The volume of harvested timber decreased in 2023 by 1.068 million cubic meters compared to the previous year, to 19.17 million cubic meters (gross volume), according to data compiled by the National Institute of Statistics, cited by Agerpres.
By forest species, conifers represented 37.5% of the total volume of harvested timber, beech 32.3%, various hard species (acacia, maple, ash, walnut, etc.) 11.9%, oak 10.6%, and various soft species (linden, willow, poplar, etc.) 7.7%.
The timber harvested in 2023 was allocated 95.4% to legal entities certified in forestry exploitation and 4.6% to individuals who can exploit timber from the forests they own.
“According to Law No. 46/2008 – the Forestry Code with subsequent amendments and completions, the exploitation of timber is carried out by legal entities certified by the central public authority responsible for forestry; as an exception, legal and natural persons can exploit, without certification, a maximum volume of 20 cubic meters per year from the forests they own,” states the INS.
According to the cited source, last year, 12.157 million cubic meters of wood were harvested from publicly owned forests, representing 63.4% of the total volume of harvested timber, with the rest harvested from privately owned forests (30.8%) and forest vegetation located on non-forest land (5.8%).
Compared to 2022, in 2023 the volume of wood harvested from forest vegetation located on non-forest land decreased by 10.4%, from publicly owned forests of administrative-territorial units by 8.5%, from privately owned forests by 8%, and from publicly owned state forests by 1.7%.
In 2023, primary wood products represented 72.2% of the total volume of harvested timber, secondary wood products 22.9%, and hygiene wood products 4.9%. The volume of harvested hygiene wood products decreased by 41.9% compared to the previous year, secondary products decreased by 5%, and primary products by 1.1%.
At the level of development regions, 28% of the total volume of harvested timber was collected from the North-East region, 23.3% from the Central region, 12.5% from the West region, 12% from the North-West region, 9.6% from the South-Muntenia region, 7.5% from the South-West Oltenia region, 6.7% from the South-East region, and 0.4% from the Bucharest-Ilfov region.
The structure of harvested timber species in the development regions is as follows: conifers represent the majority of harvested timber in the North-East (54.9%) and Central (51.1%) development regions, oak in the Bucharest-Ilfov development region (42.1%), and beech in the West (46.3%), South-West Oltenia (38.6%), North-West (35.6%), South-East (31.1%), and South-Muntenia (29.6%) development regions.
At the county level, in 2023, the largest amount of harvested timber was collected in Suceava County (12%), followed by Harghita (7.3%), Neamț (6.7%), and Bacău (5.7%) counties, while the smallest quantities were collected in Giurgiu (0.6%), Olt (0.5%), Ilfov, Ialomița, Galați, and Brăila (0.4%), Teleorman (0.3%), Constanța (0.2%), and the Municipality of Bucharest (less than 0.1%) counties.
“The actions of harvesting trees from the forest, aimed at valorizing the wood and ensuring favorable conditions for the development of stands, were carried out through cutting. In 2023, conservation cuts were made on 60.5% of the total area covered by cuts, regeneration cuts in high forest on 37.3%, regeneration cuts in coppice forest on 2.0%, and substitution-restoration cuts of low-productive and degraded stands on 0.2%,” according to the INS.
The areas where wood was completely harvested were those with clear cuts (4.7% of the area covered by regeneration cuts in high forest), with the respective areas to be reforested or used for other forestry purposes, the INS emphasizes.
