Editorial: Protecting Urban Trees – A Turning Point for Romania’s Climate Action

by Rares Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir

Recently, Romania has witnessed an important policy turning point with the proposal to amend the Forestry Code to introduce criminal penalties for those who cut, destroy or degrade trees in urban green areas. While at first glance this may look like a strict legal measure focused on enforcement, its relevance goes far beyond sanctioning vandalism considering that it represents a critical step toward recognizing urban trees and green spaces as essential climate infrastructure, core elements of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) and central instruments within Climate Action Plans (CAPs).

Urban trees are not always and only decorative elements. They provide a wide range ecosystem services (e.g. regulate temperature, reduce air pollution, store carbon, mitigate flood risks, enhancing mental health and supporting biodiversity within densely populated areas) in a climate context where Romania's cities increasingly face heatwaves, poor air quality and extreme rainfall. Thus, the loss of urban vegetation is no longer an aesthetic issue but a climate security issue.

However, the current legal framework treats urban trees differently from forest ecosystems, leaving city green spaces vulnerable to degradation, illegal cutting and speculative development. The proposed legal modification signals a paradigm shift: recognizing urban green assets as strategic climate resources requiring strong protection. This aligns Romania with European trends, where urban NBS are being integrated into adaptation and mitigation policies under the EU Climate Law, Mission for Adaptation, and Biodiversity Strategy 2030.
From a CAP perspective, this initiative provides an enabling environment for municipalities. CAPs often include ambitious targets on expanding urban green areas, planting trees, or creating climate corridors, but implementation is frequently threatened by weak enforcement and competing land-use priorities. By introducing a penal framework, municipal capacity to protect existing NBS investments and ensuring continuity of long-term adaptation strategies will be strengthen. Without legal protection, newly planted trees and restored green areas can disappear in months, undermining years of planning and public investment.

For the Support Center for Climate Action (CSAC), this policy evolution highlights an increasing alignment between legislative action and practical climate planning. CSAC's mission of supporting local authorities in developing and implementing CAPs can be thus strongly reinforced by national legal tools that safeguard NBS. More importantly, it opens a window for CSAC to support municipalities in:

• translating legal provisions into local regulations and enforcement mechanisms
• integrating NBS protection into CAP objectives and monitoring frameworks
• raising public awareness on the value of urban green infrastructure
• developing participatory approaches that reduce conflict and increase stewardship.

This initiative also brings an important cultural dimension: recognizing that protecting trees is not only the responsibility of authorities, but a collective social duty. Urban resilience depends on collaboration, education, and shared ownership, elements that are central to CSAC's approach.

Strengthening legal protection for urban trees is not only punitive but also preventive, strategic, and forward-looking and provides the conditions to place Romania on a more credible pathway toward climate resilience by safeguarding the natural systems that support adaptation and mitigation in our cities.

As climate pressures intensify, Romania needs consistent policies, empowered municipalities and informed communities. Protecting urban trees through a robust legal framework is a necessary and timely step, and CSAC remains committed to supporting institutions in operationalizing this shift within CAPs and NBS implementation nationwide.