rojiste-dolj-countyRojiște
Location: Rojiște Commune, Dolj County
Project start: Spring 2022
Planted area: 5.6 hectares
Objective: Establishment of a land improvement belt for the rehabilitation of desertified land.
Species planted: Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia), and honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos).
Canopy closure: Autumn 2028 (estimated)
Current project status: Ongoing. Replacement planting and maintenance work.
Partners: AirWick Romania, Xperience Media Lab, CORA, Electronic Waste Management, GOPET, ISAF, Kambi, Profi, Schneider Electric, Société Générale Global Solution Centre, TeraPlast, Promenada Mall, Nepi Rockcastle, GRF+.
Why establish land improvement belts?
Rojiște Commune is located in the southern part of Dolj County, an area severely affected by desertification.
The plot of land provided by Rojiște Town Hall was classified as degraded land following a pedological study carried out by OSPA Dolj. The study showed that the land has low agricultural productivity and recommended its restoration through afforestation.
To stabilise the sandy soil, restore it by increasing its humus content and improve the area’s arid microclimate, planting forest vegetation is considered the most effective solution for slowing the advance of desertification.
Rojiște is the only planting site in our programme so far that has officially been declared a disaster affected area.
We carried out the planting in April 2022 and applied organic treatments in May. Mechanical and manual maintenance followed in June, and the saplings initially showed an estimated survival rate of 90%. By the end of June, however, their condition had deteriorated. Laboratory analysis of two saplings confirmed infection with filamentous nematodes and Fusarium fungi. Together with the summer drought, these factors reduced the survival rate to approximately 20%. In autumn 2022, the saplings that had failed to establish were replaced.
Latest work carried out: Mechanical inter row cultivation and partial manual weeding, performed only around the saplings planted as replacement plantings during the current season, June 2026.
