Global IssuesROMANIA: Volunteers Promote Green Living
A network of volunteers from Romania has managed to plant more than 100,000 trees and collect 70 tonnes of trash in just one year, filling in gaps in the working of state institutions, and showing that there is potential for civic engagement among Romanian youth.
Mai Mult Verde (More Green) is a small NGO that was set up in the spring of 2008 with the goal of creating a permanent network of volunteers who would help design and implement projects for cleaning up nature and providing education on the environment.
Over the past year, more than 8,000 people from all over the country have got involved in various projects of the group, showing that many young Romanians are ready to volunteer to do environmental work if the proper framework is made available.
The initial goal of Mai Mult Verde was to plant 10,000 trees and collect 20 tonnes of trash in a year. Their final results surpassed the most optimistic predictions.
'Judging by our interactions with the volunteers, it is clear that the idea that Romanians are passive and indifferent to the public good is an old prejudice with no basis in current reality,' says Miruna Cugler, communications manager for the group.
The volunteers have been integrated in an online community, which allows them not only to take part in implementation of projects, but to have a say in their creation.
Dragos Bucurenci, president of Mai Mult Verde, says one of the main problems of NGOs in Romania is that they only include volunteers at the implementation stage. This approach restricts creative inputs from the grassroots, and prevents a deeper involvement of volunteers in tackling the social problems they care about.
The goal of the group is to form a network of 10,000 volunteers in five years, of which a quarter would stay constantly involved in its actions.
The focus of most Mai Mult Verde projects so far has been cleaning up the environment. Groups of volunteers have picked up trash left behind by people having barbeques in forests. Others have cleaned up garbage from rivers. Alongside trash collection, the group is promoting recycling.
At present, about 10 percent of waste is recycled in Romania, compared to 60 percent in Germany.
Companies involved in processing recycled materials say business is not profitable. 'Unfortunately, Romanians recycle very little, it is not yet a part of their culture,' says Octavian Burlacu, director of the waste management company Supercom in Bucharest. 'It is difficult to keep our activities running because while the costs with equipment and personnel are high, we do not get enough material to process.'
Mai Mult Verde runs ad campaigns asking people to recycle, and is calling for Romanians to write petitions to authorities asking for more facilities for separated collection to be made available across the country.
The group also plants trees. In collaboration with Romsilva, the national forest administration, volunteers from Mai Mult Verde have planted more than 100,000 trees in areas affected by deforestation around the country. Many of the zones targeted by the group have been repeatedly devastated by floods as a result of deforestation.
Romsilva provides land and saplings. 'We are extremely glad to receive this un-hoped for help with planting from the volunteers,' says Theodor Chiriac, Romsilva manager for the Bucharest region. 'The work of the volunteers makes it possible for us to reach our reforestation targets.'
'Whenever we get involved in planting trees, we sign an agreement with Romsilva that the plantations will be cared for and that the use of the land stays the same for the next 50 years,' Miruna Cugler from Mai Mult Verde told IPS. 'We also have agreements with the local municipalities where we plant, through which they commit to ensure the security of the plantations for the duration of their political mandates, of up to five years.'
In addition to planting saplings in the areas affected by floods across the country, the group has planted 30,000 saplings over 12.5 hectares of land around the Bucharest bypass. The trees are meant to clean the air in what is one of the most polluted areas of Romania.
Much of the work of the group is to promote a cleaner and greener lifestyle among Romanians. One of their most successful initiatives is the opening of the first bike rental centre in the Romanian capital.
According to data provided by the group, people have moved for more than 4,600 hours on bicycles rented from Cicloteque since the centre opened in August 2008. Through the use of bikes in place of cars, the emission of 49 tonnes of carbon dioxide has been prevented, the group says.
The success of the group seems to derive from a combination of a new interest in the environment among Romanians, and some smart campaigning from the ten permanent employees and four office volunteers.
Funding for the group comes exclusively from private companies. Last year, the NGO had a budget of one million euros. But director Dragos Bucurenci says that this year's financing is barely at a third of the level of money received last year, because several companies have been hit by the financial crisis.
But the group's campaign still has high visibility through involvement of musicians, TV stars, politicians and journalists. The network of volunteers is still growing, and the group has just trained 100 young people to lead communities.
(*This story is part of a series of features on sustainable development by IPS - Inter Press Service, and IFEJ - the International Federation of Environmental Journalists.)
© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service