A natural park's buffer zone allows clear-cutting. A national park's forbids it.

All 29, on the map

Each point is a national or natural park, coloured by the act that approved its internal zoning — the document that legally sets where cutting is allowed and where it isn't.

What the law says, zone by zone

Internal zoning of national and natural parks is set by Emergency Ordinance (OUG) 57/2007, Art. 22, in its current form — as amended by Law 49/2011, which removed one exception from the 2007 text and changed the approval chain for those that remain.

Four zones, four rules. The core fact: the buffer zone isn't one rule but two — one for national parks, one for natural parks, and clear-cutting is one difference between them.

Strict protection zone

Covers both scientific reserves and untouched wilderness. All human activity is forbidden except research, ecological education and ecotourism, within the management plan's limits. The law provides no logging exception here.

Full protection zone

Outside scientific-reserve perimeters: as a rule, all resource extraction is forbidden; so is construction, except for park administration, research, national security, or disaster prevention. The law also permits, specifically, ecological reconstruction, removing the effects of a disaster, and — separately — evacuating wood to control an already-active pest outbreak, each only with the administration's clearance, based on the scientific council's decision, and with the central authority's approval. The 2007 habitat-maintenance exception (former para. 6, item e) was repealed in 2011 and no longer exists in the law.

Sustainable human-development zone

The most permissive zone: clear-cuts up to 1 hectare in spruce and small plots in Euro-American poplar, hunting (natural parks only), traditional farming, fishing, and, since 2011, even construction/investment, with the administration's clearance and approved urban plans.

Source: OUG 57/2007, Art. 22, consolidated with the amendments from Law 49/2011 — legislatie.just.ro. The 2007 original is no longer in force on these paragraphs.

All 29, one by one

For every park: a photo, trails, and practical visiting information — then, below, who administers it and which legal act approved its most recent zoning, or exactly what is missing.

Search for a park

All National Natural

Any legal status plan approved act not identified act repealed validity possibly lapsed

29 of 29 parks

Apuseni natural park plan approved One of Romania's most complex karst landscapes: sinkholes (Lumea Pierdută), collapsed dolines (Cetățile Ponorului), sinkholes and emblematic caves — Scărișoara, with the largest known underground glacier in the area, Urșilor, and Ciur Izbuc. Won the EDEN 2009 award for excellence in tourism. Balta Mică a Brăilei natural park plan approved One of the last stretches of free-flowing Danube in Europe, a Ramsar site since 2001, with over 200 bird species — roughly 70% of the Danube Delta's avian diversity, on an area 25 times smaller. The visitor centre, unique in Romania, is built on a floating pontoon. Bucegi natural park plan approved A high plateau (800–2,505 m) with the Babele and Sphinx rock formations, Ialomița Cave, and Urlătoarea waterfall. Access from Sinaia, Bușteni, Azuga, Predeal, Bran or Râșnov makes the plateau one of Romania's most visited mountain areas. Buila–Vânturărița national park plan approved Romania's smallest national park by area, but with a spectacular karst landscape — limestone ridges, towers, spires — topped by Vânturărița Mare peak (1,885 m). Bistrița Gorge shelters the Cave of St. Grigore Decapolitul, a historic monument with a protected bat colony. Ceahlău national park plan approved One of the most symbolic massifs of the Eastern Carpathians, with dramatic rocky ridges — Toaca, Panaghia, Detunatele — and the Duruitoarea waterfall. Ocolașul Mare peak (1,907 m), the highest, sits inside a strictly protected scientific reserve, visitable only with a ranger, in groups of up to 9. Cefa natural park act not identified Nicknamed "Bihor's Delta" — a wetland of international importance on the Pannonian-Balkan migration corridor, with over 1,300 species, a site for spotting great bustard and ferruginous duck. Cheile Bicazului–Hășmaș national park plan approved Bicaz Gorge, one of Romania's most spectacular limestone canyons, with vertical walls over 300 m and the Piatra Altarului landmark, alongside the Hășmaș massif with karst caves like Licoș. Lacu Roșu, a natural landslide-dammed lake, is the starting point for most of the park's 18 marked trails. Cheile Nerei–Beușnița national park plan approved A gorge carved by the Nera river over roughly 22 km, alongside Lacul Dracului, the karst lake Ochiul Beiului, and the Beușnița, Șușara and Moceriș waterfalls. Bigăr Falls was known for a moss-covered rock "mushroom" shape, with a thin, even sheet of water falling across its whole width — once called one of the world's most spectacular waterfalls by international press — but part of the waterfall's rock wall collapsed on 7 June 2021, changing its appearance from older photographs — including the one above. Comana natural park plan approved Romania's third-largest wetland, with 212 bird species, Lake Comana, and Comana Monastery (1462, linked to Vlad the Impaler). Ten marked trails, totalling 56 km, mostly through forest. Cozia national park plan approved A relatively low limestone-and-crystalline massif (Cozia peak, 1,668 m), but with a sub-Mediterranean climate rare for the Carpathians and views over the Olt gorge. It combines ridge trails with spiritual landmarks — Cozia Monastery, founded by Mircea the Elder — and natural ones, like Lotrișor waterfall. Călimani national park plan approved The most extensive volcanic massif in the Carpathians, with Pietrosul Călimani peak (2,100 m) — Romania's highest volcanic summit — and the "12 Apostles" reserve, eroded volcanic rock columns on the rim of an old caldera. It holds the country's largest expanse of dwarf-pine scrub. Defileul Jiului national park plan approved A gorge cut by the Jiu river between the Vâlcan and Parâng mountains, with the "Sphinx of Lainici" rock formation. Over 80% beech and oak forest, bear, lynx, otter; nearby, Lainici Monastery (1817) and Bolii Cave, known for its concert-hall acoustics. Defileul Mureșului Superior natural park plan approved The 33 km Deda–Toplița gorge separates the Călimani from the Gurghiu Mountains with steep walls. Rafting on the Mureș and views of the gorge from the Deda–Toplița train route are both possible. Domogled–Valea Cernei national park plan approved Limestone gorges, sulphurous hot springs and caves — among them Grota Haiducilor and Grota cu Aburi — in a southern-Carpathian climate that supports Mediterranean flora rare elsewhere in Romania. Băile Herculane, a spa town over 2,000 years old, sits at the park's gate. Geoparcul Dinozaurilor „Țara Hațegului” (Hațeg Country Dinosaurs Geopark) natural park act not identified A UNESCO Global Geopark (since 2004–2005), on the former "Hațeg Island" in the Tethys Sea, famous for the dwarf dinosaurs discovered here and for the Hatzegopteryx pterosaur. Themed visitor houses at Sânpetru, Densuș and General Berthelot. Geoparcul Platoul Mehedinți (Mehedinți Plateau Geopark) natural park validity possibly lapsed A geopark of over 100,000 ha, known for Topolnița Cave (Romania's second-longest) and "God's Bridge" at Ponoarele — the only natural bridge in the world open to car traffic — plus 14 bat species. Grădiștea Muncelului–Cioclovina natural park plan approved UNESCO-protected Dacian fortresses — Sarmizegetusa Regia, the former religious and military capital of Dacia, alongside Blidaru, Costești and Piatra Roșie — plus the Ponorâci-Cioclovina karst complex, with a cave famous for paleontological finds. Lunca Joasă a Prutului Inferior natural park plan approved 8,247 ha of lower Prut floodplain, with lakes Brateș, Vlădești and Pochina, and a network of 7 birdwatching towers between Galați and the Mata-Rădeanu complex. Lunca Mureșului natural park plan approved A leveed Mureș floodplain, a Ramsar site since 2006, with nearly 200 bird species. The Ceala Visitor Centre offers themed walking and cycling trails, plus canoe trips through backwaters and islands. Munții Maramureșului natural park plan approved Romania's largest natural park (133,418 ha), with 171 km of marked trails, the capercaillie — a species rare in Romania — and the Tomnatec–Sehleanu narcissus reserve, in bloom by mid-May. Munții Măcinului national park act repealed Romania's oldest mountain range, with modest peaks (Țuțuiatu/Greci, 467 m) but granite and quartzite ridges exposed by long erosion — the only national park outside the Carpathians. Silvosteppe vegetation with endemic species such as the Dobrujan bellflower. Munții Rodnei national park plan approved Pietrosul Rodnei peak (2,303 m), the highest in the Eastern Carpathians, with glacial lakes such as Lacul Iezer and alpine flora rich in rare or endemic species. The park is a UNESCO biosphere reserve, with one of the longest mountain ridges in the north of the country. Piatra Craiului national park plan approved Romania's highest limestone ridge, 25 km long, with La Om peak (2,238 m) as its high point, vertical walls, and spectacular gorges — Zărnești Gorge (3.9 km) and Dâmbovicioara Gorge (2.4 km, with the 555 m cave of the same name). Home to brown bear, wolf and lynx. Porțile de Fier natural park plan approved The Danube's Iron Gates gorge, with the Great and Small Cazane, where the river narrows between steep slopes. On the Romanian bank stands the Decebalus statue (40 m, completed 2005), mirroring the ancient Roman Tabula Traiana plaque on the Serbian side — the boat tour from Dubova is the most commonly used way to reach them. Putna–Vrancea natural park plan approved The "amphitheatre of the Vrancea Mountains" — ridges, virgin forests, rich wildlife — with Putna waterfall, a natural monument since 1973, as the main single landmark. Retezat national park plan approved Romania's oldest national park (a scientific reserve since 1935), with over 80 glacial lakes — Bucura, the country's largest glacial lake — and Peleaga peak (2,509 m), the massif's highest point. The glacial cirques and rocky ridges around them draw thousands of hikers to the Southern Carpathians every year. Semenic–Cheile Carașului national park act not identified Caraș Gorge, Comarnic Cave (with cave paintings), and one of Europe's few centuries-old beech forests, over 300 years old. The 130 km network of marked trails links the Iabalcea karst plateau to Lake Mărghitaș and Lake Buhui. Vânători Neamț natural park plan approved The first place in Romania where the European bison was reintroduced to the wild, in a 180 ha acclimatization reserve. The nearly 31,000 ha park also includes Neamț Fortress and Neamț Monastery, on the UNESCO tentative list. Văcărești natural park plan approved Nicknamed "Bucharest's delta" — an urban wetland that rewilded itself inside an unfinished communist-era dam enclosure, a rare case in Europe of a protected natural park sitting entirely inside a capital city.