Forests are one of our most important natural resources, but unfortunately deforestation and climate change threaten their existence. We went to Liniya Kostai district, a village in Talpa commune, Teleorman, to see what the volunteer planting initiative looks like and what it means to plant a forest of 25,000 acacia and cork oak seedlings from scratch.

In the Linia Costii area, a significant number of volunteers have joined, ready to take part in these changes.

“We are proud to have mobilized tens of thousands of volunteers for our afforestation campaigns. We are proud that we have reached several settlements in our country”– says Dr. Mihai Enescu, Head of USAMV Bucharest.

See images from the landing in the Linia Costii area

The first plantations already have visible results

Dr. Mihai Enescu, Head of USAMV Bucharest, tells us how the first plantations are already showing visible results: “I am proud that our first plantations, established in autumn 2019 or spring 2020, are already visible. I am one of the forestry engineers who came and supported this very good initiative of OMV Petrom because we came with science.”

The most important afforestation project in Romania

Andrej Kosulianu, President of Act for Tomorrow, tells us that Romania Plants for Tomorrow is an impressive reforestation initiative launched by OMV Petrom and several NGOs. Its goal is to plant millions of trees in Romania to protect the environment and fight climate change. .

Dr. Mihai Enescu, USAMV Bucharest works manager, explained to us that it is very important for people to learn how to properly plant and care for new crops, regardless of the type of land they cultivate. Planting is only the first step, people have to spend a lot of time and effort to support these crops so that they grow healthy and have a positive impact on the environment.

“It’s like in life, you raise a child, of course, you don’t leave it on the street, you make sure it goes to kindergarten, school, etc. This is what happens with our young plantations. It is not enough to plant seedlings, it is necessary to take care of them for the next 2-3 years, if we are talking about, for example, acacia, but it can be 7-8-10 years. if we are talking about oak species. Because during these years, the young seedlings develop and are subject to several problems, for example, when they compete with the surrounding grasses, for example, and we need to intervene in cleaning work.”– says Dr. Mihai Enescu, Head of USAMV Bucharest.

The “Romania plants for tomorrow” program is an initiative fully funded by private sources with an impressive contribution of 5.7 million euros. For the period of 2020-2023, more than 2,000,000 seedlings were planted on an area of ​​450 hectares. Over the course of three years, the campaign managed to mobilize more than 10,000 volunteers who took part in 60 planting events held in 24 districts and 71 communities.

Article supported by OMV Petrom