Râu Sadului, Romania

Regional Demonstrators

About the Region:

Geography: Râu Sadului is a communie in Sibiu County, encompassing a portion of the Cindrel Mountains. This mountain range is a subgroup of the Southern Carpathians, located in central Romania.

Key Sectors: Traditional mountain agriculture, pastoralism, and emerging agrotourism.

Role: Demonstrator Region

Climate change is evident in the mountainous region, leading to increased average temperatures, decreased precipitation, and altered seasons. These changes negatively influence soil troficity level, and the composition of grass varieties. Valuable species are disappearing, and some low-quality plants are thriving. Animals are therefore fed with grass with low nutritional value. This requires urgent action, as climate change forces farmers to migrate to submontane areas, and the mountainous areas are at risk of depopulation. It will lead to the loss of tradition and people’s identity, and at the same time, it will decrease the quality of food products.

One of the national strategic objectives in agriculture is the promotion of knowledge transfer to farmers regarding aspects of climate change and the adequate management of agricultural land to adapt to these challenges. MountResilience aims to create sustainable solutions to address the impact of climate change on farmers by preserving and utilising mountain meadows. The project involves showcasing innovative techniques, such as the use of equipped drones and cameras for field scanning. Special seeding machines will be utilised for flat terrains or gentle slopes, while drones with a seed spreading system will be deployed for meadows with irregular terrain and steep slopes. Additionally, MountResilience plans to enhance efficiency by using drones for fertiliser spreading.

Climate Challenges in Râu Sadului

• Degradation of mountain meadows due to changing weather patterns.
• Loss of biodiversity is essential for pastoral activities.
• Economic viability of small-scale mountain farming.

What has been done so far in the Mount Resilience project?

Starting in 2024, the Romanian partners initiated fieldwork in a 20-hectare area across Păltiniș and Cristian to validate mountain meadow revitalisation solutions in a real environment:

Drones are used for scanning, seeding, and fertilisation activities, especially on uneven or steep terrains
Trial plots in Cristian-Păltiniș were seeded with various commercial seed mixtures
Soil amendments, fertilisers, and bacterial mixtures are being applied to combat acidity and nutrient deficiency
A Local Consultative Council was formed to foster participatory decision-making involving civil society, academia, local authorities, and business representatives.
These efforts aim to restore the pastures’ productivity and ecological balance while improving the socio-economic resilience of the region

Key Partners:

• Comuna Râu Sadului
• Holland Farming Agro SRL
• Institutul de Cercetare Dezvoltare pentru Montanologie Cristian Sibiu
• ROHEALTH (Cluster for Health and Bioeconomy)