Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Management in Europe & CIS

Preserving tradition and promoting growth in Maramures

Romania's remote Maramures region is one of the country's great untapped resources, and UNDP is working with the national forestry services to protect the area's remarkable biodiversity and promote sustainable development.

The Maramures Mountains Natural Park, which opened late last year, encompasses nearly 150,000 hectares, from the Viseu river in the south and extending to the Ukrainian border in the north.

The park, financed by the Global Environment Fund through UNDP along with Romania's National Public Forestry Corporation, aims to strengthen the national system for protected natural areas management by demonstrating effective biodiversity conservation in Maramures and by promoting rural development and ecotourism.

Maramures is home to a venerable woodworking tradition, and pristinely preserved 17th century wooden churches dot the landscape. The mountainous region also boasts glacial lakes as well as rare flora and diverse fauna, including large mammals such as bears, wolves, wild cats and deer.

Opportunities for bear watching and a narrow-gauge railway with steam locomotives in the Vaser Valley are among the region's attractions, and the park is developing new ecotourism initiatives this season to draw more visitors to the area.

The park administration is also committed to assisting local communities continue traditional folkways such as wood carving in an environmentally sustainable fashion. Community representatives have been brought into the park development process, and UNDP and the park administration have recently launched a new project to assist local schools.

Poor rural schools bordering the park will receive energy-efficient heating solutions, and educational activities to raise awareness about the park and ecological concerns are also being planned.

 

For more information, please contact:

Daniela Albu
UNDP Romania
+4021 201 7809
daniela.albu@undp.org

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