Mayors carry considerable influence in the Fagaras region.
在弗格拉什地區,鎮長的影響力很大。
While some villages on the northern fringes remain opposed to the park, others have begun to see it as an opportunity.
雖然北部邊緣的多數村莊仍反對國家公園計劃,但其他村莊開始把它視為機會。
A community shield on the wall of the Nucsoara mayor's office features chamois, edelweiss, an apple for its orchards -- a synopsis of the breathtaking scenery around us.
努索瓦拉鎮長辦公室墻上的社區盾牌繪有歐洲山羚、薄雪草和一顆代表果園的蘋果--正是我們四周無敵美景的縮影。
Nucsoara has only 1,294 inhabitants. Mayor Ion Cojocaru aims to have 2,000 residents and 2,000 guest beds by 2030.
努索瓦拉的居民只有1294人。鎮長伊翁·科若卡魯的目標是到2030年能有2000位居民和2000個旅客床位。
"People want to live here," he says. "And it's not just holiday homes. They're putting down roots, planting vegetables, working from home, setting up guesthouses. They love it for the same reason I do: nature."
他說:“人們想在這里生活,而且不只是度假屋。他們定居、種菜、遠程工作、建民宿。他們喜愛這里的原因和我一樣:大自然。”
Initially skeptical about a national park, Cojocaru had a change of heart following the death of his wife in 2019.
一開始,科若卡魯對國家公園持懷疑態度。但在2019年妻子過世后改變了想法。
He grappled with his physical and mental health. His doctor prescribed up to 10,000 steps a day as a way to cope.
他的身心健康都出問題,醫生建議他每天走1萬步。
As Cojocaru walked the local trails, the scale of the logging brought tears to his eyes.
科若卡魯在當地小徑散步時,大規模伐木的景象讓他眼眶泛淚。
"Nucsoara has the most virgin forest in the Fagaras, but it's also suffered the most from clear-cuts," he says.
“努索瓦拉擁有弗格拉什地區最原始的森林,卻也是因為皆伐而損失最慘重的。”他說。

Impressed by Conservation Carpathia's repair efforts in the area -- 5,000 acres of clear-cuts planted with four million saplings of native trees grown in local nurseries -- he accepted the Prombergers' invitation to visit Germany's Bavarian Forest National Park to see how something similar might work in the Fagaras.
喀爾巴阡保護基金會進行的復育工作,也就是把400萬株在當地苗圃培育的原生樹苗種植到林木已砍光的5000英畝土地上,讓他印象深刻,因此他接受了普榮伯格夫婦邀請,去德國巴伐利亞森林國家公園了解類似的計劃在弗格拉什山區可能會有何成效。
"I saw all these jobs, guesthouses, visitor centers, local produce for sale, infrastructure around the park, a high standard of living -- in an area as remote as ours," he says. "I thought, this is it: We can make money from protecting nature."
他說:“我看到了所有這些工作機會、旅舍、游客中心、販售的當地農產品、國家公園四周的基礎建設、高生活水準--在一個像我們一樣偏遠的地方。我心想,這就對了:我們可以通過保護大自然來賺錢。”
A month before, the mayor had launched a project to draw others into the forest.
一個月前,科若卡魯啟動了一項計劃,意在吸引其他人走進森林。
"On my walks I was passing these extraordinary trees, some hundreds of years old, every one of them unique," he explains. "They gave me hope and strength, a reason for living."
他解釋道:“我散步的時候經過這些特別的大樹,有的已經幾百歲了,每一棵都是獨一無二的。它們給了我希望和力量,給了我活著的理由。”
A network of trees forms a new tourist trail project called the Forest of Immortal Stories.
樹木網形成一片新的觀光步道,稱為“不朽故事森林”。
As Christoph and I climb the pastures above the village and some of its remaining sheep flocks, there are wolf, deer, wild boar, and bear prints in the paths, muddy after rain.
當我和克里斯托夫爬上村莊和一些僅存羊群上方的牧場時,在雨后泥濘的小路看見了狼、鹿、野豬和熊的腳印。
Soon I'm surrounded by mighty beech trees. Scanning the QR code pinned to a trunk, I listen to the audio of one of the few hundred tree "adopters."
很快地,我的身旁都是高大的山毛櫸。我掃描掛在樹干上的二維碼,聽到幾百位樹木“認養人”中的一位所錄下的語音。
Tree 41 tells the story of Razvan Nedu, the blind captain of Romania's paraclimbing team, conqueror of Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.
41號樹道出了羅馬尼亞身心障礙攀巖隊盲人隊長拉茲凡·內度的故事,他曾成功登上白朗峰和馬特洪峰。
Nedu's vignette relates sensing direction "with all his skin," feeling sensory power in the depths of his soul, the freedom of height.
內度的錄音講述了他“用全身心”感覺到方向,感受靈魂深處的感官力量、站在高處的自由。