European forest ministers will meet in June to decide whether to launch negotiations for a legally binding European forest agreement.
The conference of European forest ministers, or Forest Europe, in Oslo, where the State of European Forests 2011 report will be presented, will decide whether to start the negotiations for a legally-binding European agreement on forests, according to the Finnish Forest Association.
“A legally-binding European forest agreement would present a common view on where forestry in Europe is going and how,” said Heikki Granholm, counsellor for forests at the International Affairs Unit of the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.??
Mr Granholm believes a decision whether to accept the ensuing agreement will be made in two years at the earliest.??
He thinks the ?agreement could require each state to have an up-to-date national forest programme, to agree to combat illegal logging and to take environmental issues into account in forest use.
