Forest Academy Finland, the Finnish initiative aimed at supporting the EU‘s commitment to sustainable forest management, has held its second forum.
The academy, which encourages interaction between old and new EU countries, says the economic restructuring of central and eastern European countries has led to a number of changes in forest ownership, management and use.
Forest sector representatives of the new and applicant countries of the EU were invited by the academy to Finland to exchange information and experiences.
Key note speakers at the event included Piotr Borkowski, head of the liaison unit Warsaw, Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, and Arvids Ozols, deputy state secretary at the Latvian Ministry of Agriculture.
Mr Ozols said: “Differences and different opinions stimulate discussion and enrich common EU knowledge.”
However, he added, in the current EU structure forests and forestry issues were handled by several representatives at commission level and there was a need for better co-ordination.
Further forums are planned in Finland on September 15 and October 27.
