SF in The Eustafor Board

The Director-General of the State Forests Konrad Tomaszewski was chosen again as a member of the board of the European State Forest Association on March 21.
24.03.2017

The Director-General of the State Forests Konrad Tomaszewski was chosen again as a member of the board of the European State Forest Association on March 21.

Directors-General, affiliated with the European State Forest Association, met on March 21 in Brussels to celebrate the International Day of Forests. This year, the IDF was devoted to  forests and energy. General Assembly indicated the Association's course of  actions for the incoming year and chose members of the board, with Konrad Tomaszewski among them. Per-Olof Wedin, the managing director of Swedish company Sveaskog, remained the president of EUSTAFOR for the next term.

‘The State Forests in Poland is in the forefront of organizations managing state forests in Europe, hence our leading position in the EUSTAFOR board. The active participation helps to create joint proposals towards EU forum initiatives, with respect to both the climate-energy policy, where forests play increasingly important role, and environment. The cooperation within the scope of the Association helps in sharing experience and reinforcing contacts with the representatives of the European Parliament, who increasingly influence the legislative processes’ - emphasized Konrad Tomaszewski.  

The role of forests and forestry sector in the climate policy of EU after 2020, meaning in the context of recently published European Commission proposals, was also discussed in the board’s meeting. The proposals regard including  the land use sector and changing the land use and forestry in the EU commitments  within the framework of the climate and energy package.

Participants of the General Assembly, of which over 50 directors-general are members along with representatives of European organizations managing state forests, met in Brussels with main policymakers during the International Forum on "The value of wood" in Résidence Palace. The Forum was divided into two sessions. The first was devoted to sustainable architecture and construction, the second focused on forests in respect of innovation and bioeconomy.

The executive director of EUSTAFOR Piotr Borkowski said that European state forests have an actual impact on bioeconomy.

‘Sustainable forest management has great potential to play a key role in achieving goals and ambitions of EU within the scope of climate change, energy and turning to economy based on bioeconomy while ensuring ecological sustainability.’

Forum launched also an exhibition and informative campaign called the Forest City Project, with EUSTAFOR being its strategic partner. The initiative is a great opportunity to show in what way forest and forest products influence everyday life of citizens and help the society to face global challenges such as climate change and need for more sustainable production and consumption patterns. The exhibition runs until June 5 at the European District, in Brussels.

EUSTAFOR stands for the European State Forest Association affiliating hosts managing the area of one third of EU forests. The Association was established in 2006 and is to support and bolster state forests in Europe. It affiliates 26 members from 20 European countries including: Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Croatia, France, Sweden and Norway.