The Romania Afforestation of Degraded Agricultural Land Project is supported by the World Bank's Prototype Carbon Fund (PCF). Under the Project, the National Forest Administration of Romania (NFA) is afforesting over 6,033 ha of State-owned degraded agricultural lowlands in 7 counties in the southwest and southeast of the Romanian Plain. In the southwest, the Project is stabilizing soils through the planting of semi-naturalized species. In the southeast, ecological reconstruction of 10 islets making up a natural park and Ramsar site in the Lower Danube (Small Island of Braila) are occurring through the planting of native species. Through excessive working and lack of investment in irrigation infrastructure and maintenance, the Project lands have become degraded and subject to erosion and are now uneconomic for crop production and are either used mainly for pasture or abandoned. The PCF has signed a long-term contract providing for the delivery of nearly 900,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) by the NFA to the PCF at an agreed price of US$ 3.60 per tCO2e.
