Natural food, organic growth
by Paul Dreher

With agriculture undergoing a revolution and hundreds of millions of Euro from the World Bank and the EU being spent on restructuring an antiquated rural system, an innovative program has captured the interest of international observers.

Launched by a small group of dedicated British agriculture, tourism and botany experts together with local farmers and councils in south-eastern Transylvania, the program blends biodiversity and sustainable development. Ecotourism, sales of high-value organic foods including jams and honey and traditional craft-making such as wood-carving and painted furniture are immediate commercial spin-offs. The program, known as ADEPT (Agricultural Development and Environmental Protection in Transylvania) is working to conserve land and produce natural foods in an area of 30 villages and around 20,000 people, that welcomes a refreshing breeze of economic support. "Local people have been extremely receptive and open to our ideas," said a contented Nat Page, the organization's director, speaking exclusively to BBW from England. "The main objective of the program is the conservation of biodiversity and the promotion of sustainable development, offering benefits to local communities." The pilot project is located near the village of Saschiz, and officials expect it to roll-out over the next three years to cover an area the size of more than 100,000 football fields. Plans include a visitors' center and a demonstration farm. Jim Turnbull, director of the ADEPT Foundation, told BBW, "We want to maintain traditional agriculture - make it more profitable for farmers without them using pesticides or intensive farming. The key is product flavor. We'll encourage people to buy based on quality.

The Saxon village area has a diverse habitat of wildflowers, rich pastures and meadows, which are a rare scientific, cultural, and economic resource." Turnbull, who works together with local manager, Cristi Gherghiceanu, added, "Training and education is important. We are preparing publications on agro-environment and biodiversity as well as micro-enterprise courses and food seminars. We are starting with a course on hygiene because preparation is the first step to healthy, full-flavored products. We will also visit schools to explain the importance of the area to children. Several schools have already signed on. Cleaning up riverbanks, walks with botanists, even a young ecologists' club, are planned." John Taylor, a food technologist and member of the British Royal Society of Health, said, "my ultimate objective is to train Romanians to deliver seminars to the entire community." Taylor added, "We want to give the area protected status and create a brand image. It is so beautiful, but people now just look and drive by. We want them to stop and spend money.

Right now, many villages don't have the capability to host visitors, so we want to develop a bed-and-breakfast system. We won't ask people to do anything that doesn't make sense for them. We don't want people to grow tomatoes, if they can't sell them." Prototype solar drying units are part of the project, to which Orange has donated 170,000 Euro. "These are cheap and easy-to-make and equal dried, preserved products that can be served all year," Turnbull said, adding, "Current infrastructure problems will not be a major disadvantage. We don't want to build huge hotels or embark on corporate-style marketing." Speaking about his support, Orange Romania CEO, Richard Moat, said, "We believe in the future and we understand that our vision can become reality only if we take care of the environment around us." ADEPT will work with the Italian organization, Slow Food, which promotes traditional food, to showcase Transylvanian products at its international fairs, and also with the Grasslands Trust, UK, the World Wildlife Fund, the Pro Patrimonio Foundation and the Crafts Foundation.

While the program receives cooperation from the government and SAPARD, its leaders are prudent not to put the plow before the horse. "People are coming to see what we're doing and taking the message back with them. But getting ahead of ourselves is more dangerous than getting behind. It will take time to build a market-oriented biodiversity protection area. We'll learn from other successful ADEPT projects, such as Abruzzo Park in Italy, and the English Peak District."