Goicea
Location: Goicea Commune, Dolj County
Total area: 4.8 hectares
Project start: Spring 2021
Planted area: 4 hectares
Objective: Establishment of a land improvement belt to rehabilitate abandoned land.
Species planted: Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), Pennsylvania ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia), Turkestan elm (Ulmus pumila), field maple (Acer campestre), and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia).
Canopy closure: Autumn 2028 (estimated).
Current project status: Ongoing.
Partners: BRD Asigurări, Decathlon, DLOG, Gopet, Henkel, ING Tech, Telekom, AEVR, and Kambi.
Why establish land improvement belts?
Goicea Commune is located in the southern part of Dolj County, an area severely affected by desertification and soil degradation. The county also has a low forest cover, with only 10.8% of its land area covered by forests at the end of 2019.
The 4.8 hectare plot provided by the local authorities was previously used for sand and gravel extraction. It was abandoned and officially classified as unproductive land in 2014.
Together with Goicea Town Hall, the Adopt a Tree programme began restoring the site through afforestation in spring 2021. With the support of local community members and project partners, 20,000 forest saplings were planted across 3 hectares to improve soil quality and local environmental conditions. The planting campaign continued in autumn, when a further 4,900 forest saplings were planted on an additional hectare.
Latest work carried out: June 2026. Mechanised maintenance work between rows and partial manual weeding around the saplings planted as replacement plantings in spring 2026.
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