Image Source: ARCEN Association, facebook.com/AsociatiaARCEN/
The Văcărești Nature Park’s history has been shaped by the current Romanian government’s lack of a structured urban planning policy. Before the fall of the Communist Regime in Romania, a piece of land was selected by the government to become a body of water; it was dubbed the Văcărești Lake. The government’s original plan was to use this area to help control river levels and to eventually connect the city to the Danube river. The project was abandoned due to the fall of the Communist government in 1989. As the public scrambled to reclaim their land, there was minimal encroachment upon the Văcărești Lake. However, more recently many hoped to use this former Communist property for extravagant casinos or golf courses. Despite government inaction, all these plans fell through due to the 2008 financial recession. As a result, the land lay dormant and undisturbed for nearly three decades and nature slowly reclaimed the area which began to attract increasing amounts of wildlife.
Văcărești Park in Bucharest (Starred), (Google, n.d.)
In 2013, a number of environmental activists came together and submitted a report to the Romanian Academy which catalogued the emerging biodiversity and wildlife in the former Văcărești Lake. With this data, the Romanian Academy recommended to the government that this wetland should become officially protected. Despite the clear documentation from the report and the Romanian Academy’s recommendation, the government’s lack of an urban planning authority has severely limited their ability to take charge of the vacant wetland. Ongoing land disputes regarding former Communist land has only exacerbated this and similar issues within the city. Because of this and a lack of funds by the municipal government and ministry of the environment, the wetlands remained in a legislative grey area. In the years following the study the area came to the attention of more environmental activists and the national government eventually declared that Văcărești was to become a protected natural park. It could no longer be targeted by public interests for development and that there were no other valid claims of ownership besides the government’s. This solidified the park’s position and ensured that it would not be removed by land developers, but there are still a number of problems. One issue is that while areas such as the park are protected at the national level, protection is not clearly defined at the local level in the city;the municipal government does not provide for the park in any meaningful way.
As of today, the municipal government points to the fact that the park is officially under the oversight of The Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests. The day-to-day operations of the park, initially disregarded by the municipal and national governments, are overseen by an NGO called the Văcărești Natural Park Association (VNPA). This association is made up of many of the activists who originally provided documentation of the park’s biodiversity to the Romanian Academy. The VNPA is in charge of typical park functions, such as cleaning and protecting the park, as well as providing education opportunities for local schools. The gridlock that characterized the government after the fall of the Communist Regime still exists today and the Văcărești Nature Park has still yet to see many important physical developments. Activists, such as those in the VNPA, desire that the park be outfitted with more observation towers and pathways for the public. But, as stated, city planning over the last three decades has proven itself to be a complicated matter. The main goal of the activists today is to gain more direct governmental support for the park, which could take the form of land development assistance, as well as local police protection so that no one can take advantage of the park.
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