USSE will attend the 9th FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference in Bonn in October

19 / 09 / 2024

FOREST EUROPE is the voluntary, high-level pan-European process, known in the past as the Ministerial Conference for the Protection of Pan-European Forests. It was precisely during the conference in Helsinki in 1992 that the definition of sustainable forest management as we know it today came into being.

USSE has acted as an observer organization in this process since its inception, in which non-EU countries such as Norway, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Turkey and the Ukraine are also signatories.

Germany currently holds the presidency of the process. This year, its mandate will come to an end at the 9th Ministerial Conference, to be held on October 1-2 in Bonn.

It will bring together FOREST EUROPE ministers responsible for forests in their countries, country representatives and observer organizations in an event that will serve to take decisions relevant to forest policy and future cooperation on forests in Europe and to exchange the latest findings and developments in the field of sustainable forest management (SFM) in the pan-European region.

The Chair, together with the Bonn Liaison Unit (LUBo), will present the achievements and work done between 2021 and 2024, as well as two documents to be signed by the ministers present: “Bonn Ministerial Declaration on FOREST EUROPE - Keeping the concept of Sustainable Forest Management fit for the future'' and “Bonn Ministerial Decision: Sustainable Forest Management as a tool to increase forest resilience”. Both submissions will serve as a guide for the FOREST EUROPE (FE) process over the coming years, highlighting key areas where pan-European ministers are committed to support action.

USSE Statement

USSE will attend the conference as an observer organization to the process and will make a statement on behalf of southern European forest owners at one of the roundtables. The objective, according to Leire Salaberria, the group's director general, “is to present our experience in strengthening forest resilience and forest adaptation to climate change and to share our views on transboundary cooperation during a meaningful dialogue with a broad European audience and observers even from outside Europe.”

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