Anthropic Influences on the Intensity of Natural Hazards in the Calimani Mountains, Romania

The Călimani Mountains belong to the volcanic chain stretching along the Western side of the Oriental Carpathians (Romania). The chapter sets out to evaluate the interactions between the natural and anthropic risk factors by hierarchizing the identified environmental risk levels. The results obtained have the potential to serve as a basis for the implementation of a set of measures to ensure the ecosystem resilience in the Călimani Mountains and to improve the quality of the goods and services provided by these ecosystems in order to boost the social and economic welfare of the local communities in an area considered to be underserved as per legislation. The disruptive factors analysed are: windthrows, forest fires and mining activities. Mining activities, specifically the exploitation and preparation of sulphur is arguably the most aggressive form of anthropic destruction of the natural environment in the Northeast of Romania. The paper proposes a risk evaluation matrix for better assessment, followed by a subsequent mapping of the areas exposed to the risks identified, emphasizing the need for new, adaptive rehabilitation measures.