Emergency Ordinance no. 57 of 20 June 2007 on the regime of protected natural areas, conservation of natural habitats, wild flora and fauna.

The purpose of this Romanian Emergency Ordinance, among the need and urgency of fully reconciling the national legislation with the terms of European Union in the field of nature protection and taking into account the provisions of Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds and Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of species of wild flora and fauna, is to guarantee the conservation and sustainable use of the natural heritage, an objective of major public interest and a fundamental component of the national strategy for sustainable development.
This Ordinance regulates the following main topics: a) ensuring the biological diversity, by conserving the natural habitats, of the wild flora and fauna present on the Romanian territory; b) maintaining or restoring of a favorable state of conservation of natural habitats and their varieties and species of wild flora and fauna; c) identification of natural heritage assets that require a special protection regime, for their conservation and sustainable use; d) categories of protected natural areas, types of natural habitats, species of flora and fauna and other goods of natural patrimony that are subject to the special regime of protection, conservation and sustainable use regimes; e) the establishment, organization and development of the national network of protected natural areas, as well as of its regime; f) regime of administration of protected natural areas and the procedures for establishing the protection regime for other natural areas and natural heritage assets; g) measures for the protection and conservation of endangered, vulnerable, endemic and/or rare species of wild animals and plants, as well as those for the protection of geomorphological and landscape formations of ecological, scientific, aesthetic, cultural-historical and other interest, of goods natural resources of speleological, paleontological, geological, anthropological interest and other natural assets with natural heritage value, existing within the perimeters of protected natural areas and/or outside them; h) responsibilities and attributions for the implementation of these provisions. Article 3 lists all subjects that are not regulated by this text. This Emergency Ordinance transposes several legislative documents as listed in article 57.
The Annex is also part of this publication (Annexes 1-8; containing lists, classifications, and technical contents).
Types of priority natural habitats shall be intended types of natural habitats in danger of extinction, for whose conservation the European Community has a particular responsibility, taking into account the proportion of their natural distribution area. These types of habitats are indicated by an asterisk in Annex No. 2. Endemic, plant/animal species shall be considered those found exclusively in a region/location and that require particular attention due to the characteristics of their habitat and/or potential impact of their exploitation on their conservation status. Special conservation area shall be intended the site of community importance designated by a statutory, administrative and/or contractual act in which the conservation measures required to maintain or restore to a favorable state of conservation of the natural habitats and/or the populations of the species of interest are applied community for which the site is designated. Avifaunistic special protection areas shall be intended protected natural areas whose purposes are to conserve, maintain and, where appropriate, restore to a favorable state of conservation of bird species and specific habitats, designated for the protection of migratory birds. Protected species shall be intended any species of wild flora and fauna that benefit from a legal protection status.