TY - CHAP

T1 - Wood-pasture management in southern Transylvania (Romania)

T2 - From communal to where?

AU - Sutcliffe, Laura

AU - Öllerer, Kinga

AU - Roellig, Marlene

AU - Hartel, Tibor

PY - 2014/1/1

Y1 - 2014/1/1

N2 - Wood-pastures developed in many areas of Europe as a shared community resource under the governance of local institutions (for example Vera, 2000; Chételat et al., 2013; see also Bieling and Konold, this volume). While such communal governance systems have largely disappeared in northern and western Europe, they remain widespread in Romania today as a means of grassland and forest regulation (Mantescu, 2009; Sutcliffe et al., 2013). This chapter looks at wood-pasture governance in the region of Târnava Mare in southern Transylvania (central Romania), an area rich in wood-pastures that have been important productive elements of lowintensity farming for centuries, and continue to be actively farmed. It describes their development and structure, stable historical communal management, the destructive impact of the communist era and challenges faced today as Romania is entering a new era of agricultural development. Most villages in the Târnava Mare region have at least one wood-pasture, and they are important not only as a means of sustainable agroforestry, supporting both production and high levels of biodiversity, but also are tightly linked to the cultural history of the region as a community resource. Nevertheless, increasing incidences of felling, burning, changes in management practices and abandonment evidence the fact that the relevance of wood-pastures for local communities is waning and the communal management is failing. These problems cannot be sufficiently addressed by a classical conservation ‘reserve’ approach - there are simply too many wood-pastures and the conservation infrastructure in Romania is too weak. Instead, we discuss some opportunities to strengthen communal institutions to support community use and build on the fact that wood-pastures in Transylvania are still active parts of the farming landscape.

AB - Wood-pastures developed in many areas of Europe as a shared community resource under the governance of local institutions (for example Vera, 2000; Chételat et al., 2013; see also Bieling and Konold, this volume). While such communal governance systems have largely disappeared in northern and western Europe, they remain widespread in Romania today as a means of grassland and forest regulation (Mantescu, 2009; Sutcliffe et al., 2013). This chapter looks at wood-pasture governance in the region of Târnava Mare in southern Transylvania (central Romania), an area rich in wood-pastures that have been important productive elements of lowintensity farming for centuries, and continue to be actively farmed. It describes their development and structure, stable historical communal management, the destructive impact of the communist era and challenges faced today as Romania is entering a new era of agricultural development. Most villages in the Târnava Mare region have at least one wood-pasture, and they are important not only as a means of sustainable agroforestry, supporting both production and high levels of biodiversity, but also are tightly linked to the cultural history of the region as a community resource. Nevertheless, increasing incidences of felling, burning, changes in management practices and abandonment evidence the fact that the relevance of wood-pastures for local communities is waning and the communal management is failing. These problems cannot be sufficiently addressed by a classical conservation ‘reserve’ approach - there are simply too many wood-pastures and the conservation infrastructure in Romania is too weak. Instead, we discuss some opportunities to strengthen communal institutions to support community use and build on the fact that wood-pastures in Transylvania are still active parts of the farming landscape.

KW - Ecosystems Research

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84905649770&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.4324/9780203797082

DO - 10.4324/9780203797082

M3 - Chapter

AN - SCOPUS:84905649770

SN - 9780415869898

SP - 219

EP - 234

BT - European Wood-pastures in Transition

A2 - Hartel, Tibor

A2 - Plieninger, Tobias

PB - Taylor and Francis Inc.

ER -