Two cities and four communes – Băile Olănești, Horezu, Bărbătești, Stoenești, Costești, and Vaideeni – could have developed under the UNESCO umbrella within the Oltenia de sub Munte project. However, the candidacy for the UNESCO aspirant geopark was withdrawn after the Horezu Local Council unanimously voted to reject the efforts to establish a geopark in the locality.
The UNESCO aspirant geopark Oltenia de sub Munte, a project of the Kogayon Association, an environmental protection NGO, entered the international evaluation phase last week. This milestone was reached after three years of work during which the concept was created, UNESCO evaluators were brought to the site, and, not without emotions, the passing grade was received. By December at the latest, the Oltenia de sub Munte project was supposed to officially receive confirmation that it had become a UNESCO geopark.
This accreditation was meant to certify the geological and cultural importance of the site, and two cities and four communes - Băile Olănești, Stoenești, Bărbătești, Costești, Horezu, and Vaideeni - would have benefited from all the material and immaterial advantages, especially promotion and international recognition.
For Romania, it would have been an extraordinary success and a prestigious victory, as stated by Cristi Pitulice, program coordinator at the Kogayon Association, in a Facebook post. There are only 213 UNESCO geoparks in the world, in 48 countries, including two in Romania: the UNESCO International Geopark Țara Hațegului and the UNESCO International Geopark Ținutul Buzăului.
However, everything came to a halt on Tuesday, July 9, when the Kogayon Association organized a meeting with geopark partners, attended by representatives of the Board of Directors and local authorities. Delegates from the local authorities included representatives from the Horezu, Costești, and Vaideeni town halls.
The Horezu Town Hall delegates presented a decision of the Local Council from March 28, stating that "the efforts made by the Kogayon Association to establish a geopark in the Horezu UAT territory are rejected."
The Kogayon Association was not invited to that meeting, did not receive any requests for clarifications regarding the geopark project, and was not informed about this decision until the meeting on July 9, as specified by the organization in a press release.
As a result, the candidacy for the UNESCO aspirant Geopark Oltenia de sub Munte was withdrawn during the evaluation mission itself.
"They did not officially inform us beforehand and shoved the paper under our noses right when the evaluation mission was ongoing (...) Any one of us, from the team in the picture, could pack our bags tomorrow and leave for any other geopark in the world to join their team.
We have no doubt that we will not be welcomed. Surely, if our people don't want us, others will.
We could leave with our experience, our vision, our energy, and our families. But we will not. We remain to fight to the end," writes Cristi Pitulice in his post.
On the other hand, representatives of the National Salt Company Salrom, which owns the Bistrița limestone quarry in the area, requested clarification of the legal framework regarding geoparks at the meeting on July 9 to avoid confusion regarding restrictions that may affect their main economic activities.
Cristi Pitulice explained that "Salorm requested clarifications regarding a Government Decision that indeed generates ambiguity." "However, there are already two UNESCO geoparks in Romania that are operational. There are no restrictions whatsoever. But they asked for clarifications, they did not refuse anything. Clarifications are in progress for Salrom, and we support this effort to clarify the legal framework," he detailed.
"The issue is that Horezu messed things up very badly. They simply refused, there was no motivation. For now, we deduce that the Horezu UAT is being taken personally by a group of gentlemen," added Pitulice, who also posted the Horezu Local Council decision.
According to the association, in Romanian legislation, the geopark is mentioned in the category of internationally important protected natural areas, which has, over time, led to confusion with the sustainable development model represented by UNESCO international geoparks, a fact confirmed by UNESCO and national authorities.
In recent years, the Kogayon Association has submitted proposals to resolve legislative ambiguities, which have been integrated into the draft emergency ordinance on the regime of protected natural areas. The text is published for debate on the Ministry of Environment's website.
T.D.