Illegal logging is tearing apart the Carpathian Mountains, the largest area of virgin forest in Europe – Russia excepted. Faced with mechanical saws, a couple, Christoph and Barbara Promberger, have been standing for almost twenty years, a German and an Austrian who have taken up residence in Romania in the 90s. From the start of their adventure, they took on board their daughters, Cora and Enya. A family with an incredible journey, to discover in an 8-minute film, “A Wild Education”, directed by Ellen Windemuth.
Fascinated by the forest since their childhood, Christoph and Barbara Promberger, both wolf specialists, met in Romania in the 1990s as part of their studies. They never left. Far from mass tourism and the stress of the city, the couple immediately fell in love with these endless expanses. Some of Europe’s rarest large mammals reign supreme here, including wolves, lynx and brown bears.
On site, Christoph very quickly launched the Carpathian Large Carnivore Project (CLCP), an initiative to protect large carnivores in the Carpathians. And after years of effort to develop this project of international scope, raise their two daughters, Cora and Enya, and create an equestrian ecotourism center in Transylvania, the couple needed, at a time marked by massive deforestation in Romania, to tackle an even larger project.
They then gave themselves the mission of saving this place which welcomed them. In order to put an end to illegal logging and contribute to the long-term conservation of the Carpathian forests and the protection of biodiversity, Christoph and Barbara created in 2009 with other conservationists, the Fondation Conservation Carpathia (FCC). This NGO, which directly employs more than a hundred people, contributes to the preservation and restoration of the region’s natural ecosystem through the acquisition, protection and management of forests. Despite pressure and physical threats from local opponents, the biologists and their two daughters, now in their twenties, continue their fight with the sole objective of creating the largest national park in Europe.
To see the film, you will be redirected to the Waterbear platform. Viewing is free, all you have to do is create an account, which is also free.
Header photo: Anton Poznyak
- Themes :
- Biodiversity
- Carpathians
- Environment
- Family
- Films
- Forest
2023-08-08 09:56:46
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