Welcome to www.rosiamontana.org the website of the campaign to save the town of Rosia Montana from being turned into Europe's largest open cast cyanide gold mine.
This website is maintained by activists who support of the work of the 'Alburnus Maior' NGO.
'Alburnus Maior' is a community NGO based at Rosia Montana. It was founded in September 2000 by villagers from Rosia Montana and Bucium to oppose Gabriel Resources' gold mine proposal which entails the destruction of Rosia Montana and its surroundings. The association's opposition is based on social, environmental, cultural and economic grounds.
Alburnus Maior promotes sustainable development alternatives that aim to preserve Rosia Montana's natural and cultural heritage. The NGO's vision for Rosia Montana entails the promotion of cultural and rural tourism, agribusiness, craft industries, small-medium industries etc.
Alburnus Maior opposes the:
- the resettlement plan that will affect 740 farms and 140 apartments
- the destruction of valuable historical and archaeological patrimony
- the use of the cyanide leaching technology
- the large scale extraction of gold via open cast mining.
Alburnus Maior is the initiator of the 'Save Rosia Montana' campaign, Romania's most significant environmental initiative. The 'Save Rosia Montana!' campaign enjoys the active support of 35 Romanian environmental NGOs and institutions. Over the years this campaign has organised multiple actions, events and and alerts to draw attention to the inherent risks associated with the develoment of the mine proposal.
The NGO regroups 300 families from Rosia Montana and Bucium, representing some 1 200 people. The Association is also supported by roughly 5 000 citizens from the region who have signed a petition to oppose the project.
Alburnus Maior strongly believes that the Apuseni Mountains is rich in resources other than gold. It has an outstandingly beautiful scenery, history and cultural heritage - both ancient and industrial. It has forests and meadows. There thus exists a viable future for the people of the area based on tourism, agriculture, timber products, craft enterprises and small-medium sized industry. Such alternatives would be better than a single, short-lived industry that exports any profit along with the gold and leaves a toxic desert, a devastated landscape in which life will never again flourish.
Alburnus Maior supports alternative development projects in the area including cultural conservation and restoration. Two projects were designed and implemented to promote the area's touristic potential: The Golden Way of Rosia Montana (www.drumulaurului.ro) and Bucium – The Land of the Daffodils (www.buciumanii.ro). In 2007, Alburnus Maior initiated pilot development projects and you can read more about them and even support them by visiting the Alternative Developement section of this website.
