π Tender Overview
The Forest Group, which includes Austria, Finland, Slovenia and Sweden, aims to deepen cooperation within the framework of the European Union's (EU) forestry policy. It was officially established in October 2022 in Luxembourg.
Today's audio-video meeting of Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry was attended by Peter Kullgren, Minister for Rural Affairs of Sweden, Sari Essayah, Minister for Agriculture and Forestry of Finland, and Norbert Totschnig, Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management of Austria. France also participated as a member of the extended Forests+ Group, with the participation of the Director of the Directorate for Forestry, Marie-Aude Stofer.
The discussion focused on the challenges faced by Member States in implementing the Regulation on Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF). This Regulation sets targets for greenhouse gas sinks and thus has a significant impact on achieving the EU's climate goals. Slovenia was very active in the process of negotiating and adopting this legislation at EU level, constantly drawing attention to the impacts of climate change and the specificities of national forest management.
Minister ?aluΕ‘i? emphasized at the meeting that Slovenia has been facing changes in growth and wood stocks for many years, mainly due to natural disasters, climate change and other harmful factors, such as overgrowth of bark beetles, windbreaks, droughts, late frosts and fires.
The minister continued by pointing out that due to the complexity of the impacts of climate change on forests, forestry must be viewed holistically, as every decision has a strong impact on the long-term stability, development and resilience of forests.
The ministers agreed to continue the expert work on collecting forest data and to decide on further steps based on this. At the meeting, the ministers also touched upon the proposal for an EU regulation on forest monitoring. They agreed that it is important to maintain the exchange of views at the expert level and to continue constructive cooperation in the discussions in the EU Council, where the proposal is currently being discussed.
The Minister took this opportunity to invite the ministers to the next working meeting, which will take place in June this year in Slovenia, in Maribor.
