Mountain Partnership

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Romania

National Committee

The existing National Agency for Mountain Areas (working within the Ministry of Agriculture) set up the National Committee for the International Year of Mountains. The President of the National Committee was the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forests and its focal point was Professor Radu Rey of the National Mountain Council. The Committee coordinated activities for IYM through the Organization Commission for the International Year of Mountains.

The National Committee was composed of the following members:

Government

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forests
Minister of Water and Protection of the Environment
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Minister of Public Administration
Minister of Culture and Cults
Minister of Tourism
Minister of Youth and Sports
Minister in charge of the coordination of the government's general secretariat
Prefects and presidents of relevant county councils
The Mayor of the 'observatory' city for IYM - Vatra Dornei

NGO

Director of the National Agency of Mountain Areas
National Association for Mountain Rural Development - ROMONTANA
Director of Training and Innovation Centre for Development in the Carpathians

Research

President of the Academy of Agricultural and Forest Sciences

Preparatory Activities for the International Year of Mountains

Preparations began in 2000, with the participation of the Romanian delegation in the World Mountain Forum in Paris and Chambéry. A preparatory International Conference 'Mountain Policies in Europe' was held in Bucharest in October 2001 and attended by representatives of 16 European countries.

Activities and Achievements during the International Year of Mountains

International

An international seminar was held in Switzerland, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Romania on 'Sustainable Development in Mountain Areas, Partnerships and Vocational Training', Vatra Dornei, CEFIDEC (26-28 June)

National

Romania held a wide variety of local and national events – seminars, fairs and festivals – in mountain localities throughout the International Year of Mountains. These included:

Promotional activities for IYM:

Research

A National Scientific Symposium at the Mountain Institute Cristian-Sibiu, was organised in collaboration with the Mountain Commission within the Academy of Agricultural and Forest Sciences.

New legislation:

A Mountain Law was approved and become official, as of 2003.

Publications

A volume dedicated to the International Year of Mountains was produced. This contains a synthesis of papers (in Romanian and English) presented at the main national events during 2002.

Beyond the International Year of Mountains

As a result of the impetus of International Year of Mountains, the National Mountain Forum became permanent and adopted the name: 'National Mountain Council'. It is composed of 193 elected members and comprises representatives of the Government, NGOs, the academic and research communities and the media.

A government structure 'The Inter-Ministerial Committee for Mountain Areas' was also created within the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forests as a result of the International Year of Mountains. In addition to this central committee, 28 Mountain County Committees were permanently established and these include representatives of the main county institutions working in mountain issues.

In March 2003, a Programme for Sustainable Development of Mountain Areas, with 11 sub-programmes for pre-accession to the EU for the period 2003-2006, was formulated and is awaiting approval.

The Romanian State now pays an extra bonus (around 30%) per litre of milk produced in mountain areas.

At a non-governmental level, many initiatives are now being developed through the National Association for Mountain Rural Development - Romontana - which is a part of the SEMNET network (an initiative of Euromontana supported by the Swiss Government).

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