Romania

Since Harghita County is rich in wood source, the main aim of this policy is to encourage and promote the use of wood in constructions first of all at the level of public buildings but to enlarge it on business and household level. This successful implementation project from Harghita County we are going to expand this approach on national level in Romania. This policy approach should be taken into account at in other regions of Romania as well. 52% of Harghita County’s turnover is given by forest management and wood processing. 35.6 % of the County’s surface is covered by forest, 47% of these forests are owned by local forest owner associations, the rest being owned by private owners and local public authorities, churches and state. The most important lessons from this best practice is the consciousness and endurance of the local stakeholders. The policy aims to identify how forests can provide new jobs and business opportunities in order to keep rural communities alive. Beside the fact of strengthening the idea of traditional use of wood, there is a need to create new, competitive wooden products with high added value. In order to protect the local wood processing based industry the policy of County Council does not allow the establishment of international investors who would like to exploit the county’s natural resources without adding high value added activity on local level. Taking into account that at this moment there isn’t any big company, investor in the field of silviculture and forestry establish in the county this is already a positive impact of the policy.

TEGA operates in urban public services area and initiated large campaign for wood residue collection in cities/villages in Covasna County. TEGA uses wood chips as fuel in its heating plant and provide heating for its workshops, offices. The capacity of the heat boiler is 200 kWt.
The idea was to collect wood residues from green areas. Collected wood residues are chopped and crushed and can be delivered for energy production. Types of collected waste wood: i.e. forest sanitation, gardening cuttings and cleaning operations. The types of biomass used are wood residues (barks, chips, branches).

Energy problems are so acute, that it is no longer possible to satisfy the local’s constantly growing needs. This growth of energy demand must be increasingly satisfied by diversified energy sources, including sustainable and renewable resources. Biomass is a renewable energy option that can be practical and safe, can strengthen the circular economy, and can help ease the urgent strain on our planet’s ecosystem.

TEGA company promotes and invests in acceleration of the entire biomass chain. The company members participate in collection, chipping activities and produce more than 500 m3 woodchips. They use this biomass material and valorize at the company. Moreover, training sessions on bioenergy issues, active involvement in local projects such as at waste collection actions TEGA company was actively involved.

The European Forestry and Environmental Skills Council (EFESC) is a membership organization of industry representatives and organisations which manage and monitor the skills and competence certification processes on national level.

Chainsaws are potentially dangerous, so it is important to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to use it. First checking if your training was set up to meet the European Chainsaw Standards, then next level is European Chainsaw Certificates that ensure skills and competences through detailed description of the required qualification for each level. ECC enhance operator mobility and employability throughout Europe, independent of language and country. ECC guarantee traceability of the licensed certificate holder through registration at the National Agency and in the EFESC database.

European minimum standards (ECS) have been developed for different competence levels of chainsaw use.Currently standards are available for the following competence levels:
ECS 1 : chainsaw maintenance and crosscutting
ECS (Tension) : wood under tension (simulated situations)
ECS 2 : basic tree felling
ECS 3 : advanced tree felling
ECS 4 : windblown and damaged trees
ECS (Height): chainsaw use at height (currently being developed)
Based on each of the above ECS competence levels, a formal assessment procedure has been agreed upon. By taking an assessment in an accredited assessment centre, chainsaw users can acquire a European Chainsaw Certificate. Only EFESC accredited assessment centres can issue European Chainsaw Certificates. From 2012 to 31/12/2018, 12.532 certificates were issued at European level.