Cutting the Forest Budget - to Fund More Roads? What the September 2 Budget Rectification Looked Like

Over 17 environmental organizations are demanding a review of the Government's budget decision, under which the environmental sector loses around 374 million lei. Meanwhile, other areas, such as regional development and roads, receive additional budget support. And this in the year of the harshest drought for all of Europe!

What happened?

On September 2, 2026, the Government signed a rectification of the state budget that cuts spending on externally funded projects by 959.8 million lei. Among the most affected lines:

• The Forest Development Program of the Republic of Moldova, which loses 230.1 million lei, and
• The Climate Resilience Consolidation Project, which loses another 144.5 million lei.
• Together - 374.6 million lei withdrawn exactly from the forestry and climate adaptation sector.

In the same rectification, other budget lines receive additional funding:

1. The National Fund for Regional and Local Development gets 1,000 million lei,
2. the "Moldova Drumuri III" project - 310 million,
3. the Road Fund - another 300 million.

On road infrastructure alone, the increase is 610 million lei - almost double the amount cut from forests and climate.

Why does the 230-million figure withdrawn from the environmental sector matter?

At the average reported cost of afforestation - about 316 million lei allocated for 16,000-22,000 ha over the past two years - the amount withdrawn from the Forest Development Program could have financed another 11,650-16,000 hectares of new forest and protective forest belts. These are exactly the interventions that retain water in the soil, reduce erosion and protect the Dniester basin, already under drought pressure, from sedimentation and continued degradation of water resources.

Seventeen environmental non-governmental organizations - including BIOTICA, the Climate Platform of Moldova, EcoTiras, Pădurea Noastră, EcoVisio, "Lumina Renașterii Omului" - LuRenOm and ARBORETUM.LIVE - have signed a position statement addressed to Prime Minister Vasile Tofan, demanding greater transparency for decisions of this scale for the sector and a review of the decision taken.

Roads are not the problem

The signatory organizations do not dispute the need for functional roads. They dispute the logic behind the decision: that in the most deforested country in Europe, in a year of drought unprecedented for all of Europe and growing pressure on water resources, among the first budget lines cut are exactly the two explicitly dedicated to forests and climate resilience - while other chapters, including road infrastructure, are massively supplemented.

Moreover, the decision comes amid the active implementation of the National Program for Forest Expansion and Rehabilitation for 2023-2032 (Government Decision no. 55 of February 17, 2023) - a program publicly launched under the personal patronage of President Maia Sandu and with the direct involvement of environmental civil society. Cutting its funding right now, when the program is just gaining the necessary momentum, risks slowing it down at the very stage when results are starting to take shape.

The signatory organizations' demands are specific:

• full transparency from the Ministry of Finance regarding the exact criteria for selecting precisely these two lines for reduction;
• a review of the decision, in the context of commitments already announced for 2026 regarding the restoration of over 13,000 ha in the Dniester basin;
• distinct budget protection for environmental investments from other priorities, so that road infrastructure is funded from its own instruments, not from cuts to environmental funds;
• and a consultation mechanism with civil society before future rectifications affecting budget lines dedicated to climate, forests, water and biodiversity.

The note doesn't just ask for the money back. It asks that, when a budget rectification cuts exactly the few instruments dedicated to forests and climate, the reason be explained publicly, figure by figure - and if the decision can be reviewed, that review should be read not as a sign of weakness, but as proof that the government corrects its course when the facts demand it.

The government has previously shown it is capable of hearing society's arguments and flexible in adjusting its own intentions. We hope that this time, too, we will be heard.

The letter remains open for endorsement

Any civil society organization, civic platform, public figure or member of academia who wishes to publicly support this position may still endorse the position statement. Just open the doc and leave a comment with your Name or Organization Name. 

We urge the press to support this initiative, critically important for the development of the country's green infrastructure. Any sharing is welcome.