Zentiva Romania supported the planting of a new consignment of 20,000 seedlings over five hectares in the Făgăraș Mountains. The company started the reforestation action in 2019. The planting took place this year in the Dobrogeanu area, an area included in a large intervention and rehabilitation activity by Foundation Conservation Carpathia.
“This year we are celebrating 60 years of activity in Romania. We understand resilience over time, the need for continuity, for resources, the prospect of long-term thinking and planning,” said Simona Cocoș, General Manager ZENTIVA Romania and Republic of Moldova. “Zentiva’s involvement in protecting the environment confirms our commitment to Romania and to life, which we must take care of today with an eye to the future, in a responsible and sustainable way.”
The company promises to maintain its commitment to the environment by rehabilitating areas affected by massive non-compliant logging. This year we succeeded in planting 47,000 trees in vulnerable areas in the Făgăraș Mountains. With the support of Zentiva, Conservation Carpathia has so far planted species important for biodiversity – beech, fir, spruce, fir, elm and mountain ash.
More than just planting seedlings, it is very important that the newly planted saplings are monitored and cared for a minimum of five years to ensure proper development. What does this involve? After the actual planting, every autumn, the grass around the seedlings planted in previous seasons is cut back, so that they do not risk being smothered in winter under the weight of snow. In subsequent years, the replanted areas are returned to, the success of the activity is monitored by sampling areas, and where seedlings have dried out, they are topped up with new seedlings. This cycle is repeated, on average, five years post-planting, until the small forest is strong enough to stand on its own.
“If we are to think mathematically, a new forest, from the seed stage until it is strong enough to stand on its own needs work for a minimum of seven years,” said Mihai Zotta, Conservation Director of Foundation Conservation Carpathia. “Two-to-three years for growing saplings and another 4-5 years of care in the mountains, post planting. We don’t plant just any trees, because we don’t have an economic interest, the aim is to create a new natural forest, more resistant to the impact of climate change and pest attacks. In 10 years of ecological reconstruction the Conservation Carpathia Foundation has planted beech, spruce, fir, alder, elm, mountain ash and yew. The support of our partners allows us to fulfil our mission to see previous ecological disasters repaired in the Făgăraș mountains.”
The collaboration between Zentiva and Conservation Carpathia is consistent with the company’s environmental concerns and its PlanetZ for a Healthier Planet programme, with the company aiming to become carbon neutral by 2030. Afforestation projects are part of the actions implemented to achieve this goal, as the company is constantly developing projects to reduce waste generation, to massively reduce water consumption in the manufacturing process, to use 100% green energy in both of the group’s factories in Bucharest and others.
