Forest crime in Romania: policing, criminalisation and ecojustice

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

In this roundtable, we aim to showcase recent research and novel theoretical and methodological approaches to forest crime in Romania in an attempt to open new spaces for green criminology explorations. Although the country has been for many years in the headlines for rampant illegal logging, the violence against journalists and forest defenders and the frequent infringement of EU environmental regulations (Iordăchescu 2020), an examination of the harms and ecojustice issues associated with forest crime is long overdue. Green criminology research has yet to bridge this gap by critically examining aspects of policing, victimhood, and the recombinant vulnerabilities associated with illicit forest extraction. Illegal logging plagued the country as post-socialist forest restitution unfolded (Dorondel 2016), driven by forest dependency and poverty alike (Bouriaud 2005). As the country reintegrated into a global market, the phenomenon contributed to developing patron-client relationships (Vasile 2019), leading to various forms of labour precarisation (Herța 2016) and high-level corruption (Rise Project 2016). Recent research inspired by political ecology approaches has linked the current development of prohibitive policies to a global turn towards criminalisation in conservation (Iordăchescu & Vasile 2023). The proliferation of multiple forms of violence associated with this criminalisation often deepens rural vulnerabilities and marginalisation (Vasile & Iordăchescu 2022) and hints at institutional corruption and economic dependence (Pokorná & Matejova 2024). Even if the phenomenon of illegal logging has often been portrayed as Mafia-like and organised crime, these discourses remained stereotypical and rarely fit the realities of organised crime on the ground (Neag 2022). As we explore in this session, fostering cross-pollination between green criminology, political ecology, and environmental anthropology will enhance our understanding of environmental harms, victimhood and the complex entanglements between policing forest crime and addressing deeper forms of forest dependency.

Subtopic

• Topic 2: Types of Offending / Environmental/Green Criminology

Chairs

• George Iordachescu, Universitatea Lucian Blaga din Sibiu; Wageningen University

• Alexandra Neag, Anglia Ruskin University

Discussants

• Laura Bouriaud, Universitatea Ștefan cel Mare din Suceava

• Adéla Pokorná, Masaryk University