Bio-diversity

The monastic communities, which are concentrated in the northern and central part of the Vanatori Neamt Nature Park, are home to about 1,100 monks and nuns. Thus, the area represents the second largest Christian monastic concentration in Europe, after that of Mt. Athos, Greece. Centuries of monastic land ownership and the long-standing continuous presence of large monastic communities have shaped the landscape in a particular way and today the entire area is a unique expression of monastic settlements within a forested area. Even today, each monastic community still indulges in traditional activities that have no significant negative impact on the environment. Vanatori Neamt Nature Park is a Natura 2000 site, but also an important tourist area, especially the monastic zone. Based on the above-mentioned, the project The involvement of monastic communities in biodiversity conservation within Bison Land area , proposed by Ecosilvex 2000 Piatra Neamt Foundation, intend to obtain certain environment benefits through this involvement. The monastic communities represent a good example for local communities, for pilgrims and for tourists. For this reason the impact area of this project will be bigger than the monastic area. The level of nature protection and communities participation in VNNP will be upgraded due to this project.

Romania