Mountains of Ascension: Revisioning Environmental History in the Eastern Carpathians

The eastern Carpathians remain one of the most isolated regions in all of Europe, possessing some of the most beautiful and picturesque landscapes on the continent, including some of the most extensive areas of old-growth forests. The mountains cover 40,000 square kilometers, an area stretching from southeastern Poland to Brasov, Romania. The ecological value of the Carpathians cannot be overestimated as the mountain region supports species not found anywhere else in the world and is the last stronghold of important large mammals, including Brown bear, wolf, and lynx. At the same time, the Carpathians are also home to numerous ethnic groups, many of which still maintain a unique intimacy with the mountain landscape. In fact, some mountain pastures in the Carpathians have been used by local residents for cattle grazing since the ninth-century, giving rise to an annual spring festival known as the “pasture procession.” In many parts of the Carpathians, an endemic “hay-culture” has actually increased the biodiversity of plant communities. This paper will summarize the shortcomings of doing traditional environmental history in the Carpathians and make the argument that environmental change in peripheral areas can also result from the forces of “ascension,” that is: 1) the addition of new plant and animal species in a landscape; 2) a numerical increase in specific plants and animals (as a result of human intervention); and 3) the protection of large natural areas by human decree. While this argument might be perceived as a defense of the Anthropocene, it is not. My main objective is to remind historians that nature--as a dynamic entity--can also benefit from human presence and need not always decline as a result of “modernizing” forces.