The International Conference Environment – Landscape – European Identity will be held November 4 – 6, 2011 in Bucharest, Romania. The conference is organized by the Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest, Regional Geography and Environment Department, in partnership with Department of Geography, University of Craiova, Romanian Academy - Geonomical Sciences Section and Institute of Geography, Centre for Environmental Research and Impact

Society consumption models have changed significantly and are now oriented toward fulfilling stronger sustainability requirements and following the demand for better living standards. In this respect, companion animals are a common presence in households in large urban areas. The number of companion animals is increasing in Bucharest (38.7 animals per 100 households). This tendency has caused notable changes in urban parks. To evaluate the way urban

Conservation shortcuts such as umbrella species have been long used for regional protection of species whose distributions are poorly known. Although the European large carnivores - brown bear, gray wolf, and Eurasian lynx - might seem to be robust candidates as umbrella species, their actual effectiveness has been challenged. We used 10-km resolution distribution maps of mammals (n = 10)and birds (n = 55) of European conservation concern in the

The book appeared under the patronage of the Romanian Academy of Technical Sciences, is dedicated to “professors teaching environmental sciences, biology, ecology, biodiversity, and whose concerns will inspire future generations in the effort of conciliating conservation biology with human needs”. Conservation biology represents a new complex science, with several major objectives, such as: studying the planet’s biological diversity, assessing

Soils contamination with heavy metals is one of the most severe aspects of environmental pollution in Romania, independently of the origin sources (domestic or industrial activities) or type of disposal (organised landfill or hazardous deposits)[l-2]. This fact is the consequence of the poor state of the existing waste deposits in Romania and of the significant costs involved by the establishing of a new landfill according with the international

Romania's protected areas network currently covers 19.29% of the national territory, a significant increase from the 4.1% protected prior to 1989. The increase occurred over the past 20 years with the creation of 27 National and Natural Parks, and recently of 382 protected areas as part of the pan-European Natura 2000 network. Considering the recent increase in number and area of protected lands, we investigated two core topics critical to achieving

The Hermann tortoise (Testudo hermanni boettgeri Mojsisovics, 1889) is present in Romania at its range limit. The main range is located in the Southwestern part of the country, in a sub-optimal sub-Mediterranean climate. Testudo hermanni boettgeri is also found in the Southeastern part of the country, the population there being insignificant to be included in our study. The range from Southwestern part of Romania has a surface of ~4420 sq km, from

Despite having a large range in the Romanian Carpathians, the ecology of Eurasian lynx is relatively misunderstood, particularly concerning the size of its home range and utilized resources. By means of a collar equipped with a GPS device, the movements of a mature lynx female were monitored for a period of 305 days in the northwestern section of Vrancea Mountains. The area of the female's home range is estimated at 486.11 km2, a significantly larger