ADMINISTRATION

The Commission of the Romanian Academy of Science is the legally designated authority for administering Retezat. The Regional Office of the Ministry for Water, Forests and Environmental Protection (MWFEP) also has responsibilities for its care. The Forestry Department has control over all forests in Romania, including those within National Parks. The Local Communities have control over grazing on the sub-alpine and alpine pastures within Retezat.

In practice there is still no proper administration and there are no particular activities related to the Park's existence (Vadineanu, 1991b, p.106). A long awaited Nature Conservation Act is crucial for resolving this unsatisfactory situation.

At Retezat all the work of patrolling the footpaths, removing refuse, monitoring visitor behaviour, speaking with the shepherds and lobbying for institutional change has been done by the student conservation group UNESCO ProNatura which is based at the University of Bucharest.(Go to their WEB site).

More on Protected Area Administration

More on Nature Conservation Legislation

The Retezat Commission

In February 1996 a "Retezat Commission" of fifteen to twenty people was established to provide a forum for collaboration between Central Government, Forestry Units, the Town Halls, Regional Authorities, County Councils, the Academy of Science and ProNatura.

The purpose of the Commission is to;

reach agreement on the zoning and intensity of grazing reach agreement on penalties for breaking regulations lobby to create a management structure

It is pointed out by ProNatura that "in Romania, each time a problem appears, a Commission is established, but that does not mean that the problem which generates the Commission's creation is solved." By August 1997 it appeared that the Retezat Commission had not yet met.

In the words of the IUCN, "It appears that Retezat Biosphere Reserve is an example of an idea still in the promotional phase, with the different interested organisations beginning to come together, but with no appropriate institutional or legal structure underpinning it" (IUCN, 1995a, p. 53).

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