COUNTRY REPORT ON THE PRESENT ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION IN AGRICULTURE
- ROMANIA -

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study is to emphasize the relationship between agriculture and environment and related policy/institutional issues, mainly the government/NGOs role and the effectiveness of their current attempt to address the environmental issues.

Agriculture may have damaging as well as beneficial effects on the environment. Both aspects have to be considered in order to understand the shortcomings but also the potential of farming activities vis-�-vis the environment. The environment conditions agriculture both by providing the indispensable natural resources and by influencing the quantity and quality of its products.

The promotion of sustainable development should be a major objective of the environmental policy that will require enhanced political support. Improvement of institutional structures and management, both at central and local level, should enable achieving an integrated approach to the environmental issues, establishing and implementing environment management plans. Environmental NGOs have been perceived, recently, as the most dynamic field in the Romanian civil society.

The remainder of this study is organized as follows. In Chapter 2, we introduce the impact of transition and structure of property rights. In Chapter 3, we present the relationship between agriculture and the environment. Chapter 4, gives a description of the institutional change within environmental policy, environmental policy related to agriculture and the importance of national environmental associations and organizations. Finally, Chapter 5 presents the conclusions.

THE IMPACT OF TRANSITION AND STRUCTURE OF PROPERTY RIGHTS

The economic reform programmes address macroeconomic issues (determining international trade, the national budget situation, private investments, wage policies, income distribution, etc.) and major sectoral issues (e.g. agricultural productivity, industrial development, energetic consumption, etc.). In the majority of the cases, the reform programmes do not specify how these economic policies affect the environment. Still, there is a strong link that should be considered in the decision-making process. The positive impact of economic reform on the environment creates the premises for its development on the same bases. The possible negative effects should be analysed, monitored and neutralized. While in some cases the trend of environmental effects is predictable, at other times it is more complex³⁹.

Price liberalization and the elimination of economic constraints contribute to both economic growth and environmental protection. The land reform (through clarification of land property rights) and development of better access to financial and social services create premises not only for agricultural growth and better living standards in rural areas, but also for establishing a motivational framework favourable to the environment. Macrostabilization measures include environmental policies, while economic instability affects the sustainable use of natural resources. A low inflation rate leads to reliable price forecasting and determines economic agents to invest in. These premises are essential for encouraging sustainable economic development with favourable environmental impacts. Increasing economic efficiency, reduction of waste and the correct evaluation of natural resources lead to decreasing negative environmental effects.

The effect of privatization and redefinition of property rights on natural resources

With 20 percent of GDP and 35 percent of employment, generated by agriculture Romanian agriculture is relatively more important than in any other country in Central and Eastern Europe. Romania is not strongly urbanized and almost half of the population lives in rural areas. Romanian agriculture is undergoing a process of structural transformation meant to overcome the crisis originated before 1989, a crisis mainly related to: the underuse of the production potential, preservation of uncompetitive agrarian structures (a high level of labour force employed in agriculture, a high fragmentation of land property, a low level of working capital), a weak growth of markets and market institutions, and the managerial crisis. One of the main objectives of the reform process during transition was to decollectivize agriculture and to re-establish private property rights. The movement of state-owned properties into private hands ("privatization") provides an important opportunity to transform Romania's environmental objectives into reality in a direct way. Romania should consider the environmental measures to be taken into account in the privatization process and in the subsequent sale of properties between private parties. An environmental audit at the time of selling an enterprise would be considered essential by foreign investors and by potential local stockholders (e.g. the likely costs required to make the enterprise saleable in an environmentally-acceptable form).

With the disorder in production, the Romanian environment is cleaner in the 1990s than it was in the 1980s. Some major polluting sources have been forced to decrease production by between 30-50 percent and, as a result, there has been a dramatic decline in the formation of industrial waste and energy consumption. Emissions are directly proportional to production. With further closures of inefficient production lines (or of some entire plants), and with the increasing pressure to become more efficient and competitive, we can expect a further reduction of pollutant emissions. The Government policies that now oblige producers to compete in open markets should lead in time to restructuring away from heavy industries and towards generally less-polluting lighter industries and services.

Restructurization in rural areas

The basis of the rural economy is agriculture. Half of the rural population is over 60 years old due mainly to rural-urban migration before 1989. There are significant differences between the rural communities placed within the eight macroregions of Romania. Over half of the Romanian communes (covering 70 percent of the rural population and 65 percent of the rural area) present a medium economic level. One fifth of the communes are characterized by a good or medium economic situation and have resources for a diversified rural economy. The remaining 30 percent present a weak economic situation and have predominantly agricultural potential.

Strategic objectives regarding the restructuring of rural areas address different issues. The environmental issue should be one of the most important ones. Environmental problems in the rural areas are generally of a more diffuse, long-term nature than those that occur in urban areas. With the exception of the most intensively affected spots, the main environmental task in the rural areas is different from urban-industrial zones - namely, to conserve or restore existing natural and agricultural areas, rather than to protect public health. Since Romania has a large agricultural sector, this also means the conservation of a large segment of its economic base and of the countryside that provides food and support to cities.

Liberalization

Starting February 1997, agricultural policy has had in view a gradual decrease of all kind of subsidies in favour of direct payment schemes (i.e. the voucher scheme). Prices of all agricultural products have been liberalized. Price reform and tariff reduction were meant to improve diversity and quality of local goods, to restore the profitability of the repressed export sector and to stimulate production among efficient import competitors. Agricultural exports have been totally liberalized, eliminating all trade barriers, aiming at the stimulation of production growth, increase of efficiency and competition among producers. Proper pricing and incentives offer the possibility of substantial resource conservation. Diversification of agricultural production and the creation of incentives for ecological production will also occur as foreign trade develops (exploration of new foreign markets and increased competition on the domestic market). The ecological product market is still in its early stages, but certainly there are premises for its development.

The development of the economic framework at farm level

Land market

Land reform was initiated in 1991. Putting land and other farm assets into private ownership or private management led to a high degree of fragmentation of land ownership and farms. In reality, the structure of production is less fragmented than the structure of ownership. A limit of 10 hectares was set up per household, the average size of most farms being about 2.5-3.0 hectares. About 15 percent of privately-owned land was operated by formal farmers' associations; 13 percent have represented family associations and the remaining 72 percent have represented small family farms. About a fifth of the farmland has been managed by state farms. At present almost 30 percent of the total surface managed by the state farms has been transferred as shares to private owners.

Due to its restrictive character (it banned rural land sales, gave pre-emption rights to a Rural Development Agency), the legislative framework was amended by some new measures (starting 1997) that modified and completed it (with regards to the increase of the land ownership limit).

The objectives regarding the land market that should be realized in the near future are completing land registration and the distribution of property titles and clarifying the issue regarding land managed by state farms. The current institutional and legislative framework for the land market does not firmly address the impact of private/state land ownership on the environment. Land privatization can provide dynamic incentives to improve land, but is also consistent with optimal resource degradation and the continued existence of externalities among owners.

The development of input and output prices

Due to the high rate of inflation and an imprecise market information system, the price monitoring process has been raising methodological questions. Before price liberalization in 1997, Romania applied the minimum guaranteed price system for agricultural inputs and outputs. Following the drastic declines in real incomes since 1990, Romanians have spent on average 60 percent of their income on food. Due to this fact, the Government intervened extensively to control food prices (trying to keep consumer prices low and producer incentives high) as a form of social policy. In addition, high import (tariff) barriers sustained inefficient production and processing activities at a high cost to the budget and to consumers. The economic, environmental and budgetary costs of these interventions were ultimately unsustainable. Moreover, the policies did not succeed in protecting the consumer much, and resulted in large losses and continued inefficiency in agricultural enterprises. In order to maintain low agricultural prices, state-owned agricultural processors had their margins controlled. The low price farmers received for their output was a disincentive to produce and to buy the best quality seeds and fertilizers. Although they preferred to deliver to the free market, they were given no real choice since highly subsidized credit and subsidized inputs were channelled through state integrators.

Starting 1997, prices were liberalized and driven by the world price trend. After 1993, the ratio between Romanian and EU producer prices for most of the main agricultural outputs and inputs has shown an increasing trend. In 1997, the administered prices for fertilizers were eliminated and fertilizer companies have been allowed to sell at relevant parity prices. Input prices increased faster than output prices leading to lower farmers' income, decrease of the use of good quality inputs (e.g. consumption of certified seed decreased, since most small private farmers use seed from own production). In view of these developments, since 1997 the voucher scheme has been applied to supply farmers with an extra amount of inputs. The increasing gap between input and output prices should be counterbalanced by future liberalization of the land market and legislative reform in the rural financing system.

THE IMPACT OF AGRICULTURE ON THE ENVIRONMENT⁴⁰

Environmental degradation caused by agriculture

Agriculture may have damaging as well as beneficial effects on the environment. Both aspects have to be considered in order to understand the shortcomings but also the potential of farming activities vis-�-vis the environment. According to local conditions and to the way they are carried out, farming activities can, for example, favour or combat erosion, increase or reduce biodiversity.

Agriculture and soil protection

Much of Romania's cultivable land has been developed for large-scale agriculture with huge areas under intensive arable cropping and irrigation. Virtually, the whole of the Danube Valley has been reclaimed for agriculture. In the mountainous areas of the Carpathians, the landscape turns to upland hill pasture and upland forest. Over half of the Romanian land area is classified as agricultural land and about 67 percent of this, or 10 million hectares, is cultivated annually (see Annex 1, Table 1).

The evaluation of agricultural soil quality consists of the identification and characterization of the factors limiting its productive capacity. Romanian soils can be classified in capability classes (the integration of soils in one capability class is done according to the ratio between the cost of land improvement and farming efficiency) (see Annex 1, Table 2).

Out of the total of 16 million hectares of agricultural land, 12 million hectares are affected by factors such as erosion, water and salt excess, compacting, acidification, chemical pollution with pesticides, heavy metals, fluoride, oil, etc. Only about 3.7 million hectares out of 10 million hectares of arable land are actually suitable for sustainable and efficient agriculture.

The most important problem refers to the erosion phenomenon that affects about 6.3 million hectares of agricultural land and shows an increasing trend. Wind erosion, phenomenon recorded on almost 380 000 hectares shows a propensity for extension due to deforestation. Investigations show that about 150 million tonnes of topsoil, which includes 1.5 million tonnes of humus, 0.4 to 0.5 million tonnes of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and large amounts of nutrient elements (calcium, manganese, zinc, molybdenum), are lost through erosion. Additionally, about 0.7 million hectares are affected by landslides. Investigations show that this very dangerous erosion process is increasing. While there is no measure of loss of productivity, research in Romania has shown yield improvements of six to eight times where soil conservation has been practized on severely eroded lands. Erosion also has an economic impact through siltation. Apart from a loss of aquatic life due to turbidity, at least 14 natural reservoirs have been wholly or partially silted up.

Soil compacting was recorded on 6.5 million hectares. Other aspects refer to the level of nitrogen (deficient on 4.8 million hectares), those of phosphorus (deficient on 6.2 million hectares), and also deficiency of other microelements (zinc, iron, calcium, magnesium). Strong and moderate acidification was recorded on 3.3 million hectares. About 220 thousand hectares are polluted by 300 million tonnes of solid waste. Oil and salty water affect other 50 thousand hectares. Chemical pollution affects 900 thousand hectares. Out of these, 200 thousand hectares are totally unproductive for agriculture. Very acid soils due to acid rain (sulphide oxides and nitrogen oxides) were found in the neighbourhood of chemical plants producing fertilizer (ammonium nitrate), sulphide acid or non-ferrous metals.

Irrigation is another factor that put agriculture in the position of aggressor of the environment. Soils can also be polluted during irrigation by water from very polluted rivers like the Olt, Arges, Mures, Siret, Prahova, and Trotus. This will be a major problem in the future. Although the area presently equipped with irrigation infrastructure covers 3.2 million hectares, less than 2 million hectares is actually irrigated because of system deterioration. It is unlikely that more than 70 percent of the former area will be restored because of high pumping costs. As a result, the negative impact of irrigation and particularly waterlogging is therefore likely to be somewhat reduced. In areas with irrigation systems and no drainage systems, soils get salty (about 1.2 million hectares). Soil fertility has been affected in this way on over 600 thousand hectares. Salinization is met especially in the steppe. Water evaporates and salts are concentrated on the ground. Irrigation in excess leads to changes in soil, meaning that the level of the groundwater rises and salt concentration in soil increases. Water losses from irrigation (about 40 percent of the total use of water for irrigation) lead to an excess of water in soil on large surfaces (about 5.5 million hectares).

Pesticides are significant sources of chemical pollution in soils. Pollution due to pesticides is a phenomenon whose intensity, although decreasing rapidly to 25 percent of the EU level, has still exceeded maximum allowable limits (0.1 ppm⁴¹) for some organochlorine insecticides, such as HCH in six counties and DDT in eighteen counties. Although herbicides have a much shorter persistence in the soil, their residues were found both in soil and groundwater near the manufacture plants regardless of their product. On the whole, while there is no comprehensive system to detect pesticide pollution, and packaging and instructions for use need to be improved, the use of pesticides does not appear to be a major environmental issue, at present; however, there is a need for pesticide application equipment and protective clothing to be available on the market. Among soil-polluting pesticides, organochlorine compounds are especially persistent. In many cases, concentration of organochlorines of about one ppm were found (this being a very high value). The problem should be no longer serious, since the use of HCH and DDT was forbidden years ago and we have had to cope with their persistent residues.

Animal farms are an important pollution source to all environmental factors. Removing animal residues from animal farms pollutes first the water and, if water is not decontaminated, it affects soils, too. Part of animal waste is used as natural fertilizer. Waste management had to deal with 11.3 million tonnes of manure from livestock farms. Residues from animal farms affect 900 hectares. About 76 percent of this amount was used by anaerobic fermentation, composting and administration of agricultural land. In 1994, due to decreasing use of pesticides, about 6 190 tonnes of pesticides expired, exceeding by 68 percent the quantities registered in 1992.

Currently, soil pollution is not monitored on a regular basis. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences undertake a sampling as part of their normal operations, but their sampling is not particularly directed at detecting any measuring of polluting substances and the information that is gathered is not necessarily passed on to the Ministry of Water, Forests and Environmental Protection.

Agriculture and water protection

The direct discharge of wastes into natural watercourses is the main cause of their deterioration. It was estimated that streams in Romania receive nearly 6 875 million tonnes of pollutants per year, out of which chlorides, suspended substances, organic substances, ammonia, nitrates, phenols, sulphured hydrogen, phosphorus, cyanides, detergents, and pesticides are the most prevailing.

The deterioration of natural water quality has also caused great difficulties in the water supply, and an increasing cost of water to industry. Water use in Romania is estimated at about 36 billion m³/year - about 27 percent of total water available. Of the water used, inner rivers and lakes provide 13 billion m³/year (36 percent); the Danube River, 20 billion m³/year (56 percent); and groundwater, three billion m³/year (8 percent). The per capita water demand is relatively low, being about 890 m³/capita/year (1990), while for the USA it is 2 650 m³/capita/year. In the short term, water use is expected to decline with the major reduction in industry and energy. With the recovery of the country's economy, water demand is expected to increase again. With the introduction of incentives for more efficient water use -economic pricing of water for industrial, agricultural and municipal consumption - there is great potential for reducing unit water consumption in the future.

Romania has developed ambient water quality standards (see Annex 1, Table 3) and these are generally satisfactory. These standards have been used more to classify the rivers according to their present state rather than for desirable present or future state. At the national level, the global quality of the river water in Romania presents a high degree of territorial non-uniformity both from basin to basin and within basins, from one area to another.

There are four main categories for water quality: category I (clean drinking water); category II (less clean water used for fisheries, town planning, recreation); category III (water used for irrigation, power plants, industrial purposes); category D (polluted). Taking into account the national hydrological network of 70 000 km, the water qualitative level is established on river sectors representing a total length of 20 500 km (see Annex 1, Table 4).

Pollution from agricultural sources affects both surface water and groundwater. It is mainly due to nitrates, phosphorous, pesticides, and run-off of silage effluent and slurry. The hydrographic basins are polluted annually by about 6.5 million tonnes of pollutants, including chloride, organic substances, ammonium, suspension particles, phenols, phosphor, cyanide, detergent, and pesticides.

The main sources of nitrates and phosphorous are mineral fertilizers and effluent of livestock, in particular animal manure. Nitrates and phosphorous can lead to the eutrophication of fresh and coastal water and the contamination of groundwater, threatening the quality of drinking water. Animal farms are an important pollution source to water. For instance, for an animal to gain one kilogram inweight, it produces between six and 25 kilograms of residues. Their removal and the cleaning up of the cowsheds utilizes huge quantities of water that have to be decontaminated. About 70 million m³ of water per year (1994) is used this way in the livestock industry (the pig industry is the greatest polluter). These residues affect mainly the Somes, Mures, Bega-Timis, Vedea, Arges, Ialomita, Siret, and Prut rivers.

Pesticide residues in the different water bodies may often affect biodiversity especially in the case of aquatic ecosystems, but also in the case of terrestrial ecosystems linked to water. This is also a potential threat to water quality, which leads to increased costs for drinking water distribution.

Agricultural activities also have significant effects on the quantity of water, especially where irrigation is required. In particular, excessive abstraction can lower the water table and increase the desertification and salinization by the intrusion of seawater. The water within certain irrigation systems on a surface of about 200 000 hectares does not meet quality conditions, thus leading to land degradation and to crop reduction on these surfaces. Lakes are classified mostly in the first two quality categories. Nevertheless, some Delta lakes present a high degree of pollution (e.g. Matita, Puiu, Rosu). Lakes like Techirghiol, Balta Alba, and Amara are also polluted through bad quality water from irrigation systems.

Romanian rivers are being polluted by wastewater discharge estimated at about 10 billion m3/year. Out of this quantity, only 10 percent is adequately treated, 60 percent is partially treated, and 30 percent is discharged without treatment. The major pollution sources are industrial waste, agricultural run-off, animal waste and municipal waste. Of these, industrial waste is the most hazardous to health. Extreme water pollution is generally a local phenomenon concentrated in river lengths downstream from industries and larger municipalities.

The environmental quality of the Danube River Basin is under great pressure from a diverse range of human activities. Urban populations are generating pollution from largely inadequate waste treatment and solid waste disposal facilities. Solid waste is another area of concern, as waste management legislation is almost non-existent. The concept of hazardous waste has not been defined and incineration is only intermittently practized. The modernization and intensification of agricultural practices and livestock production are the major sources of non-point source pollution of surface and ground water in the Danube River Basin. The Danube currently delivers 60 000 tonnes of phosphorus per year and about 340 000 tonnes of inorganic nitrogen per year to the Black Sea. Additionally, coastal settlements discharge their sewage directly into the sea, a situation even further exacerbated by the discharge of industrial wastes (e.g. the phosphate effluent from a single fertilizer factory in Romania is estimated to be equivalent to 13.4 percent of the load from the Danube).

Most of the inhabitants in peri-urban and rural areas (about 46.8 percent of the population) depend on groundwater for their drinking water source. In some areas, groundwater is heavily polluted with nitrates, pesticides, heavy metals and other toxic substances. In 1988, the Institute of Hygiene and Public Health conducted a nation-wide survey of the nitrate pollution of shallow wells. Out of a total of 12 554 wells surveyed, 4 558 wells (36 percent) showed nitrate concentrations exceeding the minimum acceptable standard of 45 mg/liter. The total number of people relying on these polluted wells for their water supply was estimated at about four million. Extreme nitrate concentrations reaching 1 500 mg/liter were detected from a sample in Cernica, the rural vicinity around Bucharest. Although the exact cause of this pollution remains to be confirmed through further investigation, it appears that the main sources of nitrate pollution are agricultural run-off and livestock waste. At present, the ground water network has shown a lower content of pollutants than in previous years.

Non-point source pollution due to fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides on agricultural land has decreased during the last four years. At the hydrographic basin level, the average concentration of these substances in water was below the maximum allowable limit in the mentioned period.

The Ministry of Environment has a nation-wide monitoring system comprized of: a) 275 slow (monthly) and 65 fast (daily) monitoring stations for surface water; b) 55 seasonal monitoring stations for lakes; and c) 280 seasonal monitoring stations for groundwater. To some extent, the Ministry of Environment also monitors industrial discharges but, with inadequate supporting legislation, low fines and a shortage of equipment and staff, enforcement is limited. Although there are more than 2 000 stations for cleaning bad quality water, almost half do not function properly. At present, water pollution phenomena have been confirmed, and this has implied the need for careful monitoring and a proper legislative framework.

Agriculture and air protection

As in other Eastern European countries, air pollution is highly localized and severe. It is estimated that about 1.8 million tonnes of pollutants are emitted into the atmosphere each year. Among these are: about 1.76 million tonnes of sulphur dioxide, 8500 tonnes of ammonia, 5 500 tonnes of carbon sulphide, and 2 300 tonnes of phenols. Nonferrous metal compounds, such as chlorine, fluorine, and suspended and sedimentary particles, also are discharged into the air.

Among economic sectors, agriculture has the highest weight as regards emissions of methane (CH₄), nitrogen protoxide (N₂O) and ammonium nitrate (NH₃). Livestock farming is responsible for emissions of ammonia and - especially in the case of ruminant breeding - methane. About 26 percent of total methane emissions in Romania comes from agricultural activities. This contributes to the greenhouse effect. Land application and the storage of manure are other important sources of ammonia emissions. Methane and ammonia have environmentally negative effects regarding the greenhouse effect and the acidification of soils and water respectively. Livestock farming emissions present strong regional variations, which can be explained by differences in feed availability and livestock keeping methods. The emissions coming from burning straw and other vegetal residues are also polluting the air. The use of fertilizer can also result in ammonium nitrate emissions, which contribute to the greenhouse effect. Pesticide drift can cause long-distance pollution and their residues can contaminate rainwater. In addition, in some rural areas agricultural activity leads to unpleasant smells in the countryside.

One of the worst effects of atmospheric pollution is acid rain. Acid rain can be caused by nitric oxides from both large chemical fertilizer plants and power stations. Romania lacks special installations to convert the sulphur dioxide present in burned gases into sulphur trioxide and subsequently into sulphuric acid.

Agriculture can contribute to the protection of the natural environment against specific forms of pollution or degradation, e.g. it contributes to counteracting the greenhouse effect as it provides an important CO₂ sink.

The emission of pollutants in the atmosphere decreased in Romania after 1989, not only due to the closure of many animal farms, but also due to the application of pollution abatement technologies. Nevertheless, air pollution phenomenon is still present and implies the need for careful monitoring and proper legislative framework.

Romania is fortunate in having an extensive air-monitoring network. However, with the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Health conducting monitoring, there is duplication and overlapping between the agencies. Air pollution monitoring has been done in the Semenic, Fundata, Stana de Vale, and Rarau stations (for background pollution) and in another 750 stations (for pollution impact assessment).

Agriculture and its impact on landscape

The Romanian rural landscape has been shaped by human activities and especially by agriculture. By shaping the landscape, agriculture has also differentiated it. Aesthetic value attaches itself to these cultivated landscapes with all their traditional features, including buildings, field boundaries and watercourses. Traditional semi-natural landscapes are very often essential to a sustainable balance between agricultural activities and the environment. These semi-natural habitats can be preserved only if agriculture is continued.

Still, intensive agriculture had some negative effects on the landscape and it destroyed some features that traditional agriculture has contributed to create in previous centuries. Major examples of its impact are reparcelling with the removal of hedgerows and stonewalls and the clearing of woods; realignment of watercourses and abandonment of terraces. Romanian rural landscape has changed during the last five decades mainly in peri-urban areas, due to the "industrialization" of villages. Still, we cannot speak of an irreversible process of landscape degradation in Romania, since traditional values have started to be given more and more importance in several rural areas. Governmental and private parties have initiated programmes for reviving local cultural inheritance, and maintaining the landscape in some rural areas.

Agriculture and biodiversity

Romania is a country with a rich biodiversity (ecosystems, species and genetic diversity) and a high percentage of natural ecosystems - 47 percent of the land area of the country is covered with natural and semi-natural ecosystems. Since almost half of all forests in Romania (13 percent of the country) have been managed for watershed conservation rather than production, Romania has one of the largest areas of undisturbed forest in Europe. The natural integrity of Romanian forest ecosystems is indicated by the presence of the full range of European forest fauna, including 60 and 40 percent of all European brown bears and wolves respectively. Europe's largest wetland, the Danube Delta (one of the World Natural Heritages) also lies predominantly in Romania. Major grasslands, caves and an extensive network of rivers add to the ecosystem's richness. The high level of geographic diversity in Romania has produced a floral diversity that includes over 3 700 species and a fauna diversity estimated to be more than 33 802 species. These figures include a large number of endemic and subendemic plants (228) and animals (1 000) specifically adapted to local conditions and only found in Romania. Species that once thrived in many parts of Europe are now only found, or found in large or significant populations, in Romania.

Although rich in biological resources and important as a corridor for the movement of species (biogenetic material), Romania has suffered the consequence of human activity. Historically, human activities have significantly modified the Romanian landscape. These modifications have reduced the abundance of certain elements in the ecosystem (most notably steppe grasslands) and also added new components. Pollution, the damming of rivers, hydrological works, industrial agriculture, the overexploitation of natural resources, among other factors, have all taken their toll in decreasing biodiversity.

Today, arable land comprises 39.2 percent of the country's surface and a large area of natural grasslands has been formed - primarily in the mountains and hills. In total, it has been estimated that in the last fifty years, there has been a permanent loss of 250 000 hectares of forest and grasslands and that an additional 280 000 hectares has been temporarily or at least only partially lost. The continuous deterioration of grasslands has been caused by increasing the number of grazing animals without consideration to the carrying capacity or organization of grazing cycles and rotations.

In the past the draining of wetlands was promoted in order to create arable land for agriculture. A total of about 400 000 hectares of wetland habitat, much of it along the Danube River and in the Danube Delta (about 80 000 ha), has been permanently or partially lost as it was converted to agricultural use. This trend is likely to increase if appropriate measures to reduce the effects of pollution and of economic pressures connected with the overexploitation of natural resources are not to be undertaken.

Air, water and soil pollution have been, and continue to be, major threats to biodiversity. Agriculture run-off is a major pollution factor in some areas. Part of the surface water that could sustain a rich biological diversity is polluted and the high nutrient load (with a high contribution from agriculture) of the Danube River has caused eutrophication in the Danube Delta lakes where several species have consequently been reduced.

Following the political changes of 1989, there has been a net return of people to rural areas. Traditional harvesting and grazing practices present an opportunity to support a sizeable rural population, which lives within the limits of the available biological resources. Agri-tourism could be developed to provide rural communities with additional sources of revenue while offering incentives to retain or revive traditional practices that are sustainable, or to develop new means for using natural resources sustainably. There is a great potential to develop ecological tourism activities in many of Romania's natural areas. A newly formed association of ecological tourist homes and farms is currently promoting this idea. Private land ownership, among other factors, brings both new threats as well as new opportunities for biodiversity protection.

Some species disappear because of the destruction of their natural habitats due to fertilization, pesticides, eutrophication, drainage, irrigation, reparcelling, agricultural land improvement, the abandonment of traditional farming practices or of specific crops and animal productions. Wild fauna suffered both directly and indirectly from the use of insect-fungicides on agricultural fields. Research done after 1990 noted the presence of pesticide residues in tissues collected from wild animals. Although DDT and HCH use was forbidden over ten years ago, their residues remain long after and were found especially in tissues of rabbit, deer, wild boar and mainly near large agricultural fields. Wild species living in different ecosystems are an excellent indicator of environmental pollution. Except for pesticides, wild animals have been contaminated with heavy metals and nitrates. The maximum allowable limit (MAL) was much exceeded for some substances (e.g. cadmium, chrome, and lead). The most polluted specie is the wild boar (e.g. a case study done few years ago in Calarasi County found that lead contamination of wild boars was exceeded 10 times). Since wild boars are frequently encountered in several parts of Romania, they could be used in the process of chemical pollution monitoring.

Agro-ecosystems are more polluted than forests. Agriculture, over the centuries, has influenced biodiversity by introducing and/or selecting new plant and animal species or by creating new habitats. Maintaining traditional farming with extensive crops and grasslands, in particular in wetlands, steppe areas and mountains contributes to the conservation of endangered species of flora and fauna. By maintaining such biodiversity, agriculture can ensure the survival of genetic resources. Genetic diversity is of crucial importance: it is a cultural heritage that designs our societies and it is the tool to reform agricultural practices towards more viable forms of production.

Taking into account these significant problems, Romania has an active governmental and non-governmental commitment to reverse the trends of biodiversity loss. A large number of areas (4.8 percent of the country's land area) have been designated as protected areas (see Annex 1, Table 5). Romania has signed most international conventions and regional environmental agreements. However, a coordinated and effectively managed system of protected areas does not exist and institutional arrangements for nature conservation and protected area management have not yet been clearly defined.

In order to prevent the reduction of biodiversity in agro-ecosystems, the Priority Objectives for Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use of its Components in Romania distinguish:

• The protection, conservation and restoration of the terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity outside protected areas through (1) reducing the negative impacts of pollution, natural resources overexploitation and inappropriate land-use practices and (2) restoring altered ecosystems and habitats;
• The protection, conservation and restoration of biological diversity specific to agro-systems through the implementation of the technologies which favour sustainable agriculture. Priority actions should focus on (1) the assessment of the economic and social value and of the costs and benefits of biological diversity in the agro-ecosystems used for production and (2) the elaboration of patterns of sustainable management of agro-ecosystems with representative bioclimatic zones and layers in a manner consistent with the principles and actions required under the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Effects of environmental degradation on agriculture

The environment conditions agriculture both by providing its indispensable natural resources and by influencing the quantity and quality of its products. According to the environmental situation, 4.4 percent of the communes within Romanian rural areas are situated in polluted areas (all the analysed factors⁴² show a high and very high degree of pollution), 49.6 percent are placed in less polluted areas (at least one factor shows a high pollution degree and/or the others are more or less affected by pollution) and the rest, 46 percent of the communes, are placed in nonpolluted areas (all environment factors show an insignificant degree of pollution).

The communes that are situated in polluted areas are affected mainly by industrial pollution factors (petrochemical, chemical and metallurgical factories, power stations, mines). The obvious disadvantage of placing these communes in the neighbourhood of some industrial areas would be counterbalanced by the possibility of decreasing pollution, not only through the closure or decreasing production capacity of some industrial agents and installing abatement pollution equipment in the efficient ones, but also through the help of forestland that plays the role of a barrier against pollutants.

Although most of the counties are characterized by a medium ecological situation, this does not represent a sign of significant environment degradation in the rural area. In Romania there is only local pollution and not all environment factors are equally affected in a specific area. A significant degree of pollution has been recorded in Ialomita, Prahova, Brasov, Cluj, Mures, Dolj, Gorj, Iasi, Suceava, Neamt, Salaj, Sibiu, and Timis counties (28 communes show a high and very high degree of water, air and soil pollution and 8 communes presented high pollution of all environment factors). According to the geographical location, most of the communes situated in the Carphatian, Subcarphatian and hill area are nonpolluted, while the majority of those placed within plains and depressions are more or less polluted. Among the last ones, the most polluted communes (high population density) are situated in Baragan and Transylvania plains (soil is mainly affected by quality limiting factors on a large area, like salt excess and erosion).

Communes within the Romanian rural space were classified in four categories according to soil quality. Out of the total number of communes, 14 percent have undamaged soils, 37 percent, moderately damaged soils, 44 percent, highly damaged soils, and 5 percent, extremely damaged soils. The first two categories (undamaged soils, moderately damaged soils) are found mainly in the mountainous and hill areas. Out of the total number of communes characterized by highly damaged soils, 2.5 percent have soils polluted by industrial waste (communes located in Bacau, Gorj, Neamt, Prahova counties); 8.5 percent have soils polluted by suspension particles (communes located in Arad, Buzau, Dolj, Galati, Giurgiu, Mehedinti, Olt, Teleorman, Vrancea, Braila counties); 7 percent have soils polluted by animal waste (communes located in: Brasov, Neamt, Prahova, Arges, Vaslui, Iasi, Timis, Satu-Mare, Bihor counties); 5 percent have soils polluted by salty water and oil (communes located in Arad, Bihor, Dambovita, Satu Mare, Timis, Vrancea counties); 9 percent have soils polluted by pesticides (communes located in Alba, Bihor, Calarasi, Dolj, Giurgiu, Gorj, Teleorman, Mehedinti, Valcea counties); the rest of the communes classified in this category have soils affected by other quality limiting factors (erosion, salt excess, acidification etc.) and are placed within 35 counties.

Out of the total number of communes characterized by extremely damaged soils, 7.5 percent have soils polluted by industrial waste and suspension particles (communes placed in Dolj, Olt counties); 53.5 percent have soils polluted by animal waste, salty water and oil and pesticides (Teleorman, Giurgiu, Dambovita, Ilfov counties); 39 percent have soils affected by other quality limiting factors (erosion, salt excess, acidification, compacting, deficiency of microelements, alkalinity, periodic water excess, etc.) and are placed in Mehedinti, Dolj, Olt, Giurgiu, Ilfov, Galati, and Arad counties.

Communes are classified in four categories subject to their water quality: communes placed on rivers of category I (36 percent from the total number of communes), category II (34 percent), category III (20 percent), polluted (3 percent) and communes placed within non-monitored areas (7 percent). The presence of micro-pollutants in water bodies can disturb many agricultural activities: directly, by affecting the cycle of certain plants and indirectly, by compromising the health quality of the agricultural products.

Communes are classified in three categories depending on their air quality. 16 percent of the total number of communes are placed in the neighbourhood of some main polluters and show a high frequency of exceeding the maximum allowable limit (MAL) for pollutant content in the atmosphere (polluted areas), 21 percent are affected by pollutants with a low frequency of exceeding the MAL (less polluted areas) and the rest of 63 percent are affected by pollutants below the MAL (non-polluted areas).

There has been a high air pollution degree in rural areas placed in the neighbourhood of chemical and metallurgical plants: heavy metals pollution (lead, zinc, copper, cadmium) in Maramures, Sibiu, Olt, and Alba counties; pollution with organic and inorganic substances in Prahova, Neamt, Arges, Arad, and Brasov counties; pollution with nitrogen and ammonium oxides in Ialomita, Valcea, Teleorman, Dolj, Galati, Mehedinti, Cluj, Bacau, Constanta counties. There has also been a high degree of air pollution in rural areas placed in the neighbourhood of power stations in Gorj, Giurgiu, Iasi, Dolj, Bacau counties.

THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIETY ON THE AGRICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

Institutional change within the environmental policy

Environmental policy in Romania is accomplished mainly by the Ministry of Water, Forests and Environmental Protection (MWFEP) which has elaborated the Strategy for Environmental Protection, Strategy for Water Management, Strategy for Sustainable Growth of Forests and Strategy of the National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control. These strategies have a dynamic character and should be actualized and improved according to new variables, the main one being EU accession.

Since 1990, the National Programme for Environmental Protection has been established in order to ensure the approximation process and the enforcement of harmonized legislation. The main objectives of an environmental protection strategy would be: improving institutional capacity and legislation in the field of environmental protection; strengthening the relationship between the state administration and non-governmental organizations, the mass-media, and the population; promoting environmental legislation; improving the educational system; integrative monitoring of all environmental factors; modernising pollution abatement measures, especially in hot-spots; improving waste management; sustainable agriculture; strengthening forest importance in protecting the environment, biodiversity conservation, natural reserves and parks conservation (Danube Delta, Black Sea, Retezat, etc.), etc.; developing economic and financial mechanisms for the promotion of environmental protection measures; strengthening scientific research and directing it towards specific environmental problems; accomplishing tasks induced by international conventions and programmes; institutional and legislative harmonization caused by the EU accession process. Romania has a Strategic Action Plan (adopted in December 1994) that deals with strategic objectives like decreasing agricultural and industrial pollution, water management, sectoral environmental policies, preserving wetlands, etc.

Romania is a member of several conventions and multilateral and bilateral agreements that represent the main criteria for ranking its environmental policies' objectives.

In Switzerland in 1993, all Central and Eastern European countries committed themselves to establish the National Environmental Action Programme (NEAP) through the common effort of the central and local governments of each country, the European Commission, international organizations, financial institutions and private investors. This should be the key document, the basis for developing environmental policies, and institutional reforms and investments. NEAP includes selected specific environmental projects. At the beginning about 1 200 projects were identified that would cover almost entirely the environmental problems in Romania. The value of the associated investments was calculated as equal to about US$15 billion that would exceed drastically the part of GDP directed towards the environment. Therefore, these projects have been selected and designed for the short and medium term. Among the major pollution factors, agriculture was assigned - according to the number of environmental project proposals within NEAP - to third place (after industry and population) on the short-term and the second place (after industry) on the medium term. In transforming the NEAP from plan into action, the government will initiate the following actions and policy measures: to enhance environmental regulation, and move more quickly towards EU standards, to reduce industrial pollution, to improve water waste and solid waste management, especially in large municipalities, to establish a National Environmental Fund, financed partly by pollution taxes and partly by the state, to implement the new privatization law which requires investors to provide either financial guarantee or a commitment to meet environmental standards, and to promote public awareness on environmental issues.

A National Biodiversity Strategy has been prepared, while a framework law on environmental protection consistent with EU directives and regulations in this area was adopted in 1995. Unfortunately, this framework law has not been upgraded with legislation dealing with specific aspects of environmental protection. In addition, enforcement of the legislation is rather poor because of, among other reasons, a lack of incentives, poorly defined property rights, old and wasteful production technologies, low public environmental awareness (although the participation of NGOs in the process of the development of environmental policy is increasing) as well as the lack of financing and human resources.

The promotion of sustainable development should be a major objective of an environmental policy that will require enhanced political support. Restructuring the institutional framework, aimed at implementing environmental policy both at the central and local level, should enable a structured dialogue between experts of the Ministry of Water, Forestry and Environmental Protection and other ministries, departments, agencies, and organizations that have responsibilities in the field of the environment to create a better coordination of the measures and actions assigned to the institutions involved. Improvement of institutional structures and management, both at the central and local level, should enable the achievement of an integrated approach toward environmental issues, to establish and implement environment management plans. Economic ministries have their own strategies for restructuring and modernization that include a special chapter dealing with the environmental effects of their actions.

Environmental policy related to agriculture

Legislative and institutional framework for a national agri-environmental policy

The cooperation and coordination between the Ministry of Water, Forest and Environmental Protection (MWFEP) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food (MAF) when dealing with environmental issues is important for both of them since a significant part of environmental problems is generated by activities that are under the MAF's jurisdiction, which, therefore, responsibilities in this field, too. For encouraging rational behaviour towards environmental protection, the MAF created a special environmental department for cooperation with the MWFEP and other ministries related in any way with environmental issues.

A large part of the acquis communautaire to be harmonized within agriculture is closely linked with the environment, mainly that part related to legislation in the sanitary-veterinary, plant health, animal nutrition (admissible standards for living animals - preparation, transport, checking and marketing of animal products - seeds and planting material, plants health, animal feeding, pesticides residues, ecological and lasting agriculture) and agricultural markets (quality standards and trade mark requirements). The effective administration of the agri-environmental acquis will require massive investment, combined with a redefinition of administrative responsibilities and targeted training courses. Very important efforts will be needed, including massive investment and the strengthening of administrative capacity for the enforcement of legislation. Full compliance with the acquis can only be expected in the long term and will necessitate increased levels of public expenditure.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Water, Forest and Environmental Protection has to harmonize in the first phase within the National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis Communautaire 58 directives and regulations in key areas, such as the radioactive contamination of foodstuffs, genetically modified organisms, agricultural waste management, air pollution, and the control of ozone depleting substances. Of short term relevance should be these rules which enhance the investment potential of Romania, such as land and forest protection concerning the agricultural and forest industries.

The agri-environmental approximation process should be an important part of the pre-accession strategy of Romania with a view to attaining EU standards. Therefore, it should be integrated in the transition process that our country is undergoing. The convergence of agri-environmental policies and the approximation of agri-environment legislation are essential components for the integration of Romania's domestic market into the European single market. The integrated approach of environmental issues is vital for the long-term sustainability of agricultural policies.

Laws and directives on the use of inputs

Due to the high prices, the consumption of agricultural inputs has decreased sharply during the last years. The total importation of inputs has witnessed a sharp decrease during the last few years. The seasonality of input imports, liberalization of the exchange rate regime, market the liberalization and other factors represented the main determinants in the decline of imports in recent years. This has led, on the whole, to decreased agricultural pollution.

Many private farmers neglect the importance of using certified seeds (Annex 1, Table 6). In order to spend less, they use low quality biologic material resulting in a loss of seed genetic potential and (also because of lack of pesticide treatment) low yields. For instance, more than 50 percent of maize and wheat seed for 1997 production was uncertified despite the Ministry of Agriculture and Food's partial subsidies on certified seed.

Starting in 1990, fertilizer consumption decreased steadily (Annex 1, Table 7). Whilst before 1990 it was 1.2-1.3 million tonnes annually, after this year it decreased to 330-540 thousand tonnes annually. For instance, 1997 fertilizer consumption represented 23 percent of that of the previous year. The average nutrient consumption has been less than 50 kg/ha. The optimal consumption would be 2.2 million tonnes annually. The main causes for decreasing fertilizer consumption are that the input market has not been adjusted to fit the current ownership structures in agriculture; industrial prices increase faster than agricultural produce prices; agricultural producers were decapitalized; market information is not available to all agricultural producers. The main results are lower yields and lower farmers' incomes.

Of the total consumption of pesticides, 65-70 percent is represented by the state sector and 30-35 percent, by the private sector. From 1990 to 1997, pesticide consumption decreased from 26 372 tonnes to 9 071 tonnes (therefore by 34 percent).

The main trends within the legislative framework are due to the ongoing process of harmonization with EU legislation. It is necessary, as a premise for integration into the Single Market, in the sanitary-veterinary, animal nutrition and plant health areas, to establish, apart from legal approximation, the institutional framework adequately structured and furnished with skilled staff capable of enforcing the legislation properly, relying on a uniform basis. In this respect, it is necessary to update the institutions for agricultural input testing (fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, seminal material) and the institutions that undertake market control.

The programme of legislative harmonization was partially achieved in the plant health area (control of seeds and planting material; plant protection and plant health quarantine; testing and registration of varieties of agricultural plants); veterinary science, the animal nutrition area, and in the field of testing and trade with genetically improved animals.

In the short term, it is necessary to reinforce the institutional and administrative capacity in the field of seed and plant material control. In order to achieve this goal, the ISCSMS (Information System of the Territorial Network for Certification and Control Authority) will be set up. At the same time, the procedure for issuing the official documents that approve the seeds and the planting material will be reorganized. In the area of legislative harmonization in the plant health field, all the necessary assistance will be granted to drafting eight regulations on seeds and planting material, plants and products from plants, as well as products for plant protection.

In the medium term, the establishment and strengthening of the administrative and institutional capacity in the plant health area, primarily regarding customs facilities, represent a major target. In this respect, technical assistance will be provided on the expert training and upgrading of the technical endowment of the Central Laboratory for Plant Health Quarantine, andof the territorial and customs control laboratories. Within these institutions it is intended to create a more proper infrastructure for plant health notification, monitoring and certification. Another measure for the fulfilment of this objective refers to the establishment of an integrated information system for territorial and customs plant quarantine.

Phytosanitary rules regarding seed imports have been partially harmonized; still to be harmonized are standards and testing procedures at the border. There is still inappropriate protection for intellectual property rights (weak rules, weak enforcement). A law project regarding plant variety protection following UPOV provisions was drafted and placed in the waiting list to be amended. The current legislative measures on inputs use are presented in Annex 2.

Laws and directives on the protection of natural resources in agriculture

The Romanian legislative framework on the protection of natural resources in agriculture include basically the following:

• A new law for environmental protection (Law 137/1995) passed in December 1995 is a framework law that is intended to be followed over the next few years with additional specific laws relating to protected areas and other environmental issues. The law contains important regulations on the prevention and control of the deterioration of the environmental quality status, the ecological reconstruction of the deteriorated areas; protection and conservation of natural habitats, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, of wild plant and animal species; the regime of the natural protected areas and of nature monuments; introduction of non-autochthonous species; trade with species of wild flora and fauna.
• Land Law 18/1991 amended by Law 167/1997. This establishes the legal framework for areas that are the object of a special measure of ecological protection as natural reserves, national parks and nature monuments. It also establishes the necessary measures to be taken for the identification of degraded land and for undergoing some work for ecological reconstruction and improvement.
• Governmental Decision no. 834/1991 concerning the establishment and assessment of some land owned by commercial societies with public capital, completed with the criteria established by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Public Affairs. It establishes that the land owned by the state, on which there are nature monuments, together with the neighbouring protection areas, are the object of a special protection organization.
• Forestry Code no. 26/1996. This coordinates the organization of administration, protection, and reconstruction of the forestry fund; protection of forest vegetation and forest ecosystems; organization of the exploitation of vegetal and animal biological resources of the forestry fund.
• Law no. 26/1976 concerning the economy of game species and hunting. It manages: the administration, protection, and conservation of the hunting fund; the organization and administration of the cynegetical fund; the species of interest for hunting and the conditions in which hunting may take place; the conditions necessary to obtain the hunting permit, and the rights and obligations to the hunters.
• Law no. 12/1977 concerning fishery. This manages the administration and exploitation of the fishery potential of natural waters and artificial reservoirs. Governmental Decision no. 971/1994 regarding penalizations for contravention of fishery norms.
• Decree no. 114/1975 concerning the improvement of the production of medicinal and aromatic plants.
• Governmental Decision no. 921/1995 regarding the stimulation of apiculture and bees protection. This manages the phitosanitary treatment for the protection of bees and other species of pollinating insects.
• Law no. 5/1982 concerning crops and forest protection and the pesticide regime. This manages the coordination of activities concerning pest and weed control in agriculture and forestry and measures to reduce their risk.
• Law no. 85/1995 for validation of Governmental Decision no. 4/1995 concerning the production, trade and use of phitosanitary products in the fight against pest and weeds in agriculture and forestry.
• The common Order issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Water, Forest and Environmental Protection concerning the approval of the Statute of the Interministry Commission for the Certification of Phitosanitary Products Use. This establishes the procedures for pesticide certification.

There are also some project laws, such as:

• A Project law for the protection of plants, forests, phitosanitary quarantine and phitosanitary products regime which was elaborated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food in 1998.
• A Project law for supporting less developed areas which was elaborated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food in 1998.
• A Mountain Project law which was elaborated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food in 1998.

The main institutions that share responsibilities for the enforcement of the above presented legislative measures are the Ministry of Water, Forest and Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the authorities of central and local public administration, the Romanian Academy through the Commission for Nature Monuments Protection, the Ministry of Public Affairs, the Romsilva Agency with its territorial branches, the National Sanitary-Veterinary Agency, the Romanian Water Agency with its territorial branches, the county inspectorates for plant protection and phitosanitary quarantine, the Ministry of Health, the Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

National measures on the promotion of ecological sound agricultural practices

Ecologically sound agricultural practices have represented a recent preoccupation in Romania. Research institutes have initiated several studies on ecological agriculture and some project proposals have been prepared as well.

The Ministry of Water, Forests and Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food have started to include this issue in their strategy during the last couple of years and mainly in the parts related to environmental and agricultural policies from the National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis Communautaire. Nevertheless, very little has been done in this field so far. Most activity in this field has been carried out by non-governmental organizations.

Farmers would gain by protecting the environment since it is in their own economic interest to preserve natural resources for the future. It is more profitable to preserve resources than to repair the damage. Environmental measures could be considered marketing instruments since they can create new markets for ecological agricultural products.

On the one hand, Romanian farmers are not yet in a position to care about ecological farming, although they practice it somehow due to different reasons - lack of funding to buy inputs. The products they sell on the peasant market are considered somewhat ecological and sold at better prices than products sold in some state or private stores. Nevertheless, farmers are not obliged to label their products and testify in any way that their products are ecological, meaning that they did not use any chemical fertilizers or pesticides or treated seeds etc. On the other hand, Romanian consumers have not been educated to appreciate ecological food in such a way as to pay more for it. So far, they spend more than half of their income on food and it appears that the situation will not change much in the future: they would not pay more for the extra work involved for the farmer to produce ecological food. Once the economic situation improves and consumers become aware of environmental problems, the demand for ecological products will increase and thus determine the supply.

Protecting the environment and natural resources implies extra work and higher costs for farmers that should be compensated accordingly. There should be economic motivations for practising environmentally friendly agriculture.

The importance of national environmental associations and organizations for environmental policy

The "Green face" of civil society organizations

Civil society is a relatively recent social phenomenon in Romania. Starting in 1990, the NGO sector in Romania had continuous growth. In March 1998, around 27 000 NGOs were identified, out of which 59 percent are associations and 32 percent foundations, the remaining 9 percent being unions or federations. The economic, social and cultural features of the different regions of the country influenced the development of the non-profit sector, both in terms of number and capacity. At the same time, 92 percent of the NGOs are placed in urban areas. A characteristic of the Romanian NGOs is the diversity of activities performed by one organization, since only 9 percent of the NGOs deal with only one type of activity.

The constitutional basis for establishing an NGO is article 37 of the Constitution, which stipulates the right to associate in chapter II, regarding "The fundamental rights and liberties". The feature of the constitutional norm regarding the statement concerning freedom of association, places the associative act on the highest legal level, meaning that, apart from a number of constraints imposed by the Constitution to the right of free association, no other restriction can be imposed through organic or ordinary laws completing the constitutional text. In Romania's legislation, the term NGO is not defined. However, the framework Law no. 21/1924 defines associations, foundations, unions or federations as being types of NGOs⁴³. Although Law no. 21/1924 is the framework law for NGOs, a number of associations have been established by Government Decisions (e.g. the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe that is operating in accordance with Government Decision No. 194/1992). Recently the Government Ordinance no. 36/1998 was passed according to which NGOs can be beneficiaries of sponsorship if their activities are cultural, scientific, environmental, etc. Government Ordinance no. 40/1998 provides that any organization that uses at least 80 percent of its income for realising its own objectives is not obliged to pay tax on profit.

Environmental NGOs were perceived recently as the most dynamic field in Romanian civil society. There are about 300 NGOs at the moment dealing mostly with environmental issues, unevenly distributed all over the country. Most of them are located in Transylvania (40 percent) and Bucharest (25 percent), and these are also the most competitive in terms of access to funds and information.

The main financial support of environmental NGOs has come since 1992 from the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe - Local Office Romania (REC Romania), while the Environmental Training Project (USAID funded) ensured training for 3 years to NGO members in general non-profit management and specific environmental issues.

According to the assessment performed in 1997, a typical Romanian environmental NGO is created and registered after 1990; it is located in a large city; has between 10 to 50 (active) members; is a local environmental citizens' organization or a group of environmental professionals; does not operate at the international level; has as its main areas of activity environmental education and/or environmental fieldwork; evaluates its effectiveness as "partially successful"; operates with a budget under US$500 per year; is based on foreign and international grants; cooperates with local authorities and does not cooperate with central authorities.

The most important problems faced by these organizations are insufficient funding; capacity building and technical assistance: specific environmental topics (e.g. local environmental action plans, sustainable development, impact assessment, domestic waste management, public participation in environmental decision-making); problems with official registration; imperfection of the country's legislative framework; limited access to communication means; tension with central governing bodies; poor management of the NGOs; lack of volunteer support and full time staff; and excessive taxation.

Together with local, regional, and international governments and agencies and institutions, NGOs have also often organized or participated effectively in cooperative projects in the interest of environmental protection. In the Danube Delta, the organization Pro Delta, the Danube Delta Institute, the Biosphere Reserve Authority and the World Wilde Fund for Nature, have together undertaken the restoration of wetland areas unsuccessfully drained for agriculture.

The importance of private and non-profit organizations

Legally, the partnership between the governmental and the non-profit sector is based on Government Decrees concerning the function of different ministries and on Law 60/1991 on public administration, modified through Law no. 24/1996. There did not exist a governmental policy for partnership with NGOs before the second half of 1997, when the Office for the Relationship with NGOs was established within the Government.

NGOs have a good relationship with local governments, closer than their relationship with central government that fails mainly due to bureaucracy. There is a relatively good but fragile relationship between NGOs and the private business sector and a much weaker one between NGOs and state enterprises. State enterprises are less interested in supporting NGOs because of non-stimulative conditions in the sponsorship law. The media is the sector to which the NGOs are most connected (almost 60 percent of NGOs evaluate their relationship with the media as good). Below average is the cooperation of NGOs with the banks. The weakest relations are those with political parties. The cooperation with foreign NGOs is almost satisfactory, while the relationship with international institutions is not fully developed due to difficulties in dealing with the large number of Romanian NGOs (over 27 000 registered at the moment). In the academic sector, because of the lack of resources (including financial) to achieve better quality in the educational process, universities and research institutes created their "own" NGOs that prepare proposals and raise fund for projects directly related with academic activity. Private think-tanks are quite few in number and are just emerging.

The World Bank's recommendation for improving the general framework of the non-profit sector is related to the following domains: modification of the legal framework of NGOs; increasing the partnership with public administration; contracting services to NGOs by public authorities, promoting collaboration in service providing and simplifying the related procedures; increasing the direct support of public authorities to the non-profit sector; improving access to public information by approving the Law of access to information; and encouraging volunteering.

Despite the poor ability of the state to support social welfare, there were a number of attempts to initiate certain governmental collaboration programmes with civil society organizations that grew out of the special concern of some particular public authorities (e.g. the ministry's competitive funding programmes; direct material support granted by local administrations - offices, equipment, land plots for buildings etc.). There are some projects funded by international institutions and programmes (EU Phare, USAID, World Bank) that have involved NGOs' participation (for instance, the Danube Delta Bio-Diversity Project, the Industrial Pollution Abatement Project, the Integrated Protected Areas and Conservation Management Project).

Environmental NGOs have started to influence more the quality of the Romanian environment, but at present, we cannot speak of their being so powerful as to actually influence environmental policy.

CONCLUSIONS

The economy and the state of the environment are in transition. Romania has started a promising macroeconomic adjustment programme to change its economy from a centrally planned one to a market economy. A Ministry of Environment was created in 1990 and a new environmental law was approved in December 1995.

All environmental components in Romania are seriously affected by pollution. Without an environmentally friendly development strategy, the costs of the restoration of the natural environment in the future will be prohibitively expensive. Current Romanian policy has started to adopt an approach towards sustainability based on the integration of the environment into sectoral policies and the reshaping of social and economic behaviour through the use of a broader range of instruments and by promoting the principle of shared responsibility. Moving from "pollution reduction" to "pollution management" requires in-depth research and policy cooperation. Pollution prevention measures are not easy to implement because they need special efforts and financing; nevertheless, they must be established. Wider cooperation is also necessary between all organizations and institutions interested in the development of an unpolluted environment. The process of increasing environmental awareness has started and has been linked to the EU pre-accession process and Romania's being part of world conventions on environmental issues. Romania's institutions and legislation in the agri-environmental field have been harmonized gradually according to the current international framework, and the process is to continue in the long-term. Coping with environmental problems in Romania will require mainly financial means, cooperation between all responsible governmental and non-governmental institutions, and a stronger public awareness on environmental issues.

REFERENCES

Alcamo, J. 1992. Coping with Crisis in Eastern Europe's Environment, Carnforth: Parthenon Publishing Group.

Environmental Training Project for Central and Eastern Europe. 1997, Romanian NGO Catalogue, Data basis, Bucharest.

European Commission, DG VI. 1998. Agricultural situation and prospects in the Central European countries, Romania, Working document, Brussels.

Florian, V., Rusu, M., Sarbu, A. & Toma, L. 1998. Rural Space Diagnosis - Economic, Social and Ecological Criteria, Volumes I, II. Research report - PHARE Programme on Rural Development, I.E.A., Bucharest.

Gavrilescu, D. 1997. Agriculture restructuring and rural transition in Romania, Coresi LTD Publishing House, Bucharest.

Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Institute for Agricultural Economics. 1998. The Trend of the Romanian Agrifood Sector, Report, Bucharest.

Ministry of Water, Forest and Environmental Protection. 1995. National Environmental Action Programme, Report, Bucharest.

Ministry of Water, Forests and Environmental Protection. 1996. The National Strategy and Action Plan for the Biological Diversity Conservation and Sustainable Use of its Components in Romania, Report, Bucharest.

National Commission of Statistics. 1998, Romanian Statistical Yearbook 1997, National Commission of Statistics Publishing House, Bucharest.

Ognean, T., Vadineanu, A. 1992. Quality of the environment in Romania, In Coping with Crisis in Eastern Europe's Environment, Carnforth: Parthenon Publishing Group.

Popescu, M. 1997. Agriculture and Pollution, Unpublished dissertation, Romanian University, Faculty of Geography, Bucharest.

Romanian Government, Dept. for European Integration. 1998. The National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis Communautaire, Report, Bucharest.

Russell, J. 1991. Environmental issues in Eastern Europe: Setting an agenda, Energy and environmental programme, Royal Institute of International Affairs, London.

Toma, L. 1996. DEA Models for Measuring Environmental Performance: The Case of Agricultural Pollution in Romania, M.A.I.Ch., Greece.

Toma, L., Xepapadeas, A. 1997. The Romanian Agriculture in an Ecological Paradigm, Rural Local Economies, Bucharest: AGRIS Publishing House.

Toma, L., Xepapadeas, A. 1998. Ecological Perspectives of the Romanian Agriculture, Romanian Economic Review, No. 1, Bucharest: Romanian Academy Publishing House.

Toma, L. 1998. Inputs Regulation and Trade in Romania, World Bank, Trade Support Programme, Report, Washington D.C.

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World Bank, Resident Mission in Romania 1998, NGO Stock-Taking in Romania, Report, Bucharest.

ANNEX 1

Table 1: Agricultural area by use (1996)

Data source: National Commission of Statistics (1998), Romanian Statistical Yearbook 1997. Bucharest: National Commission of Statistics Publishing House.

Table 2: Distribution of Agricultural Land by Suitability Classes (1996)

Data source: National Commission of Statistics (1998), Romanian Statistical Yearbook 1997. Bucharest: National Commission of Statistics Publishing House.

Table 3: Selected Romanian river water quality standards (mg/l) in 1992

Data source: Toma, L. (1996), DEA Models for Measuring Environmental Performance: The Case of Agricultural Pollution in Romania. M.A.I.Ch., Greece.

Table 4: Evolution of the surface water quality (% of the reference length)

Data source: National Commission of Statistics (1998), Romanian Statistical Yearbook 1997. Bucharest: National Commission of Statistics Publishing House.

Table 5: Protected areas

Data source: National Commission of Statistics (1998), Romanian Statistical Yearbook 1997. Bucharest: National Commission of Statistics Publishing House.

Table 6: Certified seed production and consumption for main crops (thousand tonnes)

Data source: Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Institute for Agricultural Economics, (1998), The Trend of the Romanian Agrifood Sector. Report, Bucharest.

Table 7: Fertilizer consumption (thousand tonnes)

Data source: Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Institute for Agricultural Economics, (1998), The Trend of the Romanian Agrifood Sector. Report, Bucharest.

ANNEX 2

Current legislative framework on seed use:

• Law no. 75/1995 amended according to Law 131/1997 - regarding the production, control, trade and use of seeds and plant material and certification of seed varieties;
• Order of the Minister of Agriculture and Food no. 79/1995 regarding authorization for commercial companies, individuals and institutions to produce, process and trade seed and plant material;
• Order of the Minister of Agriculture and Food no. 95/1995 regarding the validation of the institutions authorized to ascertain and apply sanctions according to Law 75/1995 amended by Law 131/1997 - regarding the production, control, trade and use of seeds and plant material and certification of seed varieties;
• Order of the Minister of Agriculture and Food no. 65/1997 regarding the agreement on technical norms for production, certification and trade with seeds and plant material;
• Order of the Minister of Agriculture and Food no. 89/1997 regarding the establishment of quality and phytosanitary control for seed and plant material's imports and exports;
• Law no 64/1991 regarding invention patents on new seed varieties (that states that the breeder is the only person authorized to reproduce, multiply, trade and give permission (through legal contract) to anybody else to produce and trade that variety).

Current legislative framework for mechanical services.

• Law 62/1997 for approving the Government Ordinance 6/1997 regarding the establishment of a 550 billion lei fund for mechanical services financing. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food was the administrator of the fund and granted special credits for some main crops (wheat, barley, maize, sugarbeet, sunflower, soybean, potatoes, vegetables, vine and fruit trees).
• Current legislative framework on pesticides use.
• Ministries Council Ordinance 352/1952 regarding phitosanitary quarantine - it is also on the short-term list for harmonization with EU legislation;
• Law 9/1973 regarding environmental protection;
• Law 3/1978 on population health safeguard;
• Law 5/1982 regarding plant protection, forests and pesticide regime - it is to be harmonized in accordance with EU legislation (sent for approval to the Commission since March 1998). It will reorganize the plant protection system and create a new framework for trading and the certification of pesticides;
• Law 2/1987 regarding forest preservation, protection and development, rational exploitation and ecological balance maintenance;
• Law 85/1995 regarding the production, trade and use of phitosanitary products in agriculture and forestry;
• Government Ordinance 4/1995 regarding the manufacture, trade and use of plant protection products for disease, pests and weed control in agriculture and Forestry.

Current legislative framework on feed use.

• Law 8/1971 regarding the organization, management and use of pastures, seed and planting material plots, commune stations for natural insemination (to be amended by the Parliament in short-term; draft law);
• Law 2/1982 regarding the organization, production and rational use of feed resources - amended by Order 50/1982.
• Input vouchers scheme.
• Government Ordinance 6/1997 regarding the initiation of the input vouchers scheme valuing some 1,300 billion lei to partially support agricultural producers for purchasing agricultural inputs during the 1997 autumn campaign;
• Government Ordinance 9/1998 regarding the continuation of this vouchers scheme during 1998 (2,800 billion lei).

39 For instance, decreasing fertilizer and pesticides use after 1990 due to high prices led to a decrease in soil pollution. During the economic reform process, farmers' situation may improve and agricultural inputs' consumption will increase. The impact on the environment will depend on environmental legislation that is to be more or less harmonized with the EU legislation, development of ecological products markets, etc., meaning a complex of factors that would be more difficult to forecast.

40 The problems of either non-availability of data or confidentiality problems are still common (and this is not very surprising taking into consideration that, before 1990, all the important environmental data, if measured, were kept secret). Due to the fact that before 1990 only a few case studies were done in very polluted areas and not for a long period of time in the same place, time-series data about pollution in agricultural areas are not available. To have the means (namely, time-series data) to quantify the changes (in better or worse) which might occur in the environmental performance of different agricultural areas would add relevant information.

41 Parts per millimeter.

42 Water, soil, air and forest.

43 The above mentioned law stipulates that "associations and foundations having no lucrative or patrimonial aim, created and organized by individuals" will obtain legal status, and that associations and foundations are legal entities based on private law with no lucrative or patrimonial aim. The law has distinct sections that cover definitions and legal treatment applied for associations, foundations and federations. The fact that the law does not define the term "non-governmental" is due to the fact that it was not used at the time the legal act was drawn up.