Natura 2000 Site Soveja

The Natura 2000 Site Soveja is a special area of conservation located in the northwestern extremity of Vrancea County, in the central sector of the Munții Vrancei, a subunit of the Carpații de Curbură within the Carpații Orientali chain. It covers an area of 4,572 hectares, occupying the upper basin of the Șușița valley with its main tributaries, across the administrative territories of the communes of Soveja, Câmpuri, Negrilești and Tulnici. It was declared a site of community importance by Order no. 2,387 of 29 September 2011, as part of the European ecological network Natura 2000. The site conserves 11 types of natural habitats protected at community level, including beech and conifer forests, mountain grasslands and riparian ecosystems. In the upper part of the site there are significant areas of virgin forest, the most representative nucleus of such ecosystems in the Munții Vrancei. The area constitutes an essential refuge for large carnivores — brown bear, wolf and lynx — with the upper part of the site serving as an important zone for denning and cub-rearing for these species. The area of the commune of Soveja also preserves a valuable ethnographic setting, with traditions specific to Vrancea and a rural community with customs not found in other regions. Access is via national road DN2L, which connects the town of Mărășești to Panciu and passes through the site, approximately 60 km from Focșani.