We are following the announcement from Romania’s Ministry of Environment about installing thousands of kilometers of electric fences across Romania with serious concern.

Here in the Hârtibaciu Highlands (Podișul Hârtibaciului) — Romania’s largest terrestrial protected landscape — we already observe the negative impacts of large-scale, unplanned, and uncoordinated fencing: fragmented habitats, blocked wildlife corridors, and new conflicts instead of real solutions. Without careful planning and integration with other measures, massive fencing can do more harm than good.

Electric fences can be a useful preventive tool in specific, well-defined contexts, but they are not a universal solution for human–wildlife coexistence. Poorly planned fencing can actually create more problems for both people and wildlife.

True coexistence requires careful planning, local adaptation, monitoring, and a mix of measures — not one-size-fits-all interventions.