lupu (REPER deputy) and Adrian Giurgiu (USR deputy).

On Monday, the Senate also voted for free access to the forest for recreation, a topic that sparked
heated debates in the public space in the last half year and for which the civic platform led
an intense advocacy activity.

The Senate also voted to protect and preserve outstanding trees in the
The National Forest Fund through the new forestry code, after, two weeks ago, the Civic Platform Together for the Green Belt obtained, through an unprecedented institutional commitment,
the official support of the Ministry of Environment for them. They are the depositories of a memory
identity that, once lost, can never be recovered and will thus create a void
impossible to replace.

The Green Belt Bucharest-Ilfov (www.centuraverde.ro) is a public health project with a
strong social and anti-pollution component, as well as mitigation of the effects of changes
climate, part of a systemic solution that also involves a significant environmental component.

“In the context of the dramatic pollution in Bucharest and the worrying cutting of forests around the Capital, over 150 non-governmental organizations, civic groups and public persons, united in a non-political approach under the umbrella of the Civic Platform Together for the Green Belt and with the support of the Presidential Administration, have came to meet politicians and authorities with the Memorandum for Clean Air, Health and the Future. The document, in seven points, contains the amendments to the New Forestry Code and which are intended to protect the forests of Ilfov, the cornerstone of the future Bucharest-Ilfov Green Belt, the creation of green belts for other cities, as well as solutions to pollution in Bucharest and county, but also in the rest of the country. Among them are the creation and adoption of an integrated plan of the Bucharest City Hall and the Ilfov County Council to combat pollution or the inclusion of the topic related to air pollution in Bucharest and other cities on the agenda of the Supreme Council of Defense of the Country”the statement also states.

The memorandum was also signed by party presidents Nicolae Ciucă (PNL), Cătălin Drula
(USR), Kelemen Hunor (UDMR), Dragoș Pîslaru and Ramona Strugariu (REPER), as well as
the mayor of the capital, Nicușor Dan, and by Hubert Thuma, the president of the Ilfov County Council.

According to the statement, “The Civic platform “Together for the Green Belt” appeals again to the president of the Social Democratic Party, Marcel Ciolacu, and invites him (constantly, since half a year ago) to join and sign the Memorandum for Clean Air, Health and Future, PSD being the only non-signatory party. The PSD leader’s signature represents the defining signature that the residents of Bucharest and Ilfov still need at this moment for the Bucharest-Ilfov Green Belt to become a reality.”

Through an online petition that has already collected over 11,900 signatures, the Civic Platform Together for the Green Belt invites citizens to join in asking political and executive decision-makers for concrete measures for Clean Air, Health and the Future.