The gross volume of harvested timber in 2024 stood at 18.64 million cubic metres, 531,000 cubic metres less than in 2023, according to National Institute of Statistics (INS) data.

By tree species, conifers accounted for 41.8 pct of the total harvested timber volume, beech - 30.8 pct, various hardwood species (acacia, sycamore maple, ash, walnut, etc.) - 10.5 pct, oak - 10.5 pct, and various softwood species (linden, willow, poplar, etc.) - 6.4 pct.

Timber harvested in 2024 was primarily allocated as follows: 95.3 pct to legal entities certified in forestry activities and 4.7 pct to individuals who can harvest timber from the forests they own.

'According to Law No. 46/2008 - the Forest Code, with subsequent modifications and supplements, timber harvesting is carried out by legal entities certified by the central public authority responsible for forestry; as an exception, both legal and natural persons can harvest, without certification, a maximum volume of 20 cubic metres per year from the forests they own,' the INS mentioned.

Last year, 12.235 million cubic metres of timber were harvested from public-owned forests, representing 65.6 pct of the total harvested timber volume, with the remainder harvested from privately-owned forests (29.1 pct) and from forest vegetation located on lands outside the forest fund (5.3 pct).

Compared to the previous year, in 2024, the volume of timber harvested from state-owned public forests increased by 2.9 pct, while the volume of timber harvested from forest vegetation situated on lands outside the forest fund decreased by 11.3 pct, from privately-owned forests dropped by 8.2 pct, and from forests owned by administrative-territorial units went down 6.6 pct.

Main timber products accounted for 74.3 pct of the total harvested timber volume, secondary timber products - for 21.7 pct, and forest-tending residues - for 4 pct.

Compared to 2023, the volume of timber harvested from forest-tending residues decreased by 20.8 pct, from secondary products by 7.5 pct, and from main products by 0.1 pct.

At the development region level, 28.4 pct of the total timber volume was harvested from the North-East region, 25.3 pct from the Centre region, 11.9 pct from the West region, 11.6 pct from the North-West region, 9.1 pct from the South-Muntenia region, 7 pct from the South-West Oltenia region, 6.4 pct from the South-East region, and 0.3 pct from the Bucharest-Ilfov region.

Conifers represented the majority of the harvested timber in the North-East (62.6 pct) and Centre (54.4 pct) regions, oak in the Bucharest-Ilfov region (49.6 pct), and beech in the West (48.2 pct), North-West (37.7 pct), South-West Oltenia (36.3 pct), South-East (33.1 pct), and South-Muntenia (31.1 pct) regions.

By counties, in 2024, the largest amount of timber was harvested in Suceava County (13.4 pct), followed by Harghita (7.8 pct), Neamt (6.7 pct), and Mures (6.0 pct). while the smallest amounts were harvested in Giurgiu and Calarasi counties (0.6 pct), Olt (0.5 pct), Ialomita and Braila (0.4 pct), Galati, Ilfov, and Teleorman (0.3 pct), Constanta (0.1 pct), Tulcea, and Bucharest (below 0.1 pct).

Tree harvesting actions for timber utilization and ensuring favorable conditions for forest development were carried out through cutting operations. In 2024, conservation cuts were performed on 65.3 pct of the total area subject to cutting, regeneration cuts in dense forests on 33.1 pct, regeneration cuts in groves on 1.4 pct, and substitution cuts (restoration of low-productivity and degraded forests) on 0.2 pct. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Nicoleta Gherasi, EN - writing by: Rodica State)