Responsible access
to nature.
We support a clear legal framework for access on forest roads: protected nature, enforced rules and respect for everyone who uses them.
Who supports us
NGO, association, sports club or company — institutional support gives the petition weight.
We have spectacular mountains and one of the most extensive forest road networks in Europe.
We're missing just one thing: clear rules.
Forest roads are used every day, legally, by locals, forestry staff, rescuers, researchers and tourists. Current legislation, however, doesn't distinguish between responsible use and abuse, and without clear criteria, everyone loses: nature, communities and people acting in good faith.
We do not support unlimited access. We propose a predictable framework, built together with forest fund administrators, in which abuse is firmly sanctioned and responsible access has a clear, legal place.
Law 46/2008 — the Forestry Code, art. 54.
This is the law whose clarification we are proposing. In its current form, it prohibits public motorized access on forestland, with exceptions so vague that nobody knows what is legal. The last amendment added a single word, "organized", without defining it.
"Public access to the national forest fund by motor vehicles, motorcycles, ATVs or mopeds is prohibited, except for organized sports, recreational and tourism activities, which may be carried out on forest roads or on specially marked and approved trails, only with the consent of the administrator or the owner."
"Organized" — undefined
The law doesn't say what makes an activity "organized." The same outing on the same road can be legal or finable, depending on who is interpreting it.
Discretionary consent, no registry
There is no transparent procedure and no public registry of open roads. In practice, "the administrator's consent" is out of reach for an ordinary person.
Bans transit, not destruction
It stops responsible people at the barrier, while illegal logging continues behind it. It penalizes access, not abuse of the forest.
We propose clarifying art. 54: precise definitions, transparently regulated access, and sanctions enforced for abuse.
See the proposed modelOrganized motorsport shows that regulation works.
The National Off-Road Championship lines up FRAS-licensed 4x4 crews, both Romanian and international, stage after stage — drivers and co-drivers who compete internationally — making it one of the most prestigious off-road competitions in Europe, while Sibiu hosts Red Bull Romaniacs, the toughest hard enduro in the world.
These organized events show that motorized activities and environmental protection can coexist when the rules are clear. Outside competitions, however, there is no equivalent training framework — the gap we propose to close.
The year Romania became the first and only country in Europe to officially recognize offroad as a sport
Champions with no training ground.
We have drivers and co-drivers competing at the highest level, in legally organized competitions with all the necessary approvals. Outside competitions, however, current legislation offers no legal training framework.
No legal training space
Elite athletes compete under approval and monitoring, but outside competitions they have nowhere to train legally. The result: ad-hoc training, with no rules and no oversight.
Designated training trails
Clear locations, with strict rules and monitoring, away from protected areas — established together with forest administrators. Order in nature's interest, not against it.
Volunteers with four-wheel drive.
Outdoor communities don't just use forest roads — they help care for them and keep them safe. They plant trees, clean up litter, respond to vegetation fires and take part in search operations at the request of authorities: where fire trucks can't climb, 4x4 vehicles get through.
Reforestation and clean-ups
They volunteer for sapling plantings and haul out litter left behind by others, using their own vehicles and their own money.
Support for ISU
They are called on to respond with 4x4s to vegetation fires: carrying crews, water and equipment where fire trucks cannot reach.
Search and rescue
People lost or injured in the mountains: 4x4 communities reach rough terrain alongside Salvamont and the authorities.
Humanitarian aid
They deliver supplies, medicine and aid to isolated villages in winter, on roads impassable for ordinary vehicles.
4x4 communities are a real resource.
A plane carrying a medical team crashed at 1,600 meters, near Petreasa (Horea commune). Authorities were unable to locate the wreckage, and the helicopter could not fly due to fog.
After several hours of searching, the wreckage was found by locals together with the area's off-road community, who knew the forest roads in detail. The lesson: on rough terrain, 4x4 communities are a real resource for response efforts, alongside the authorities.
these same volunteers are fined by the gendarmerie when found on forest roads or in logging areas, not in protected zones. This is exactly the legal ambiguity this petition asks to correct.
What we oppose. What we support.
The greatest damage doesn't come from responsible access, but from illegal activities and chaotic behavior. We condemn them firmly and call for exactly their opposite.
What illegality leaves behind.
It's not responsible access that destroys Romania's forests. Illegal logging, poaching and litter do.
Illegal logging
Independent estimates put illegal logging at around 20 million cubic meters of timber every year.
Destroyed habitat
Romania holds roughly two-thirds of the EU's remaining old-growth forests, and is losing them piece by piece.
No consequences
Forestry staff enforcing the law are exposed to assault, and sanctions are rarely enforced. Abuse often goes unpunished.
To environmental organizations: we're on the same side.
We share the same priorities and the same goal: living forests, protected by enforced rules. The outdoor community means thousands of eyes on forest roads — monitored access means abuse gets seen and reported.
Why is change needed?
Current legislation is unclear
Ambiguous definitions leave room for interpretation, and people don't know where they're allowed to go and where they aren't.
Responsible people are punished alongside irresponsible ones
Blanket bans affect those who respect nature too, instead of focusing resources on actual abuses.
There's no clear distinction between legal access and abuse
Without transparent criteria, responsible access and environmental destruction end up treated the same.
Elite athletes have no legal training ground
Competitions are organized legally, but outside them, licensed drivers and co-drivers are left without authorized training spaces — even though Romania has recognized offroad as a sport since 2010.
The principles that guide us
Respect for nature
Nature comes first. Every decision starts from protecting ecosystems.
Leave no trace
Leave No Trace. We take back everything we bring, and leave places as we found them.
Responsible access
Access where it's appropriate, with clear rules and individual responsibility.
Education before restrictions
Informed people protect nature. Education changes behavior — not just prohibition.
Myth vs. reality
"We want unlimited access, everywhere."
We support regulated access, only where it's appropriate.
"Offroading destroys all forests."
The greatest damage comes from illegal activities, not from responsible access.
"Regulation means more destruction."
Since 2010, the rules have made environmental protection a real priority.
A simple model where everyone wins.
Three clear rules, applicable starting tomorrow, that align sport, local communities and nature protection.
Licensed athletes only
Access for training purposes is allowed exclusively to athletes affiliated with an off-road club, on production of a license, on approved and monitored trails.
Transit with a fee paid to the town hall
Anyone who wants to pass through a forest road pays a simple fee at the town hall. Direct revenue for local authorities, and access that is registered and traceable.
Harsh sanctions for illegal access
Protected areas remain closed. Illegal access into protected areas, off the approved trails, is harshly penalized, every time.
What we propose
A balanced framework that protects nature and offers clarity to everyone, from families and photographers to elite athletes.
Clear legal definition of accessible forest roads
Transparent criteria and a public registry: you know exactly where you're allowed to go and under what conditions.
Protected areas stay protected
Sensitive natural areas and reserves are not opened up — their protection remains untouchable.
Strict sanctions for illegal offroading
Real penalties for those who damage nature, enforced wherever abuse occurs.
Approved trails for sport and competition
Training and competition only for licensed athletes affiliated with a sports club, on approved and monitored routes, or public transit in exchange for a local fee.
Cooperation between authorities and off-road communities
Town halls collect the transit fee, and decisions are made together with sports federations and forest administrators.
Education programs
Campaigns and guides that build a culture of respect for nature.
How your signature reaches the law.
The online petition is not a symbolic gesture: it's the first legal step in a three-stage plan designed to bring the amendment of art. 54 of the Forestry Code to Parliament's table.
The online petition
We gather voices — individuals, NGOs, clubs, companies — and file the petition officially with Parliament and the relevant ministries, under GO 27/2002. Institutions are required to register it and respond.
Parliamentary dialogue
With tens of thousands of signatures as a mandate, we ask members of Parliament to take up the proposed amendment to art. 54 and support it in the relevant committees.
Citizens' legislative initiative
If Parliament doesn't act, we activate Law 189/1999: 100,000 handwritten signatures, with national ID numbers, from at least a quarter of the counties. The community being built now, county by county, makes this step possible.
Your online signature is the foundation for every other stage — and if you check the box in the form, we'll also invite you to the official paper lists.
Latest stories
Ce spune, de fapt, articolul 54 din Codul Silvic
Legea care reglementează accesul pe drumurile forestiere este atât de vagă încât nimeni nu poate spune cu certitudine ce e permis. De aici pornește tot — și tot aici propunem soluția.
Read the article →What you need to know
It means motorized access only on suitable forest and mountain roads, under clear conditions, with respect for nature and other users. We do not support free access, everywhere.
Romania can have better rules. It starts with your signature.
Every signature officially reaches Parliament and the relevant ministries, together with the proposed amendment to art. 54 of the Forestry Code.