Mayor Nikushor Dan finally proposes to increase the fines for illegal cutting of trees from 100 to 5,000 lei for individuals, according to a draft decision that the municipality launched for public consultation. Bucharest has lost dozens of hectares of green space in the last 2 years, trees were illegally cut down by developers, one of the reasons is the ridiculous fine of 50 to 100 lei for individuals, and if it is paid in 15 days, 25 lei remains for each tree cut down.

• HotNews.ro reported on this legislative issue a year ago, but no government agency did anything, and since then the city has lost several hectares of green space.

At the same time, Genmer proposes to increase fines for those who throw garbage on green areas, destroy flowers, urban furniture, irrigation systems, and destroy trees during construction and concreting alveoli.

It remains to be seen whether the General Council will approve the increased fines.

According to the draft decision, which is currently under public discussion, Art. 2 and 4 of the Rules for the Protection of Green Spaces in 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 actions are offenses and are punishable by a fine of 4,000 to 5,000 lei for individuals and 4,500 to 5,000 lei for legal entities:

• Trimming tree trunks, applying foreign bodies to trunks/branches (including attaching signs and advertisements, drilling holes in trees), watering tree trunks with poisonous or flammable substances, any interference with tree trunks, bushes, roses, vines, hedges;
• Cutting down any trees or bushes without permits;
• Cutting branches of trees and bushes (interference in crowns/toilets) without permits;
• Transplantation of trees and bushes without permits;
• non-compliance with the rules of fire protection of green areas;
• Complete or partial destruction of city furniture, decorative dishes, statues, monuments, buildings, kiosks, fences and artesian fountains;
• Damage to driveways, driveways, curbs, lighting poles, fire hydrants, electrical and irrigation networks, gutters and hatch covers of utility networks in green areas;
• Catching fauna characteristic of the ecosystem of parks and gardens;
• Throw packaging, cards, bottles, household garbage, cigarettes, animal carcasses and any other waste on green areas, alleys, fountains, lakes, pools.

Fines now range from:

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

In addition, fines for breaking and damaging flowers on the perimeter of green spaces range from 200 to 500 lei for individuals and from 1,000 to 4,000 lei for legal entities. Now they are from 100 to 200 lei for individuals and from 1000 to 2500 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 actions:

• Deforestation and felling (removal, reduction) of any protected trees or shrubs without permits;
• Damage to green spaces by carrying out construction works, infrastructure and transport facilities or any other measures on their perimeter, including concreting unplanted alveoli in the route, without complying with the requirements of the law and the opinion of experts;
• Failure to install information boards by administrators of squares and parks;
• Non-arrangement by administrators of bicycle paths, where the coverage and infrastructure of parks and squares allows;
• Failure to fulfill the obligation to plant compensation for legally felled trees.

Currently, fines range from 300 to 1,000 lei for individuals and from 2,500 to 5,000 lei for legal entities.

Since last year, HotNews.ro wrote that in 2022, Bucharest lost dozens of hectares of green spaces due to bad legislation, and the fines for illegal tree cutting are symbolic – from 25 lei for each tree cut without permission. Until 2020, this act was considered a crime, but it was outlawed and chaos ensued. Although we have been reporting this issue for almost 1 year, parliament and government have not changed the law and this practice continues.

USR General Counsel Ana Chicheala last August initiated a draft decision to increase fines, but it remained blocked.

“In general, according to the project, fines for felling without a permit will increase from 50-200 lei/tree to 4,000-5,000 lei/tree. Unfortunately, the current legislation does not allow the General Council to set fines higher than 5,000 lei. We also propose to introduce sanctions for violations with a similar fine for the negative impact of green spaces (per square meter). Today, we propose to act punctually in the short term, strengthening the deterrent component, i.e. increasing the maximum fines for those who cut down trees illegally,” Ana-Maria Chichela wrote on her Facebook page at the time.