JYSK plants 26.000 trees in Romania

26.000 trees were planted in Romania this Autumn, in the picturesque mountain area near Abrud. In doing so, JYSK continued the afforestation tradition that started four years ago, together with Planting Good Deeds in Romania (Plantăm fapte bune în România).

A VERY UNUSUAL YEAR

During the previous years, hundreds of volunteers took part in the afforestation activities and helped plant tens of thousands of trees. But the current situation did not allow us to organise a large scale event.

“The afforestation events were also affected by the pandemic and, as a result, the help offered by thousands of volunteers every year during Spring and Autumn had to come from day labourers and machines. The volunteering component is the most important aspect that defines our NGO’s work. We will have to postpone it until the current situation will allow us to return on the field. We miss the good people who, every year, joined us in the field no matter what. We are thinking of them while we are planting. We also respect our promise to continue to plant more and more trees, having the financial support of our stable, long term partnerships, just as the partnership we have with JYSK Romania“, says Simona Camburu, Fundraising Coordinator at Planting Good Deeds in Romania.

The tree planting took place over several weeks, with the help of day labourers.

“The mountains are hard to conquer, and this was also the case during the afforestation process. The biggest challenge for our day labourers was accessing the planting areas on mountain ridges and the weather they encountered up there. We managed to plant all the saplings, until the last one, and we made sure that in Spring they will start growing“, says Mihai Enescu, forestry engineer, Planting Good Deeds in Romania. 

BENEFITS FOR THE COMMUNITIES

26.000 seedlings were planted, of which 20,000 spruce, 4,000 fir and 2,000 larch seedlings. The types of trees were chosen in accordance to the forest regulations, these being species that grow naturally in the area, are well adapted to the climate conditions here and contribute to building a more stable ecosystem.

Tudor Butnariu, who works for Abrud Forest District, explained why forests are so important for the local communities:

“Forests are very important for the people who live here. They have economic value. They provide jobs for people in the area, from those who work in the wood industry to those who practice traditional wood crafting and those who gather berries and edible mushrooms. The economic advantages are even more important now, considering that mining is not an option anymore, as all the mines are closed. For years, mining was the most important activity here“.

A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

Increasing the forest area benefits not only the economy, but also the environment and climate conditions. Lands that were not previously covered by trees were chosen for the afforestation, as well as areas where the trees were cut and the wood exploited.

“If we wouldn’t have planted on these lands, the soil would have gradually degraded, a process that takes place as a result of rain and erosion, and it would have lost its physico-chemical and biological properties. In addition to the technical criteria, we also took into consideration the social aspect, the financial resources of the Forest District that owns the lands. These are poor communities and any financial help is welcomed here“, Mihai Enescu adds.

The nine plots of land on which we planted trees this year have a total of 6,5 hectares. They come in addition to other 6,5 hectares on which trees were planted last year by Planting Good Deeds and JYSK Romania in the same area.  

Forestry engineers from Planting Good Deeds and Abrud Forest District will closely monitor the evolution of the saplings.

“Spruce saplings have an average growth of 20 to 30 cm, and we expect that in 2021, after overcoming the adaptation crisis, the saplings will grow a little bit more, maybe even half a metre“, says Mihai Enescu.

See the tree planting event from last year here.