The man who died for trees

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 2 April 2020

⏱️ 26 minutes

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Summary

Romania's forests are the Amazon of Europe - with large wilderness areas under constant pressure from loggers. For years, corrupt authorities turned a blind eye to illegal felling. But now a series of killings in the woods has intensified demands across the continent to end the destruction. Six rangers - who defend forests from illegal cutting – have been killed in as many years. Two died in the space of just a few weeks late last year. The latest victim, Liviu Pop, father of three young girls, was shot as he confronted men he thought were stealing timber. But the men weren’t arrested. They say the ranger shot himself. And in the remote region of Maramures, where many people are involved in logging, that version is widely believed. Locals are afraid to talk about what happened. Is the lucrative logging business protected by powerful interests who turn a blind eye to murder? And are rangers sometimes complicit in the rape of the forest? For Assignment, Tim Whewell tries to find out exactly how a young man employed to protect nature met his death. And he asks how Romania can save its wilderness when more than half the trees cut down are felled illegally?

Reporter: Tim Whewell Editor: Bridget Harney

(Image: Forest guards stand next to wooden crosses bearing the names of their killed colleagues, including Liviu Pop. Credit: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	In the forests of Romania it's quiet enough to hear a fur cone fall.
0:10.0	It's quite enough to hear a twig snap. But when a gun goes off and a man's killed, no one can find
0:19.3	out what's happened. What happens in the forest stays in the forest because nobody sees you.
0:25.0	It's dark, it's away from civilization and away from the eyes of the law.
0:30.0	They really like the idea that maybe the forester shot himself.
0:34.0	Come on, he went to the forest to commit suicide with three other guys that were robbing him.
0:39.0	It's completely bogus for me, so I don't buy this.
0:44.0	This is a point that you jealed
0:47.0	this is assignment. This is a signment on the BBC World Service. I'm Tim Huell in the High Forest of
0:59.4	Maramuresh, Northern Romania, where, as the song says, the fur trees swing, watching over the landscape.
1:07.0	Romania has the most extensive primeval forests in Europe, home to bears, wolves and lynx. But many are being cut down to make money.
1:19.2	This is the story of the man who died for trees.
1:26.0	So, stopping the little Adrian, so let's just describe where we are.
1:31.0	You can hear the, there's actually a stream that's coming down the middle of this mountain track
1:36.8	So we are at an intersection of forest road team
1:40.9	Noodle narrow valley. Yeah, here we are in a small opening.
1:44.4	Reed's here.
1:46.0	We're also moss.
1:47.0	It's full of moss, yes.
1:49.0	Thick, bright green moss. And actually, because this is so sheltered, actually bits of ice.
1:53.0	Yes, yes. Here, they found Livu Pop's body.
1:58.0	It's still icy.
	...

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